Author: Lekan Adeyeye

BETTY Akeredolu, widow of the late former Governor of Ondo State, Rotimi Akeredolu, has rejected the planned memorial lecture in his honour, organised by the state government. The lecture, scheduled for Friday in Akure, is part of a series of activities to commemorate the first anniversary of Akeredolu’s death on December 27, 2023. The state government had announced that renowned lawyer, Femi Falani (SAN), would deliver the lecture, with Bashorun Seinde Arogbofa serving as the chairman of the Akeredolu Leadership Lecture Series. However, Betty Akeredolu took to her X account on Wednesday to distance herself and her family from the…

A CHIEF Magistrate Court in Iyaganku, Ibadan, has ordered the remand of three key figures in connection with last week’s tragic stampede at Bashorun Islamic High School. The individuals include the school’s principal, Mr. Abdullahi Fasasi; the proprietor of Agidigbo FM, Alhaji Oriyomi Hamzat; and Naomi Silekunola, the estranged wife of Oba Enitan Adeyeye Ogunwusi, the Ooni of Ile Ife. Chief Magistrate Olabisi Ogunkanmi, who presided over the case on Tuesday, ordered that the trio be remanded at the Agodi Correctional Center on Tuesday. This followed a four-count charge with the police prosecutor arguing that their actions were contrary to…

GUNMEN have kidnapped some travellers in Emure-Ile in Emure Local Government Area of Ekiti State. It was gathered that the bus conveying the travellers who were returning from Onitsha, Anambra state to Ado-Ekiti, the Ekiti state capital was ambushed on Sunday night by the attackers. A source at the Road Transport Employer Association of Nigeria,(RTEAN) Ado-Ekiti Motor Terminal branch, who confirmed the incident, said the driver, Mr. Sunday Emmanuel was kidnapped alongside the passengers. The source said that the kidnappers had contacted the driver’s family demanding a whopping sum of N30 million ransom for each of the passengers. He explained…

FOLLOWING the uproar sparked by the death of 35 children during a stampede at a funfair in Ibadan, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has taken charge of investigations into the tragic incident. The stampede occurred when participants rushed to gain access to the venue of the event reportedly organised by the ex-queen of the Ooni of Ife, Prophetess Naomi Silekunola, and an Ibadan-based broadcaster, Oriyomi Hamzat. Apart from the 35 children who lost their lives in the stampede, six others who were injured were rushed to hospitals. The event was said to have been initially planned for 5,000…

OYO State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has cancelled his birthday celebration in honour of the children who lost their lives in a stampede during a children funfair in Ibadan, the state capital. The governor disclosed this on Friday in Ibadan while receiving the South-East delegation of the Peoples Democratic Party, led by its Board of Trustees Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara. He described the incident, which claimed the lives of 35 children, as painful, unfortunate, and preventable and added that he would cancel his December 25th birthday celebrations and spend the day alone indoors. “It is a day that is really sobering…

NOT fewer than 35 minors have been confirmed killed in the Wednesday, December 18, 2024, children’s funfair stampede that occurred at Islamic High School, Bashorun, Ibadan in Oyo State. The Oyo State Police Command also confirmed the arrest of organisers of the children’s funfair. The command’s spokesperson, Osifeso Adewale, disclosed in a statement that Prophetess Naomi Silekunola, the main sponsor of the event and former wife of the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, has also been taken into custody. “Sequel to the Stampede incident recorded on Wednesday 18/12/2024 at the Islamic High School, Basorun, Ibadan venue of the family…

GOVERNOR Ademola Adeleke of Osun State has expressed concern over a reported death sentence of a young man in the state for stealing a fowl. In a statement on X.com on Tuesday, Adeleke directed the state’s attorney general and commissioner for justice to launch a full investigation into the case and initiate processes to grant the young man a prerogative of mercy. He wrote, “I have received the report of a case of a young man reportedly sentenced to death by hanging in Osun State for stealing a fowl. “Consequently, I have directed the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice,…

TRAGEDY struck as-yet-uncertain number of children have reportedly lost their lives in a stampede that occurred during a children’s carnival in Ibadan, the state capital, on Wednesday. However, this newspaper gathered that over 30 children lost their lives, with many others injured during the incident. In a statement released on Wednesday, the state Commissioner for Information and Orientation, Dotun Oyelade, confirmed that the stampede occurred at a private children’s funfair at Basorun Islamic High School. Oyelade stated that the government swiftly mobilised a rapid response team following the breaking of the incident. The commissioner noted that victims had been swiftly…

A FORMER President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo has emphasised that the battle against corruption can only be effective and successful if it begins with accountability among top government officials. The former president said that tackling corruption at the highest levels of leadership would set an example for others and demonstrate the government’s commitment to transparency and integrity. He spoke on Sunday night during an interactive session on Zoom tagged “Boiling Point Arena.” hosted by a private radio station in Abeokuta, the Ogun state capital The conversation which was aired by some private radio stations in Abeokuta, Ogun State capital,…

NO fewer than 17,000 ad-hoc staff employed by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State, on Sunday, have alleged the commission of not paying their allowances. The workers who expressed their grievances against INEC were deployed by the electoral body for the exercise after they had undergone technical training. One of them, who simply identified himself as Ade, alleged that they were earlier promised to be paid shortly after the exercise, but they had not been paid up till the time of filing this report. “They are yet to pay us our allowance.…

THE Nigerian Police Force has identified most cases of missing young ladies and girls being used for ritual purposes in Nigeria connected to the prevalent hookup culture sweeping across the country. The Public Relations Officer, Ogun State Command, Omolola Odutola who was a special guest on Channels Television’s Morning Brief on Wednesday monitored by News Point Nigeria, to discuss the topic ‘Hookup Culture: Impact on Youth Values and Relationships’, said young girls and ladies within the age range of 20 and 32 fall victim of the menace. The Hookup culture encourages and accepts casual sexual encounters, such as one-night stands,…

PROPERTIES worth hundreds millions of naira was destroyed in a fire outbreak at a spare parts market in the Idumota area of Lagos State. In a statement on Saturday, the Permanent Secretary of the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency, Olufemi Oke-Osanyintolu, said the fire occurred on Friday night. Oke-Osanyintolu said a preliminary investigation showed that multiple buildings used as shops for sales of car spare parts were razed. The statement reads, “Following distress calls via the 767/112 Toll-Free Emergency Lines at 2220hrs, the Lagos State Emergency Management Agency activated its Emergency Response Teams from Lekki, Cappa and the Command and…

FORMER President of Nigeria, Olusegun Obasanjo has said he woke up to rumours of his death. He said some people wrote on social media that he passed away midnight of Monday. Obasanjo made this known while speaking at the commissioning of Old-Garage-Oke-Fia-Lameco road by Governor of Osun State, Ademola Adeleke. Adeleke had invited Obasanjo to commission the road project as part of the activities marking the governor’s second year anniversary in office. Speaking at the event, Obasanjo dispelled the death speculation, saying he was embittered to see people wishing him dead. The former President who spoke in Yoruba, said he…

THE Ogun State House of Assembly, on Tuesday, passed a resolution summoning the management of Dangote Cement Company to provide the plant’s master plan, detailing all associated facilities, including a trailer park and industrial drainage channel, in adherence to international standards. The decision, made on Tuesday, followed the presentation of a report by the joint House Committees on Trade, Commerce and Investment, and Environment, chaired by Adebisi Oyedele. Presenting the report, Oyedele remarked, “The committee found the company culpable of the allegations levelled against it. The committee observed the lackadaisical approach and nonchalant attitude of the company to the livelihood…

FORMER President Olusegun Obasanjo has urged Nigerian youths and students to abstain from the use and abuse of psychoactive drugs, saying those substances add no value to life but destroy it. He spoke in Abeokuta, Ogun State, at the second edition of ‘Fly Above The High’, anti-drug campaign conference organised by the Recovery Advocacy Network. Obasanjo who bemoaned the growing menace of drug use Nigeria and West Africa, called for a restraint among the youths. The Ota-farmer recalled how his tenure as the Chairman of the West African Drug Commission under the Kofi Annan Foundation, made him to learn that…

THE governorship candidate of the Ogun state chapter of the People Democratic Party in the 2023 governorship election, Ladi Adebutu has described as “baseless” allegations levelled against him by the Department of State Services. In a release by the politician detailing his experience while in the custody of DSS in Abeokuta said the allegations were to silence him as a voice of the opposition. Adebutu was arrested on Monday and quizzed over last Saturday’s local government election held across the 20 local government areas of Ogun State. He was then released early Tuesday morning from the DSS office. “it was…

THE candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 governorship election in Ogun State, Ladi Adebutu, has been arrested by the Department of State Services (DSS), his party has disclosed. The PDP Publicity Secretary in Ogun State, Kayode Adebayo, confirmed the arrest and detention of Adebutu in a statement he released in Abeokuta on Monday. According to him, Adebutu was reportedly invited for questioning allegedly in connection with disturbance during the local government elections held last Saturday, November 16, 2024. “This is to inform the members of our great party, The Peoples Democratic Party that the leader of…

OSUN State Governor, Ademola Adeleke, has described the National President of the All Progressives Congress, Dr Abdullahi Ganduje, as a threat to democracy, urging President Bola Tinubu to caution the former Kano State governor. In a statement issued on Monday and signed by his media aide, Olawale Rasheed, Adeleke responded to Dr Umar Ganduje’s pledge to seize Osun in 2026, made in reaction to the APC’s victory in last Saturday’s Ondo State governorship election. Adeleke accused Ganduje of being discontent with the South West’s peace and unity behind President Tinubu and of attempting to stoke regional political tensions to undermine…

AFTER months of intense campaigns and political intrigues, Ondo residents have chosen their governor for the next four years – Lucky Aiyedatiwa. The Returning Officer for the election Olayemi Akinwumi, who is also the Vice-Chancellor of the Federal University, Lokoja, Kogi State declared Aiyedatiwa of the All Progressives Congress (APC) the winner of the election, extending the governor’s stay at the Government House in Alagbaka, Akure. Aiyedatiwa, the incumbent governor of the Sunshine State polled 366, 781 votes to defeat his closest rival and a former deputy governor of the state Ajayi Agboola who flew the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)…

THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has resumed collation of results in the Ondo Governorship election after a recess. The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has cleared all 18 local government area results announced so far with a strong lead in all. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) came second. The collation officer, Prof Olayemi Akinwunmi, had earlier announced a recess, said it is to allow for the arrival of results from the remaining local governments which he said are very far from Akure, the capital city. “I think we can just adjourn till 12 noon please, two remaining local governments…