VOL. 9. NO.133 N50Thursday, NOVember 6, 2014

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PeoPle First

Front Page Comment

•Governor Rauf Aregbesola’s lawyer, Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN), answering questions from newsmen within the court premises dur-ing the Osun 2014 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting at High Court, Osogbo, last Tuesday. Photo: GBENGA ADENIYI.

- see story on Page 2

- Pg 4

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PDP, APC reduce Witnesses

osun Governorship election tribunal:

osun Govt seeks Assembly’s Approv-al of N2bn CBN’s Credit scheme- see story

on Page 4

NAss seeks osun Parliament’s Ap-proval of Passed Constitutional Amendment Bill

resist Abuja impostors, tam-buwal tells Nigerians At A Colloquium For Aregbesolatambuwal: Jona-than running Au-tocratic Govt – APC Chieftain

- Pg 2

General election season dawns inexo-rably upon us. It’s in the air everywhere: the flood of posters and billboards; the endless chatter of radio and television jingles.The social media is as well abuzz with activities – every day we wake up to politicians and their campaign teams showing their faces on Twitter,

Pushing Democracy Forward, one step At A time -By tolu ogunlesi

and minions and “vol-trons” circle the waters frantically, looking for whom to devour on be-half of their principals. Regarding those princi-pals, there are two camps: Those who are doing it because they stand a chance of triumphing, and those doing it be-cause it is the best way to position yourself for the crumbs that will drop

after the dust has settled. This second group are the ones who know that the best way to get con-sidered for a com-missionership post in Nigeria is to make

about the governorship, get noticed, and then offer to drop your ambition in the spirit of sacrifice, and in exchange for some not-too-bad compensation. (You just have to love this country – nothing is ever what it seems!)

Elections will hold in 28 states; only in eight of these will incumbents be seeking re-election. The other 20 are coming to the end of their terms and will be seeking to anoint their successors, to the chagrin of other

Several governors will be looking to be-come senators, and several senators, gov-ernors. Already about seven ministers have resigned, to aspire for the governorship in their various states. Not all of them will suc-

Continue on pg5

2 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November

If you have a story or advert for us, contact 08033927286, 08033880205, 08061197897, 08023191891.

•East By-pass road constructed by the administration of Governor Rauf Aregbesola.

News

by kazeem mOhammed

by kazeem mOhammedosun tribunal: PDP, APC reduce Witness-ParTIes in the petition filed by the Peoples

democratic Party (PdP) and its governorship candidate in the august 9, 2014 governorship

election in the State of Osun, Iyiola Omisore, have agreed to streamline the number of their witnesses to meet up with the requirement of concluding the hearing of the petition within 180 days.

Omisore and PDP, as the first and second petitioners respectively, are challenging the re-elect ion of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his party, as first and second respondents, just as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was joined as third respondent.

Counsel to the petitioner, Chief Chris Uche (SAN), at the continued pre-hearing of the petition, indicated the intention of his clients to reduce the numbers of their witnesses from 1,000 to 500.

A l s o , c o u n s e l t o Aregbesola, Chief Akin

Olujinmi (SAN), indicated to streamline number of his 600 witnesses appropriately, just as counsel to the APC, Mr Kemi Pinheiro (SAN), said his 605 witnesses would also be reduced after the close of petitioners’ case.

Counsel to the INEC, Mr Ayotunde Ogunleye, also told the court that he has listed 18 witnesses.

All the respondents’ counsel also informed the court that some of the evidence of the petition would be allowed to be tendered by consent, while some would be disputed.

Earlier, the tribunal had ruled that the preliminary

objections raised against the petition by the respondents in the matter would be heard along with the substantive suit.

The tribunal Chairman, J u s t i c e E l i z a b e t h I k p e j i m e , s a i d t h e preliminary objections of the respondents are still pending and subsisting, but would be heard later in the course of the hearing to allow parties to ventilate their grievances.

According to her, the respondents have nothing to lose if the objections

are heard in the course of hearing, saying, this would rather guarantee substantial justice for the parties.

It stated that the ruling does not mean that the preliminary objections have been struck out, it only means that the application are still pending and would be heard later.

Besides, the tribunal has also adjourned till November 6, ruling on the request of the Accord Party governorship candidate, Mr Niyi Owolade, that the preliminary objection

against his petition too should also be heard along with his petition.

The court adjourned the matter for ruling after hearing arguments from counsel to the petitioner and the respondents.

O w o l a d e i s a l s o challenging the result of the election at the tribunal.

M e a n w h i l e , t h e former governor of the state, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, appeared before the tribunal as one of the counsel for Aregbesola.

His announcement as

one of the counsel caught the attention of lawyers and onlookers, who burst into laughter.

Oyinlola , a former National Secretary of the PDP, who defected to the APC few days to the governorship election was ousted by Aregbesola through the Court of Appeal.

NAss seeks osun Parliament’s Approval of Passed Constitutional Amendment The National Assembly has sought a

resolution of the State of Osun House of Assembly of Osun for the approval of the

Constitution Amendment Bill passed by the Senate and the house of representatives.

T h e r e q u e s t w a s contained in a letter by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Mr Salisu Mekasuha, read by the Speaker, Honourable

Najeem Salaam, at the House plenary session on Monday.

T h e h a r m o n i s e d vers ion of the b i l l ,

according to the letter, was passed on October 15 and 21, 2014 by the House of Representatives and Senate respectively.

The letter noted that the request for the approval of the state parliament by resolution was in line with Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution.

It reads: “This letter is forwarding the passed

bill to you and expect that you bring to the notice of members for approval by resolution in line with Section 9(2) of the 1999 Constitution.

“Attached is a copy of votes and proceedings of Wednesday, October 15 and Tuesday, October 21, 2014 for the House of Representative and the Senate respectively.

“Also enclosed is the clean copy of the bill, as passed by the National Assembly for o ther necessary action,” the letter explained.

Also at the plenary, the state legislature, at the committee of the whole, began the consideration of State of Osun Livestock Roaming Bill.

The bill, which was sponsored by member representing Ifedayo State Constituency, Honourable Afolabi Atolagbe, is seeking for a law to guide against the indiscriminate roaming of livestock on the streets in the state.

Quarry owners in-augurate New exco

by kazeem mOhammed

The New Day Building Materials Suppliers and Quarry Owners association in Osun state has inaugurated a new executive

council.The new executive

is led by Mr Waheed Owolabi Babarere.

Taking the oath of office at the association’s secretariat in Osogbo on Wednesday, the new chairman promised to act in accordance with the rules and regulations of the association.

H e a l s o s a i d h e would do everything within his power to ensure the progress and development of the association.

Owolabi also stated that his executive would pursue unity and love among members of the association.

C a l l i n g f o r t h e supports of members of the association, the chairman said he would be t ransparent and welcome useful advises that would assist him for the benefit of members.

P e r f o r m i n g t h e swearing-in ceremony, the state Chairman of Quarrable Association, Mr Soliu Odunayo urged the new executive not to listen to hearsays, as such could disorganise the association.

H e u r g e d t h e c h a i r m a n t o b e accomodating and carry members along, just as he urged members to cooperate and support the leadership of the association to succeed.

Also, the Ataoja of Osogbo, who was represented by his Second-in-Command, C h i e f S u l a i m a n Olaonipekun urged the new executive to be fair to all members and act in accordance to oath of office.

H e a l s o u r g e d members to support the new executive and

APC Aspirant Canvasses lev-el-playing Ground At Prima-aN All Progressives Congress (APC) aspirant

for Odo-Otin/Ifelodun/Boripe Federal Const i tuency seat , in the house of

Representatives, Prince Ayodele Kusamatu (PAK), has called on the leadership of the party to create a level playing ground for all aspirants at the party’s primaries.

This, he said, would establish the fact that APC believes in internal democracy and prevent internal crisis within the party.

He spoke last week

Friday at the state party secretariat when he came to obtain his Expression of Interest form.

He noted that rumours have started flying around that only one Expression of Interest and Nomination

forms were available for each of the federal constituencies in the state in the case of House of Representatives.

The aspirant noted that to prove the rumour mongers wrong, the party should do the needful to exonerate the party leadership from being castigated.

C a l l i n g o n o t h e r a s p i r a n t s n o t t o b e desperate in their ambition t o o c c u p y p o l i t i c a l positions, Kusamotu was

optimistic that the party leaders would create level-playing ground for all aspirants.

He however, promised to use legislative means o f s o l v i n g s o m e o f the challenges of his constituents if given the opportunity to represent the federal constituency in the 2015 elections.

by murTaLa agbOOLa

3 News OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November

•Co-ordinator of Progressive Support Group (PSG), Comrade Lukman Oseni (3rd right), in a group photograph with the group members after the Olorunda State Constituency meeting of the group in Osogbo last Sunday.

resist Abuja impostors, tambuwal tells Nigerians At A Colloquium For Aregbesola by kehINde ayaNTuNjI

The speaker of the house of representatives, Aminu Tambuwal, on Sunday, commended the people of the State of Osun for “resisting

principalities from Abuja” and re-electing Governor Rauf Aregbesola on August 9, 2014.

He urged all Nigerians to do the same in 2015, and elect a new government that can provide leadership

to the country.Tambuwal spoke in

Lagos at a colloquium f o r G o v e r n o r R a u f

Aregbesola, organised by The Gazelle News, his first public appearance since his security details were withdrawn, due to his defection from the ruling-Peop les Democra t i c Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

He said the PDP-led Federal Government tried as much as possible to scuttle the re-election of Aregbesola and the victory of the APC in Osun.

He said: “I congratulate t he peop l e o f O s un f o r r e s i s t i n g t h o s e p r i n c i p a l i t i e s f r o m

Abuja; for resisting those members of the armed forces and security agents, who should have been at Sambisa Forest then but were misdirected and were unleashed on the peaceful people of Osun.

“Therefore, in 2015, the people of the Federal

Republic of Nigeria should remain resolved to exercise their franchise and ensure that they elect people who can provide leadership.

“This country belongs to all of us. It doesn’t belong to a cabal; it doesn’t belong to an individual.

“We are all stakeholders in the Nigerian project. We should come together and ensure that come 2015, we will get the right leadership for this country.”

The Speaker refused to speak in details about the issues surrounding his defection.

He said: “Since the beginning of the drama in Abuja, I’ve not made any public appearance before today. The matter is in court, I’ll not say much but to draw attention to this. Before my defection, the governor of Ondo State defected alongside the Speaker of that state legislature. I believe there was no pronouncement by the Inspector-General of Police that the Speaker had lost his seat.”

Aregbesola thanked all those who contributed to his success at the polls including a former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu; a former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola; and Alhaji Kawu Baraje, who represented former President Olusegun O b a s a n j o , w h o w a s scheduled to chair the occasion.

He however, warned that recent events in Burkina Faso was a clarion call to Nigerians to get ready for a revolution in 2015 in the case the PDP-led Federal Government attempted to rig the election.

He said: “It won’t come cheap. It didn’t come cheap in Osun. We fought and fought and fought to be able to resist them.

“From the surveys we have conducted, the PDP cannot win any free and fair election in any part of Nigeria because they have brought woes, sorrows and tears to Nigerians and they must just go.”

The National Legal Adviser of the APC, Muiz Banire, who was the Guest Speaker at the event, noted that it was Aregbesola’s popularity that won the election for the party.

He urged the party t o e m b r a c e i n t e r n a l democracy that would ensure that the most popular aspirants emerged as the party’s candidates.

Banire a lso kicked a g a i n s t z o n i n g a n d religious consideration in making the choice of candidates.

tambuwal: Jonathan running Autocratic Govt – APC Chieftainby IsmaeeL uThmaN

a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the State of Osun, Barrister Kunle Oyatomi, has lashed out to President Goodluck Jonathan, the

Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba and the Department of State Security over the withdrawal of the security personnel attached to the Speaker of the Federal House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal.

All the security agencies withdrew their agents from Tambuwal , the four th Nigerian citizen by political delineation, following his defection from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC.

R e a c t i n g t o t h e Ta m b u w a l ’s t r a v a i l s , Oya tomi , who i s t he Director of Publ ic i ty, Media and Strategy of the APC in the state, described President Jonathan as ‘just an individual running an autocratic government’ with a total disregard to the constituency he swore to uphold.

According to Oyatomi, who spoke to OsuN DEFENDER on Tuesday, t h e w i t h d r a w a l o f Tambuwa’s security is a flagrant abuse of power and the fundamental human rights as guaranteed in the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

Oyatomi said: “The w i t h d r a w a l o f t h e Honourable Tambuwa’s security personnel can be described as going back to

the 17th century of the dark era of the military.

“When you talk about democracy, you are talking about the rule of law.

“The primary thing is that we are being guided by some rules and such rules should be adhered to very strictly, because that is the fundamental reason why the rules are there. If the rules are not there, it is a different thing. When the rules are there, that means there is check and balances.

“ W e h a v e o u r constitution, our Acts, Electoral law and many other written laws. These are laws that can actually pattern the conduct of the people. The withdrawal of Tambuwa’s security is barbaric, reprehensible on the part of the police and DSS because I really don’t know on which ground they are standing.

“The security apparatus a r e b e i n g p a r t i s a n . Everybody in Nigerian understands what is called power. Tambuwal is the fourth citizen of Nigeria

by ranking. It is clearly unacceptable on the part of the police and DSS to act the way they have acted. It is wrong.

“President Jonathan has taken government so personal. When you take the issue of governance so personal, and not having the

passion to uplift the standard of living of the people; when you cannot actually ensure that there is sanity in the country, when you think that it is all about you, you are not fit to be president. You are a president because people want you to be there.

“The IGP is not fit to

occupy that position, He is partisan. The IGP sworn to an oath to be fair to everybody, irrespective of where they come from, their religion, tribe and background. You cannot be an IG of the PDP or the Presidency. What have happened has shown that our security heads are robots, Zone B.

Group Pledges to ensure APC Wins 2015 electionsa political youth group within the All

Progressive Congress (aPC) has registered its readiness to work with the leadership of the

party to ensure a smooth second term administration for the governor of the state of Osun, Ogbeni rauf Aregbesola.

The group, Progressive Support Group (PSG), with membership in all the local government council areas that make up the state in its inaugural meeting resolved to galvanize its members in all the council areas to work towards the progress of the governor as he is about to begin his second term on November 27, 2014.

The group Co-ordinator; Comrade Lukman Oseni, stated that PSG, after

its inaugural meeting, resolved to ensure that no member of the APC within the group decamped to the opposition parties.

The group also resolved to involve its members in every activity of the APC and also to make sure that the party achieves maximum success at the polls during the 2015 genera l e lec t ions in February.

PSG also called on party leaders in all the

wards and councils within the state to see it as a partner in progress, as the members have resolved that they would campaign rigorously for candidates that the APC endorses in next year’s general elections.

They maintained that the PSG is not a rival g roup bu t r a the r i t comprises of youths in the State of Osun.

As part of the activities towards ensuring a 100 per cent victory in next year’s election, another member of the group, Comrade Jamiu Ibrahim, a l s o r e v e a l e d t h a t they were prepared to mobilize all its members in all the wards and local government council areas throughout the state.

by FRANCIS EzEDIuNO

OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November 4 News

•

osun Police Command Warns Against Political Vio-lence Ahead 2015

by kehINde ayaNTuNjI

The Osun State Police Command has warned against political violence and illegal public procession, which are capable of

truncating the existing peace in the state ahead of 2015 general elections.

The police warned that the command will not spare anyone who violates the Public Order Act and Electoral Act in conducting political activities.

T h e S t a t e Commissioner of Police, Abubakar Marafa, said this during a one-day workshop on “Public Order and Control of Procession Ahead 2015 Elections, Electoral Law and Enforcement on Polling Days, Managing Election Results and Reactions in Relation to Outbreak Violence.”

The workshop, held at the CP Conference Room, State Police Command in Osogbo, cut across all the political parties, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), civil society

groups, religious leaders and media practitioners.

Acco rd ing t o t he police boss, who was

represented by Officer-i n - C h a r g e L e g a l Department, Akanwa Promise, said the police considered it necessary to interact and educate the stakeholders on electoral laws enforcement and prevention of violence before and during the elections.

H e s o l i c i t e d t h e c o o p e r a t i o n o f t h e stakeholders, especially, political parties and the

media ahead of the 2015 general elections.

Chairman, Nigeria Bar Association (NBA), Ikirun branch, Barrister O. Olaniran, said to have a free and fair elections in 2015, INEC must ensure strict adherence to the provisions of the Constitution and the 2010 Electoral Act.

He also called on the commission to ensure transparency, saying

Politicians, Media should Be responsible During elec-tions - security expertby FRANCIS EzEDIuNO

IN the light of the recent development in the socio-political life of the people of the State of Osun immediately after the August 9, 2014

gubernatorial election, in which the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, convincingly defeated his opponent, a security expert and social commentator has called on all stakeholders not to unnecessarily heat up the polity by fomenting different kinds of lies just to get undue attention.

Mr. Eric Ibikunle, who was disclosing to

OSuN DEFENDER in a private chat, derided some politicians, who had lost worth with the people, as being the source of the misinformation that had been causing undue tension in the state.

In his words: “The way some desperate politicians are taking politics in this country does not speak

well of how far we have come in our democratic journey.

“We must realise that in any democracy, the people decide who they want through popular vote, which must be seen to be free and fair to all.

“If these key ingredients are missing, then there must be something wrong

somewhere.“The recent events

i m m e d i a t e l y a f t e r the Eki t i and Osun gubernatorial elections say a lot. It demonstrated that politicians do not want to accept defeat, even when they know they still have another chance to test their popularity in another electoral contest, when a term expires. After all, the winner will not be

the Constitution and the Electoral Act have empowered them to protect the mandate of the people.

Sunday Abomhle , from the Police Legal Depar tmen t , t a sked t h e m e d i a t o p a y more attention to the sensitisation of voters, most especially, at the grassroots.

there forever.”Ibikunle called on the

people to stay true to their votes, as nobody would rob them of their votes as it was the only right they had.

He explained that the recent style adopted by some defeated politicians to continually lie through the mass media was akin to what obtained in Adolf Hitler’s Nazi Germany, where the instrumentality of cheap lies was used to rally the Germans to a cause, which ended up proving disastrous for them.

Ibikunle also used the opportunity to call the media to order, as people perceived any information they obtained from them as genuine because of their roles as the fourth estate of the realm.

“ I w i l l l i k e t o admonish our brothers in the media to properly verify their news sources before publishing. They should also realise that whatsoever they publish is usually taken as the truth by their audience and before false information could be retracted, the intended damage would have been done.

“ T h e r e c e n t development has clearly demonstrated that in Nigeria, ‘who pays the piper calls the tune’ and this is not a good development after 15 years of our democratic journey,” he added.

He noted that Nigerian information managers were fond of disseminating informat ion wi thout proper verification, all in a bid to outdo one another and keep the interests of their audience.

osun Govt seeks Assembly’s Approval of N2bn CBN’s Credit scheme

by kazeem mOhammedgOVerNOr of the state of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has sought the approval of the State House of Assembly for the

participation of the state in the N2 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

The request was made by the governor, through a letter dated October 23, 2014 and read by the Speaker, Honourable Najeem Salaam at the plenary on Monday.

According to the letter, the scheme was meant to create employment,

wealth and facilitate economic development of the state.

This, the letter added, was in line with the six-point integral action plan of the administration.

Reading the letter, t h e S p e a k e r s a i d : “You will recall that

our government has formal ly reques ted to be considered as a beneficiary of N2 billion Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund with the Central Bank of Nigeria.

“The scheme is meant to create employment, wealth and economic development of our dear state, which is in line

with our administration’s six-point integral action plan, which is banishing hunger.

“Apart from entering into MoU with CBN among o the r s , t he resolution of the House is also a condition to be submitted to the CBN before the fund could be accessed.

“ C o n s e q u e n t l y , I wish to request for the resolution of the

House to approve the participation of the State of Osun in the CBN’s N2 billion Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund.”

Subsequently, the Speaker directed the H o u s e C o m m i t t e e o n F i n a n c e a n d Appropriation, as well as the House Committee on Commerce, Cooperatives and Empowerment to liaise with appropriate ministries and agencies of government to know the depth of the request

•(L-R) Special Adviser to State of Osun Governor on Youths, Sports and Special Needs, Comrade Biyi Odunlade; Secretary to the State Government of Osun, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti; state Commissioner for finance, Dr Wale Bolorunduro and the Deputy Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Akintunde Adegboye during the flag-off ceremony of Oranmiyan New Town by State Of Osun governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola recently.

5 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November 6, 2014

by IsmaeeL uThmaN

Pushing Democracy Forward, one step At A time -By tolu ogun-

Those who don’t will be banking on the prospects of compensation when – or if – the Peoples Democratic Party retains control of the Federal Government. Some of them might return as ministers, others, ambassadors.

All of the politicking – amplified by news headlines and newspaper columns and the internet – makes you ask yourself, in quieter moments, to what end? Are we doing politics for the sake of politics, solely for the bitter battles and the control of the mechanisms of patronage, or is all of this happening for a larger purpose: to better the lives of millions of ordinary Nigerians.

Looking back at 15 years of democracy, is this where we should be? Should our genera-tors still be this loud in their nightly crying? Should our First Lady or the governors still be rushing abroad for medical treatment?

Travelling around the country it is easy to be disappointed by how little distance we have covered, in terms of development, in 15 years. There are culprits at every level.

In the case of the Federal Government, its continuing neglect of important inter-state roads is tragic. (I’ll leave the electricity discussion for another day).

In the states, a good number of governors are, to say it the Nigerian way, “trying.” Stan-dards of performance for the 2007/2011 set of governors appears to be somewhat higher than what we saw with their predecessors.

But even then, we still have many governors for whom almost nothing good can be said. In Benue State, Governor Gabriel Suswam is confidently heading to the Senate on a rather dismal record: public primary schools in the state only recently reopened after eight months of strike, while there is a three-month backlog of civil servants’ salaries. But he seems assured his Senate seat is already waiting for him. There are others like him, confident even in their similarly mediocre performance.

The local governments are the worst. If they were scrapped today, the only difference would be in the relief to be enjoyed from citizens thankfully rid of their thug-enforced revenue collections (radio and TV licences, car towing fees etc).

Unfortunately, there is almost no partisan competition at local government level any-where in the country. The party in power in the state automatically assumes control of the local government structure; opposition parties stand almost no chance of making a dent. Armed with their SIECs, our governors become mini-tyrants when it comes to local government matters, concerned only about political control, not service to the people.

One of the next milestones of our slow dem-ocratic journey should be the enthronement of real democracy at the local government level.

Sometimes, these things seem like wishful thinking, but I’m convinced that change is possible in our politics. It might be annoyingly slow, but things change. Already, we are get-ting used to the idea of having relatively free and fair elections, aided by the presence of technology in the form of mobile phones and social media.

Electoral victories are also no longer being

taken for granted. I remember 1999, when the Alliance for Democracy, riding on the back of the Awolowo mystique, swept the South-West. The joke back then was that if the AD had fielded a goat or monkey, it would still have won. It seems like we have come a long way since those days.

Now, the electorate are becoming more so-phisticated and discriminating, it would seem, and are more likely to give, in their decision-making, as much weight to individual candidates as to political party symbols.

While there are still some states that are virtual one-party states, like Enugu and Ebonyi (where I spent the weekend), which are firmly in the grip of the PDP – in these states, the PDP governorship primaries will be the real election; the polling in February 2015 will be no more than a formality – elsewhere things are changing.

Take the example of Rivers State, which, until last year was one of the biggest pieces of the PDP’s landslide-dispensing electoral jug-gernaut. Months ago, while on a visit to Port Harcourt, I was told by one resident that “the All Progressives Congress had no chance in the state. Rivers has always been a PDP State, bla bla”. It was easy to believe back then. But recent events seem to be casting a strong doubt on that anti-APC confidence, and now no one is sure anymore. The turnout at the recent Governor Chibuike Amaechi mega rally was for me a big surprise. Amaechi of course took advantage of this to taunt the President, saying: “The President says we exist only on posters and billboards. So, we brought a large billboard for him. If the President is not watching (the rally), they will give him security report.”

Scenarios like the one in Rivers are a wel-come development for me because I believe that electoral uncertainty should be one of the corner-

stones of any democracy. There’s no point to democracy if one side is always guaranteed a win, regardless of its levels of performance, or of the quality of the credentials of its can-didates. And for too long, sadly, that is how Nigerian politics has been. The PDP has taken for granted its ability to win the Presidency, as the APC has its ability to win Lagos State.

Regular upsets would be more than wel-come. While I continue to stick to my argu-ments that the APC and PDP are in the strict sense not (yet) real political parties, and are to a large extent easily interchangeable on account of an absence of true ideological foundations, it is still important to realise that they – whatever you might want to call them – are the build-ing blocks of our democracy. If one of them was to vanish, we would be stuck with a one-party state, and no democracy. Give me two imperfect parties over a perfect monopolising one any day.

The fear of the loss of power is the begin-ning of political sensibleness, I believe. If a party realises that it can always be dumped by voters then it is more likely to seek to put its best foot forward. And in those conditions, a war for talent between our political camps – like the ones we see in the European football leagues – is likelier. That, as far as I see it, can only be a good thing for our burgeoning democracy. Going along with that argument, I think the most exciting electoral scenario of 2015 would be the APC losing Lagos, and the PDP losing Aso Rock.

Wishful thinking – or solid possibility?

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Computer Operator – Saheed AfolabiComputer Operator – Mary AkintolaAssistant Computer Operator – Lukman Oseni OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guarantee Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun.All correspondence to the above mail address.ISSN: 0794-8050Telephone: 0803-392-7286, 08033880205Website: www.osundefender.com/index.phpe-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com

ideas, Not emotions, rule the World AL R E A D Y, t h e

firmament has been p a i n t e d i n t h e

tar coat of misgivings, primordial emotions and ut ter misconcept ions . Sadly, matters of religion, e thnic i ty, weal th and wherefrom have relegated c o r e i s s u e s o f g o o d governance such as the economy, employment, wealth creation, security and unity, infrastructure, power and energy, health and education.

Meanwhile, APC would expand the horizon of democracy in the land, if it could subject the aspirants to a trade test of discussion on issues that touch the hearts of the ordinary Nigerian. True leadership should be about pragmatic ideas, provable antecedents and enduring future culture.

I recently watched with relish how a young man, Ola Fabiyi, projected Atiku on television, as the bedrock of democracy in Nigeria, buttressing his points with the celebrated 21 landmark cases that have today enriched the law

and people. He also told the world that the former Vice President is a wealth creator and job generator of repute. Not done, he upped Atiku as a policy developer and implementer, who has copyright for the Niger Delta Ministry, among others.

Ideas rule the world. Imag ine the F inance Minister and Coordinator

of the Economy, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, telling the world that trouble looms for petro-dollar Nigeria with the price of oil spiralling in the global market. After all, a great leader often emerges from the ashes of a national disaster that requires a collective courage to rise again. That is a desirable change. Hence, the APC should be receptive to the idea of having a long-

lasting change, rather than a short-lived whirlwind that will blow no good to anyone.

The candidates should p r o v e t h e i r m e t t l e through rigorous internal p a r t y i n t e r r o g a t i o n a n d s u p e r v i s i o n ; t o avoid a situation, where the p r i zed sadd le o f Nigeria’s presidency is wrongly handed over to

yet another unprepared individual that will muddle our commonwealth and common conscience. This is in line with the socio-political principle of British philosopher, Lord Acton, who opined that: “For forms of government, let the fools contest; whatever is best administered is best governed. It is therefore sensible to wear the cap on the head it fits, perfectly.

For the presence of the word best, in lexicon, surely thrashes better as a misnomer.

Finally, it is only logical to reason that those who cannot create wealth may not be the best manager of wealth. And no true direct foreign investor would want to risk his or her hard-earned resources into the custody of a non-savvy and inexperienced political leader, one without modern economic know-how and global acceptability.

Nigeria today needs help! And APC must prescribe the right human asset panacea, the desired change, for a nation that is hungry for socio-economic emancipation and political rejuvenation.

•AlABA YuSuF, jabi, Abuja.

Continued from pg1

OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November 6 FOR THE RECORDS

osun election: A Pathway to Nigeria’s Democratic The people must be integrated

into the party while the party must be incorporated into the people.

Protocol

IT is ordinarily a sufficient pleasure to be part of today’s event being a celebration of a great success story in the annals of our nation. However, it is a greater pleasure with a tinge of humbling effects to be the person to speak before this distinguished gathering where the cream de la cream of Nigerian politics are assembled.

Today’s event is a great story in many respects. One, it is a confirmation of our aspiration to be recorded in world records as part of civilised nations on one hand, but on the other, it is an opportunity to reflect on the unenthusiastic state of our polity being strangulated by certain retrogressive forces whose antecedents in statesmanship are questionable and political consciousness brazenly criminal. However, it must be realised that today’s occasion is not a jamboree to treat ourselves to fulsome praises and self-indulgent congratulatory back-patting adverts but a window to do a clinical diagnosis of our political malaise and a prognosis into our uncertain future as a nation.

We would all recall that a governorship election held in the State of Osun on the 9th day of August, 2014 in which the honouree of today’s event, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, emerged the winner. It is not the victory of this great son of Oodua that made the election spectacular but rather the war-like circumstances in which the election was held during which the psyche of the nation and the progressive forces in the State of Osun were subjected to physical and mental siege.

Prior to the election and few weeks therefrom, the governorship election in Ekiti State was held in which our party, All Progressives Congress lost in questionable circumstances. It was a great setback but it was also a revelation of what might befall us in Osun if greater care was not taken despite the popularity of our candidate. A Yoruba adage says: iku to pa ojugba eni, owe lo pa fun ni - which means, the demise of a neighbour is a clear signal of one’s mortality. We took a cue from that as we knew that the setting in Ekiti was a reinvention of the Hobbessian state of nature in which life was being made nasty, brutish and might at any time be cut short.

The Siege

The catholic acceptability of the personality of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola dates back to his eventful declaration to contest the governorship seat in the then Osun State on the 16th day of April, 2005 where multitudes trooped out to welcome him around Station Road in Osogbo, the capital of the State. This has been a regular feature at every occasion from the time when this monumental icon stepped into public view up in the State of Osun up to the election time in 2007 and thereafter till this moment.

Incidentally, this state of events has been a terror to the Peoples Democratic Party government and its rogue clan of violent stooges in Osun who have vowed to recapture the State by all means possible. The plan was to deploy the entire machinery of state terror whereof seventy thousand armed soldiers, policemen, officers of the State Security Service and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps were to provide shield for a horde of Niger/Delta snipers who had been imported

into the State two weeks to the election and local PDP thugs in the bid to unleash massive brutality on leaders and members of All Progressives Congress and the general electorate.

Thus, in the façade of providing security for the electoral process, the Federal Government at the instance of Peoples Democratic Party mobilised thousands of security officers into the State few weeks to the election. Most of them were fully masked, all armed to the teeth and displayed poetic love for violence as they shot sporadically into the air to scare the people of the State. The machinery of federalism as preserved by the Constitution had been wiped off as the only thing the Federal Government had not done was mere paper declaration of state of emergency in Osun. The armed men roamed the streets of the various towns in lorry loads in scary appearances while the candidate of PDP, Iyiola Omisore, did not spare a moment to let the world know that he was out to capture the State for keeps.

However, whenever these agents and merchants of death shot into the air whether in broad daylight or in the dark recesses of the night, the determined people of Osun hailed the bullet rains with the slogan of “APC – Change” or “Aregbesola for second term” which tended to infuriate the armed terrorists more. Iyiola Omisore’s campaign venues were utterly deserted save for a few who wanted to collect his money and later vote their conscience. On the other hand were the tumultuous crowds that attended Aregbesola’s rallies in different towns, villages and communities. This continued to send jitters down the spine of the PDP goons who rather tried to mask their unpopularity by what they termed house-to-house campaign and tried to perfect their rigging machinery by purchasing voters’ cards of innocent registered voters in order to decimate the huge number of supporters and sympathisers of Ogbeni. All these failed to achieve the desired goal.

All these intimidating credentials of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola left the PDP elements with no other option than to bolster their resolve to further

militarise the electoral process more. Despite the fact that the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria has no power under the Constitution to deploy the military for electoral process and notwithstanding the pendency of the suits filed by APC at the Federal High Court, Osogbo, challenging the unconstitutional deployment of soldiers for electoral purpose, the PDP government at the centre, not enamoured with the glorious dictates of the rule of law, proceeded in a determined manner to use the same formulae it deployed to win Ekiti few weeks back.

On the eve of the election, there was total clampdown on the people. Hundreds of leaders and members of APC, loyal supporters of Ogbeni and members of the electorate were arrested by the combined contingents of soldiers, policemen, SSS and NSCDC officials. Knowing that the usual practice of the Inspector General of Police of declaring curfew whenever an election would be held was illegal, this time the Federal Government or the IG made no express declaration of curfew in the State of Osun but the manner in which human and vehicular traffic and activities were shut down by the security forces of PDP was a complete coup detat against popular democracy. Close to eight hundred members of APC were clamped in detention overnight between the 8th and 9th October, 2014. They were held all through the election period on the 9th day of August, 2014 without being allowed to exercise their right to vote.

The rampaging dogs of terror spared no effort and had no respect for anyone. While Alhaji Lai Mohammed had to be taught “when to sleep” by the SSS as he was arrested on his way to the Government House, Oke Fia, Osogbo on the night of the 8th October and was seriously manhandled by some illiterate PDP members who were leading the soldiers to arrest APC leaders and members, the Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice of the State of Osun, Mr. Wale Afolabi, did not know that there was already a coup without martial music as he was also arrested and detained for several

hours overnight. The Commissioner for Agriculture, Mr. Wale Adedoyin was arrested while the PDP thugs and soldiers invaded the premises of Senator Bayo Salami and the Chairman of Osogbo Local Government, shooting sporadically to threaten them into submission. Scores of other leaders and government officials suffered similar fates in the hands of these agents of backwardness.

Various degrees of injuries were inflicted on the members of APC arrested by the lawless men in uniform. The PDP thugs used the opportunity to re-introduce their reign of terror which they incontinently practised in between 2007 and 2010 and the height of it all was when they invaded the Government House in Osogbo without any justifiable reason whatsoever in the early hours of the 9th day of August, 2014. They were promptly resisted by the courageous Governor who had instructed that no armed personnel must be allowed entry into the premises save and except upon his permission. The only option left was for the Federal Government to be ready to fight its way into the State Government House and probably the federal government would have won a medal for being the first civilian government to kill a civilian governor while in office. The message was clear and there was immediate retreat by the agents of darkness.

The Unconstitutionality of Militarisation of Electoral Process

It is our position that the use of military men to conduct elections is completely unconstitutional. It is the apogee of lawlessness and the zenith of impunity for any president to deploy soldiers to monitor or conduct elections in Nigeria. Political jobbers and profiteers may fail to read the Constitution appropriately, but it is certain that the provision of section 217 of the 1999 Constitution which establishes the armed forces of the Federation has a mission for its establishment as it provides as follows:

“217.-(1) There shall be an armed forces for the Federation which shall

Continued on page 7

•All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Alhaji Kawu Baraje (middle); Governor, State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); his wife, Sherifat (right) and the Speaker, House of Representatives, Right Hon. Aminu Tambuwal, at the colloquium for Aregbesola, at Eko Hotel, Lagos State, on Sunday.

Being an address delivered by Barrister Muiz Banire, Guest Speaker at The Victory Colloquium for Governor Rauf Aregbesola, organized by Gazelle News on Sunday at Eko Hotel, Lagos.

OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November 6, 2014 7for the records

osun election: A Pathway to Nigeria’s Democratic

consist of an Army, a Navy, an Air Force and such other branches of the armed forces of the Federation as may be established by an Act of the National Assembly.

(2)The Federation shall, subject to an Act of the National Assembly made in that behalf, equip and maintain the armed forces as may be considered adequate and effective for the purpose of -

(a) defending Nigeria from external aggression;

(b) maintaining its territorial integrity and securing its borders from violation on land, sea or air;

(c) suppressing insurrection and acting in aid of civil authorities to restore order when called upon to do so by the President, but subtract to such conditions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly; and

(d) performing such other functions as may be prescribed by an Act of the National Assembly.

(3) The composition of the officer corps and other ranks of the armed forces of the Federation shall reflect the federal character of Nigeria.”

While we acknowledge the provision of section 218(1) of the Constitution which gives the President the power to determine the operational use of the armed forces as well as the similar provisions of section 8 of the Armed Forces Act Cap A20, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004, it is indisputable that the operational use as may be determined by the President still has to be within the scope of the purpose of establishing the armed forces as enumerated in section 217 of the 1999 Constitution.

It is our position further that if the drafters of the 1999 Constitution intended the President’s power to determine the operational use of the armed forces as unbridled, they would not have stated the purpose of the establishment of the armed forces in section 217 of the 1999 Constitution in such limited terms. In this regard, the Supreme Court has held that in interpreting the provisions of the Constitution, the sections are never to be read in isolation. In Lafia Local Government v. Gov. Nasarawa State [2012] 17 NWLR (Pt. 1328) 94 at 126,

paras. D-E, Rhodes-Vivour, JSC held thus:“Interpretation of sections of the

Constitution reveals the intention of the Legislature, and so sections of the Constitution are never to be read in isolation. They should be interpreted in a way that on no account should one section defeat the intent of another section.”

In the same case of Lafia Local Govt. at page 138, para. H, Fabiyi, JSC noted that:

“… related sections of the Constitution ought to be interpreted together so as to produce a harmonious result.”

The Court of Appeal, way back in 2005, gave effect to this submission of ours when in Yusuf v. Obasanjo [2005] 18 NWLR (Pt. 956) 96 it pronounced as follows:

“It is up to the police to protect our nascent democracy and not the military, otherwise the democracy might be wittingly or unwittingly militarised. This is not what the citizenry bargained for in wrestling power from the military in 1999. Conscious step or steps should be taken to civilianise the polity to ensure the survival and sustenance of democracy.”

The same Court of Appeal in the later case of Buhari v. Obasanjo (2005) 1 WRN 1 @ 200 maintained in clear and unambiguous terms that

“In spite of the non-tolerant nature and behaviours of our political class in this country, we should by all means try to keep armed personnel of whatever status or nature from being part and parcel of our electoral process. The civilian authorities should be left to conduct and carry out fully the electoral processes at all levels.”

It is interesting to note that the Supreme Court did not shy away from this issue in the same case of Buhari v. Obasanjo [2005] 13 NWLR (Pt. 941) 1 @ 300 – 301, where the apex Court condemned the use of soldiers for electoral process in lucid language and enjoined that it is the duty of the government to guarantee that

“That in this day age in this country that has been independent for 45 years we can still witness horrendous acts by security officers who ought to dutifully ensure peace and tranquillity in the election process suddenly turning themselves into agents of destruction, and introduce mayhem to what ordinarily would have been a civilised way of exercising franchise by the people who are sovereign, is regrettable. I ascribe the nefarious activities of thugs and a few

Continued from page 6

To be continued

security officers and party men to lack of understanding of the philosophy and ethics behind election in a democratic state and lack of understanding of the dynamics of election process…. There must be statewide enlightenment programme educating the masses as to their rights as to how the citizens who are sovereign can exercise their franchise freely, unmolested and undisturbed.”

Despite the above pronouncements of the courts of the land, it speaks of abnormality and lunatic syndrome to find government still deploying soldiers in order to rig elections for its favoured candidates while shamelessly professing allegiance to the hallowed principles of rule of law. The imposition of terror is certainly aimed at making the election less participatory and to enhance chances for certain untowards activities to be perpetrated under the cover of military paraphernalia. We strongly condemn this in unbridled terms and yours faithfully was a victim of military highhandedness on the day of the election in Osun as I was subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment by military men while attempting to exit the State. While I would not go into the details of this development, I must notify you that I have filed an action at the Federal High Court, Osogbo for the protection of my fundamental rights in this regard.

We must remember that the High Court of Anambra State recently awarded damages in favour of Mallam Nasir El-Rufai due to infringements similar to mine perpetrated by security personnel on the day of the Anambra governorship election. We definitely cannot continue this way and expect to be recognised among civilised countries of the world. There must be an end to this impunity whoever might be responsible for it.

Politics of ‘Stomach Infrastructure’In the course of all these and noticing

the failures attending their efforts, the Federal Government and the PDP marauders in the State of Osun and those recruited from other States, introduced electorate bribery in the name of what they called ‘stomach infrastructure’ in which they started distributing rice and kerosene to the people. PDP enlisted the support of a number of derelict renegades from some other States who bankrolled the process. While a huge sum

of 10 billion Naira was reportedly made available by the Federal Government for the campaign of the PDP candidate and electoral bribery of the masses, they opened a luciferous money-for-soul business in which they started distributing money to the people in order to secure their votes. They made spirited efforts to discredit the government of Aregbesola but the popularity of this master strategist kept on growing in leaps and bounds as the masses kept on renewing their pledge of solidarity to him on a daily basis. Many people collected the money, rice and kerosene being shared by PDP but refused to vote against their conscience.

PdP rigging effortsA few days before the election, a

stakeholders’ meeting was organised by INEC in which Professor Attahiru Jega and the new Inspector General of Police were present. The announcement by the new IG that people should return to their various homes immediately after voting was the most unpopular public statement ever made in recent times as the people present at the meeting roundly rejected this directive. The IG also came up with a new one when he said polling agents of political parties should not be seen at the polling booths. One wondered what happened to the relevant provisions of the Electoral Act which required every political party to be represented at the polling units by its agents in order to monitor the election. When there was thunderous reprobation against this directive, the IG directed that polling agents should stay at least 300 metres from the polling booths. It was the general conclusion that the man did not know the length of a metre and could not have appreciated that directing agents to stay 300 metres away from the polling units was telling them not to come to the polling units at all.

If polling agents are kept 300 metres away from the polling units, how are they to perform their statutory duties of monitoring the election, ensuring compliance with the provisions of the Electoral Act like prevention of underage voters, ensuring valid and proper accreditation, etc.? It is the duty of the polling agents to be at the distribution of electoral materials from the distribution centres to the polling booths. See Section 43(3) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended). Most importantly, Section 43(4) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) provides that

“[A] polling agent shall be entitled to be present at the distribution of election materials, voting, counting and the collation of election results.”

One wonders what the IG wanted to achieve by his directive in view of the provisions of the law referred to above.

Other efforts made towards rigging the election for PDP were promptly exposed to the press. For instance, there was the case of the Electoral Officer of Obokun Local Government Area who was arrested by young APC members a day to the election while illegally transporting electoral materials before the time for allocation and distribution of materials. The said Electoral Officer and his partner were taken to the State Criminal Investigation Department office in Osogbo and handed over to the police. Unfortunately, the two were promply released in the afternoon of that same day to one Oladipo Oladapo, a PDP chieftain from Ile-Ife.

•(R-L) first Lady State of Osun, Alhaja Sherifat Aregbesola; Governor Rauf Aregbesola; former Governor, State of Osun, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Speaker, House of Representatives, Hon. Aminu Tambuwal and other dignitaries during theVictory Col-loquium for Aregbesola, at Eko Hotel, Lagos State, on Sunday.

8 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November phototalkOsun 2014 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal Sitting At High Court, Osogbo, Last Tuesday. Photo: gbeNga adeNIyI.

•(L-R) Chief Akin Olujimi (SAN) and Chief Charles Edosowan (SAN).

•A cross section of newsmen on the occasion.

•A cross section of lawyers inside the court.

•former PDP Secretary in the State of Osun now a members of All Progressive Congress (APC), Mr Yinka Adeojo (2nd left) and other lawyers.

9OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November 6, 2014 phototalk

•A cross section of political parties.

•PDP counsel, Chris uche (SAN), answering questions from newsmen within the court premises.

•Security officials within the court premises.

Osun 2014 Governorship Election Petition Tribunal Sitting At High Court, Osogbo, Last Tuesday. Photo: gbeNga adeNIyI.

10 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November feature

Politicking With economy in Face of Hunger, No THE federal monthly

allocation to states for sometimes now has

nosedived. Consequently, serious political discussion on the implication of it on the welfare, and economic development of the nation is on-going. The governors for a very long time become victims of this very unusual anomaly. Even in war time, between 1966 and 1970 the situation was not this horrendous. Some states could no longer pay workers salaries; others are choked up with accumulated loans.

To worsen the situation, the Debt Management Office (DMO) recently issued an advisory letter to banks not to grant short -term loans to states. The Nigerian economic situation has a knock-on effect not only on the economy, but also on virtually all sectors of human life. From the look of things it appears Nigeria has been brought back to the National Party of Nigeria (NPN) days when the Shehu Shagari main interest was only on the retention of power at the expense of the economy and the wellbeing of the citizens. Despite the warning by Chief Obafemi Awolowo, the leader of the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN), that the ship of the economy was fast approaching shipwreck, but the ruling party ignored the warning, that led to economic collapse.

The failure to meet the nation cash-call obligations in upstream joint ventures has compounded the financial challenge of the Federal government. Nigeria that used to produce 2.5 million barrels a day is merely turning out 80, 000 barrels per day in a deficit of over $60 billion. Major oil company that was formerly producing 2.5 million barrels has merely produced 80, 000 barrels per day confirmed that all is not well with our economy. Despite the falling oil prices, the federal government kept on frivolous expenditure.

The economic managers kept painting the economy as healthy, yet the reality on the ground is economic depression. Economic experts have argued that the situation in Nigeria today is not as a result of oil theft, but mismanagement of the resources Nigeria solely relies on. This mono product is killing all of us and we seem not to be bothered about it. Before the military intervention, regions were financially independent and strong enough to earn enough to manage and run their individual administration. Each region was developed at its pace.

The current centralisation of revenue has weakened the states and turned even the rich states to mere beggars. . Given the differences in the capacity of each state to generate revenue to meet each state needs, the constitution has provided a mechanism for the redistribution of resources from those with excesses to those with little or no internal revenues. If this mechanism is adhered to, this will ensure equity and fairness amongst the federating entities and encourage equal development and foster cordiality.

The return of the civilian administration to the running

of government since 1999 has further compounded the financial challenges confronting various states in the country. The fierce battle to control the central government has been identified as the struggle for economics control. The central purse gave the Federal government the latitude to sit over the national wealth. It also encourage profligates by the ruling class at the expense of the welfare of the majority of the people that are daily dying of hunger and starvation, ill health without opportunity to good health care services.

The current revenue sharing formula has been critically criticised by several bodies. The federal government allotted 52.68% to itself, paid 13% derivation to oil producing states and gave 26.72% to the states and 20.6 to Local Government Councils. The federal government has continued to enjoy its own share of the allocation but has developed a carrot and stick method of sharing the 26.72% of the states allocation. What kind of federalism are we operating?

A situation where the federal government dictates who gets what is unacceptable. What exactly does the FG spend its 52.68% allocation on? For instance, Rivers state monthly allocation has since been reduced from N26 billion per month to N12 billion without any rational explanation. Osun has its revenue slashed from N4.6 billion to N2.3 billion for no just cause. Let s look at

this slashed allocation. Osun pays N 3million to his workers monthly and 600 million to his pensioners. That is without other obligatory expenditure monthly. So, how does Osun survive with N 2.3 billion monthly. But for his sagacity and economic wizardry, Rauf Aregbesola would have been unable to cope.

The dependence on oil wealth no doubt made the drive for Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) less important. National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) revealed that N16.07 billion IGR was generated by other states with the exception of Lagos in 2012; Lagos alone generated 38% of total IGR in the country. In Osun within three and half years of Aregbesola’s administration he increased Internally Generated Revenue from 300 million naira to 1.6 billion naira without increasing tax. IGR seems to be the last resort for few state governments who do not want to be necessarily waiting for allocation that may not be available in the nearest foreseeable future. Unfortunately, most of our leaders hardly pay tax. They only rush to tax office when and where such tax receipts are required for election purposes. Even when they pay, they under-pay and cheat the nation, an offence that carry imprisonment in other clime.

The Federal government has not deemed it necessary to re-strategise over the danger posed by the current dwindling of revenue acquiring to the nation due to recent drop in the world oil price that has fallen to

83 dollars the lowest in four years. While the states are grumbling for shortfalls in the monthly allocation, the Federal government is jetting out of the country in private jets with millions of dollars of oil money for one reason or the other. The Minister of Finance Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala kept telling the nation that our economy is buoyant. Who cares whether economy is buoyant or not if it does not impact on the lives of the people? Economic buoyancy is only within the top echelon of the political elites especially those in government in Abuja.

The door of our tertiary institutions were shut for over six months this year over poor funding, and yet the institutions of learning are still awaiting the promised or agreement reached before the industrial strikes were called off. The buoyancy of the economy has not translated to good condition of services to the Nigerian Medical Association (NMA). Our hospitals have continued to be mere consulting clinics. If Lagos state and Rivers states have not risen to the occasion, Ebola virus epidemic would have killed several people in Nigeria.

What is the way out for the states?The governor of state of Osun

opined that the whole fund for the nation per annum is about 4 trillion. This amount he said cannot improve the lot of the people. However, he strategically stated that if people of working age can be gainfully engaged to earn at least 20, 000 naira per month for a year, and that by so doing the working class will be able to earn 16.4 trillion naira per annum, instead of the 4trillion naira that all of us are dying over. In line with Aregbesola’s opinion, it is pertinent to note that Section 17 sub section 3(a) of the 1999 Nigeria Constitution provided that the government in the nation should provided enabling environment for the people to be gainfully employed.

Although it is impossible for the government to employ all jobless people, some basic steps that a reasonable government can take is to provide vast arable lands, modern farming equipment for the youths and able bodied interested in farming. Agriculture can reduce poverty, hunger and penury among our populace if properly organised, before the discovery of oil in Nigeria we have survived and runs our regions with farm produces.

The Western region produced cocoa and coffee that earned the state substantive income, the North lived and developed through groundnut pyramid, the East made a lot from palm oil. The states can also motivate others to go into fishery, poultry, and piggery. The artisans should be mobilised to update their knowledge in their various trade and arts. Financial assistance should also be granted as the Osun government has done for its people. Market women and men should also be assisted financially in terms of short term loans to enlarge their trade.

•OKONjO-IWEALA

by yOmI ObadITaN

11 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November news feature

Falana to Police Chief: re-LAGOS lawyer Femi Falana (SAN) has accused Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP) Suleiman Abba of partisan politics, subversion of the Constitution, the Police Act and the Electoral Act.

He also accused the police chief of persecution of House of Representatives Speaker Aminu Tambuwal, who defected to the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Falana advised the police chief to resign, if he cannot work without fear or favour.

He threatened to file a suit before a Federal High Court to determine the competence and suitability of Abba “to superintend and manage the Nigeria Police Force in the public interest, if the trend of subverting the Constitution, the Police Act and the Electoral Act by your good self and other top police officers continues unabated”.

Falana wrote a letter yesterday to the acting IGP,titled “Illegal Policing of the Republic”.

The erudite lawyer noted that since Abba was “appointed the Acting Inspector-General of Police by the President of the Republic on July 31, 2014, the Nigeria Police Force has been involved in partisan politics to the detriment of law and order in the country”.

To butress his position on the matter, Falana accused the acting IGP of causing the withdrawal of Tambuwal’s security detail.

“As if that was not enough, you decided to usurp the judicial powers of the federation which are exclusively vested in the courts by Section Six of the Constitution when you claimed that the Speaker had lost his office and seat as a federal legislator having contravened section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution. By your illegal pronouncement you disregarded section section 50 (2) (c) thereof which stipulates that the Speaker of the House of Representatives can only be removed by a resolution passed by votes on not less that two thirds majority of the members of the House”, he stated.

The legal luminary also drew the attention of the acting IGP to two other cases of political bias recently displayed by the Police under his leadership.

He said: “Firstly, the Osun State governorship election which took place on August 9, 2014 was almost marred by the Police and other security forces which arrested and detained over 700 leaders of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Indeed, some electoral officers who were assumed to be members of the APC were also railroaded into police custody. But for the personal intervention of Professor Attahiru Jega, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the said electoral officers would not have been released.

“Thus, the election would have been disrupted by the police and other security forces whose duty it was to maintain law and order during the democratic exercise. However, the detained APC leaders who were released after the election have not been charged to court for breaching the provisions of the Electoral Act or any other law whatsoever.

“Secondly, Mr. Joseph Mbu, the

by adebIsI ONaNuga

controversial Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 7 of the Nigeria Poilice Force announced a ban on any rally demanding for #bringbackourgirls within the federal capital territory.

“The ban was designed to assuage the feelings of some officials of the Federal Government who are embarrassed by being reminded of their constitutional duty of rescuing the over 200 Chibok girls who were abducted six months ago by the nihilist Boko Haram sect.

“In a judgment delivered last week, the Federal Capital Territory High Court declared the ban illegal, null and void on the grounds that it constituted an infringement of the fundamental rights of the patriotic campaigners to freedom of assembly and expression guaranteed by the Constitution.

“In spite of the judicial indictment, you have not deemed it fit to call Mr. Mbu to order for the reckless abuse of police powers.

“Thirdly, you caused the security detail of Honourable Aminu Tambuwal, the Speaker of the House of Representatives to be withdrawn last week on the grounds that he had defected from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the APC. As if that was not enough, you decided to usurp the judicial powers of the federation which are exclusively vested in the courts by Section 6 of the Constitution when you claimed that the Speaker had lost his office and seat as a federal legislator, having contravened Section 68 (1) (g) of the Constitution. By your illegal pronouncement, you disregarded Section 50 (2) (c) thereof which stipulates

that the Speaker of the House of Representatives can only be removed by a resolution passed by votes of not less than two thirds majority of the members of the House.”

He stressed that the actions and utterances of the IGP in the circumstance have exposed the police to unwarranted ridicule.

Falana said: “Nigerians are not unaware of the fact that when the Ondo State legislators elected on the platform of the Labour Party (LP) defected to the PDP last month, your office did not declare their seats vacant.

“In particular, you did not withdraw the security detail of Honourable Jumoke Akindele, the Speaker, who led her colleagues to dump the LP for the PDP. In the same vein, Honourable Ahmadu Fintiri, the Speaker of the Adamawa State House of Assembly and his colleagues who defected from the PDP to the APC and have since returned to PDP. You did not have cause to declare their seats vacant. Neither have you withdrawn the security detail of Honourable Fintiri.

“Thus, by subjecting Honourable Aminu Tambuwal to selective persecution on grounds that he defected from the ruling party, you violated his fundamental right to freedom from discrimination.

Falana described the actions of the IGP as a breach of Section 42 (1) of the Constitution and Article 2 of the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights to subject any citizen of Nigeria of a political opinion to disabilities, deprivation and restrictions to which other citizens who hold alternative views or opinions are not made subject.”

He pointed out that since the security aides of other Speakers who defected

from the APC and LP to the PDP have not been withdrawn, those of Tambuwal were illegally withdrawn. In the light of this, the activist lawyer called for immediate restoration of Tambuwal’s security aides.

“They ought to be restored without any further delay. From the information at my disposal, your harassment of the Speaker was instigated by the Presidency. But having regard to section 215 (3) of the Constitution which enjoins you to carry out the ‘lawful directive’ of the President of the Republic with respect to the maintenance and securing of public safety and public order the actions taken on the Speaker are illegal and unconstitutional in every material particular.

“Therefore, you should withdraw your pronouncement on the office and seat of Honourable Aminu Tambuwal and advise the ruling party to seek redress in the Federal High Court on the constitutional implications of the defection. Furthermore, unless he is removed by his colleagues in the House of Representatives or by a competent court in the land, Honourable Tambuwal remains the Speaker of the House.

“Neither the police nor any other agency of the Federal Government can be allowed to resort to self help on the matter. As law and order in the country cannot be maintained by a compromised police institution, you may want to resign your appointment if you are not prepared to discharge your onerous constitutional responsibilities without fear or favour, affection or ill-will.

“Before making up your mind, may I remind you of the eternal injunction of the Supreme Court in the case of Attorney-General of the Federation v Atiku Abubakar (2007) 10 NWLR (pt 1041) 1 at 183. As the undisguised bias of both the INEC and the police could not be justified over the illegal removal of the Vice-President for defecting from the ruling party to one of the opposition political parties the apex court held inter alia:”Having regard to the nature of the function which the Nigeria Police Force also performs, that body must also insulate itself such that impartiality and fairness may at all times be ascribed to it.

“A situation where both of them ( the Inspector-General of Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC) appeal in the instant case is very much in bad taste. They have both thrown the quality of impartiality and fairness which they must possess to the winds. Their acts are capable of eroding the public confidence in them. Unknown to them, they may be said, by the public, to be biased and therefore not worthy to be regarded as impartial umpires. This trend must not repeat itself for the good of the nation”, Falana said.

•Culled from THE NATION

•fALANA

OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November 12

C e l e b r a t i n g N A -TWO decades and five years is worth a celebration in a man’s life, if one really takes into consideration what it means to be nurtured from conception to the full-grown adult. So is the story of Nigeria Association of Women Journalist (NAWOJ)

NAWOJ was established in 1989 by a group of concerned women journalist, who saw the need for a gender-focused association, that will meet the yearnings and aspirations of professional female journalists in-line with the global trends of enthroning gender parity in all spheres of development.

NAWOJ, as an offshoot of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), operates within the Constitution of the union, a female member of NUJ automatically is a NAWOJ member and she pays her check-off dues and professional fees to the NUJ.

NAWOJ is to NUJ, what Federation of Women Lawyers (FIDA) is to Nigeria Bar Association and in general, the relationship between NAWOJ and NUJ is cordial.

NAWOJ as a registered non-governmental organisation was incorporated by the Corporate Affairs Commission with the registration number CAC/IT.No 19861 and its pioneer Chairman was Brenda Akpan .

The celebration kick-started with the unveiling of the new logo of the association sometimes in Lagos in August and the train moved to Abuja with the launching of the maiden edition of the association’s “Sophia”, which took its name from the Greek goddess of wisdom, in Abuja at Continental Hotel.

The maiden edition featured the Minister of Water Resource, Honourable (Mrs) Sarah Reng Ochekpe.

At the presentation of the magazine, the President of NAWOJ, Mrs Ify Omowole, said Sophia magazine is exclusively for women. It’s a magazine that will beam its searchlight on women, who have achieved uncommon feat in an extraordinary way, not necessarily professional, but as well as common woman on the street, who contributes in one way or the other to the development of the nation.

She added that the magazine, in its maiden edition, celebrated the Minister for Water Resource, as she was regarded as a silent achiever, unassuming, an epitome of womanhood and mother to many.

According to the President of the association, the World Health Organisation (WHO) had nominated Mrs Ochekpe as the best Minister for Water Resources on African continent and moreover, she had pioneered charity works through her non-governmental health organisation that gives healthcare to women and children in rural areas of Plateau and Benue States.

According to her, this silent feats made the union’s maiden magazine beamed on her achievement as a silent achiever, who uses her position for the betterment of common woman.

Also in her remark at the presentation of the maiden edition of the magazine, the Director-General of Security Exchange Commission, Ms Arumah Oteh, described Mrs Ochekpe as a godly woman, humble and epitome of womanhood.

The night of the presentation of magazine was a night of glitz and honour, as who is who in Abuja witnessed the occassion, which included Mrs Rukkie Salawu, Ambassador Ramalin Kanga, member of the Trustee Board of NAWOJ, women ministers, traditional rulers and important dignitaries.

Just as the celebration train veered out of Abuja, it landed in Lagos to take an intellectual discourse, as the anniversary lecture was held at the De-Gov Hall, Alausa, Ikeja.

The anniversary lecture was presented by Mrs Jean Chiazor Anishere, the President, Women in Shipping Transport and Maritime (WISTA) with the Topic; Sensitizing Women to Build Careers in Shipping Industry.

At the lecture , Mrs Anishere noted that women are taking lead in economy, politics, business and trade-related activities but reverse is the trend in maritime and shipping industry.

According to her, the number of women involved in shipping is rather low, when compared to other countries, where they are actively involved.

She noted that only the likes of Mrs Uju ifejika, CEO Britannia-U, Mrs Funmi Alakija, Margaret Orakwusi, Dr Amy Jadesimi, and Mrs Mfom Usoro are few women making wave in shipping and maritime industry.

The guest lecturer said opportunities abounds for women in shipping industry

such as ship- broking, ship-finance, ship handling, stevedoring, marine engineering, marine assurance, marine law and arbitration.

She added that employment opportunities arise for women with or without higher school certificates or university degrees, as on-job-training is available for everyone to learn about the shipping industry. The shipping industry attracts a wide range of disciplines including, accounting, ICT, customer service, marketing, logistics and international business.

In conclusion, Mrs Anishere adviced that as the Nigeria maritime industry provides dozens of business opportunities, a prospective investor must critically examine the options before embarking in the sector as human resource challenge in Nigeria cannot be over emphasised and it is capital intensive in nature.

Members of the association had more to savour of the anniversary lecture series as Dr Lola Salako, an oncologist, consultant and member Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre took to floor to talk about cancer, the scourge that ravages womenfolk.

Dr Salako stressed the need for medical doctors and media to collaborate and cooperate, if war against cancer would be won.

According to her, media is in the best position to enligthen and educate the masses, especially women at the grassroots.

They could link the sufferer to where they could be treated. This is why there must be synergy and tracking of patients partnership between the media and medical doctors.

She added that Sebeccly Cancer Care and Support Centre pioneered charity dedicated to ensuring early detection, treatment and improvement in the standard of breast and cervical cancer in the country.

Dr Salako further said Sebeccly helps to improve patients access to quality anti-cancer medication and radiation therapy through innovative schemes such as subsidizing drug fund, adopt a cancer patient among others.

On professional development, the center provides a capacity building workshop that engages jounalists in both print and electronics in an effort to improve information dissemination and therefore facilitate the channeling of combined energy of both the media and health care professional toward cancer control.

The climax of the anniversary lecture was the free screening of the NAWOJIAN of breast cancer.

Celebration continued as the celebration train departed Lagos for Ogun State on Thursday, 22nd October, as delegates from the six geo-political zones arrived Abeokuta.

In an interactive session with the President of the association on the choice of the venue for the grand finale of the silver jubilee, she said, Abeokuta is the cradle of journalism,

as the first tabloid was reeled out in 1861 in the ancient city.

“Moreso, the willingness of Governor Ibikunle Amosun to host the delegates at the grand finale informed the decision of the planning committee,” she said.

Mrs omowole could not but appreciated the effort of the Executive Media Assistant to the Governor, Mrs Funmi Wakama, for her commitment and ensuring that the association had a warm reception and stay in Abeokuta.

The first leg of the grand finale was the cultural carnival, which was held at the Polo Ground, Oke- Mosan, with members from the 36 states of the federation displaying the cultural heritage of their people.

Osun delegates was led by its chairperson, Mrs Toyin Adeoye, with Bisola Ariwodola leading the cultural dance, while Rose Olawuni played the role of Maiden Voltaire ‘Arugba Osun’. The presence of Arugba added colour and ovation to Osun cultural display, as all cameras at the venue strived to catch the glimpse of Arugba.

The cultural display, as exhibited at the fiesta, showed that if properly harnessed, cultural display could be a binding force that unites all and sundry, as all the participants danced to the rythm of other people across the country.

The project tour of Governor Ibikunle Amosun projects in the three senatorial districts of the state by the media women on the grand finale day gave them on-the-spot assessment of Governor Amosun’s administration in Ogun State. The massive road construction projects were worthy of commendation and the development of tourist centres, such as Olumo Rock and Adiire Market at Itoku and Iporo Sodeke Area, no doubt boost tourism industry in the state, as everyone at the tour could not but buy Adire fabrics.

The climax of the celebration was the gala night held at the OK centre in Abeokuta. It was a night of glitz and glamour, as all the members and guests as well cladded in anniversary attire. The Special Guest of Honour and the Chief Host of the occasion, Governor Ibikunle Amosun and his amiable wife, Olufunso Amosun, was not left out, as he joined in the celebration.

The promptness of the governor must be commended, as he and his wife arrived the venue promptly despite his tight schedule.

The presence of past executives officers of the association, the likes of Moji Makanjuola, Boade Akinola, Joke Omotunde and many more added glitz to the night and the presentation of the “Evergreen” publication, which is a coffee book, featuring twenty-five women journalists, who had excelled in their field of endeavours, was the heighten of it all.

Governor Amosun remarked at the presentation the need for women at the management level of the media in the country.

He noted that there is currently dearth of

women at the management level, as most of the seasoned and experienced media women ventured into other vocations and businesses, when their experience and expertise are most needful in the profession.

He therefore called for mentoring between those who had put considerable years into the profession and the on-coming members.

In conclusion, the silver jubilee celebration of the association was a success and the leadership of NAWOJ, both at the state and national levels had done well.

The efforts of the planning committee led by Mrs Dupe Laoye Osikolu, members, Deputy National President, Alhaja Biliqees Oladimeji, VP ‘B’ Zone Folake Adeniji, Ogun State NAWOJ and other national officers, we have all done well.

The unflinching support of NUJ is commendable and the President of NAWOJ, Mrs Ify Omowole, added glamour to the profession.

She had served as a bridge between the veteran women journalists and the on coming ones and she has deemed it fit to celeberate ours, twenty five media women in the anal of history despite the shortness of her resumption in office as the President of the association.

The celebration is still in the air, the lesson of it all for the Nawojian, some people labour for our today, we should all support and love each other to make tomorrow better for others. Happy silver jubilee.

by sOLa jaCObs

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, cutting the anniversary cake with some executives of NAWOj.

13 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November opinion

l e a v e A r e g b e s o l a “Ogbeni Aregbesola is a superlatively

efficient political executive. The successes he has recorded with such staggering accuracy and speed has stripped the opposition of their political cover. One cannot but state that he is guiding the people of the State of Osun to the coast of prosperity” – Quoted in Nowinta’s book – OGBENI RAuf AREGBESOLA (In the footsteps of Obafemi Awolowo).

BE F O R E A u g u s t 9 , 2 0 1 4 governorship election in the State of Osun, and on the D-day itself

(9th of August), the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Senator Iyiola Omisore, did everything in his power to sway the attention of voters to his direction .

However, in the end, he failed woefully and fatally, as the result of the election showed clearly that he was never the choice of the majority of eligible voters in the state. With 394,684 votes for Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (he won in 22 out of 30 local government council areas) and 292,747 votes for Senator Iyiola Omisore, it was one of the heaviest political defeats suffered by the PDP in Osun, since democracy reared its head again in Nigeria in 1999.

The outcome of the June 21, 2014 governorship election in Ekiti State, where ex-Governor Dr Kayode Fayemi (of All Progressives Congress) mysteriously lost to the current Governor Ayodele Fayose of the PDP, indeed gave Senator Iyiola false hope of dethroning a down-to-earth, pragmatic, cerebral and focused Governor Rauf Aregbesola of the State of Osun. Even, the marksmen (ninjas) that Senator Omisore brought to campaign grounds early in the electioneering days could not help him. The federal might that came to influence things on the ground by stark show of power intimidations and unwarranted

arrest of stalwarts of APC could not save Senator Omisore from certain disgraceful outing that became his lot in the state.

Information that reached me on the 9th of August from Osogbo, from a political stakeholder in the state, revealed that the PDP and its foot soldiers were battle ready to snatch victory at all cost. According to my friend, the election in Osun was like ‘war’. Wait a minute! How long are we going to perambulate in the ocean of our porous electoral system? How long will some politicians continue to descend to the abyss of gangsterism, brigandage and blatant fraud, because they wanted to win at all cost

I am saddened that the National Assembly and the presidency have chosen to look the other way, instead of revisiting the Electoral Act, with a view to sanitising our electoral system. It is shameful and ridiculous that countries like Ghana and South Africa have sanitised their electoral systems to a reasonable degree, while in Nigeria, the process has graduated to a state of ‘war’ and barbarism.

With what any objective minded person who pays a visit to Osun can see happening in terms of gigantic distribution of democratic dividends and altruistic leadership, which Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola is championing, there is no way a character like Senator Iyiola Omisore could have won the August 9th, governorship election.

Well, the PDP and their foot soldiers indeed thought otherwise in Osun; that they could try the impossible, but their calculations failed before their very eyes. Now, that the election has been won and lost, it is the honest opinion of men of goodwill that at least, the sleeping dog should be allowed to rest. Even, Senator

Omisore should allow the judiciary to do their job transparently instead of trying to steal victory through the back door or jump the gun as the matter of the August 9, 2014 governorship election is being handled at the law court.

More worrisome is the way the Peoples Democratic Party in Osun has been carrying on lately as if paper tigerism, strident propaganda and resort to cheap blackmail could turn the table of victory against Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola. Omisore and his desperadoes should simply turn their attention to what is happening in Edo State and what had happened before. In 2012, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole became the greatest election winner in Edo State, when he secured a pan-Edo electoral victory for the second term in office. Hard as General Charles Airhiavbere of the Peoples Democratic Party tried, even against a royal advice from the Bini Monarch, not to approach the Edo State Governorship Election Tribunal, he refused to yield and ended up with humiliating disgrace.

General Airhiavbere fell from the little grace he had immediately after the Edo State governorship election, to a disastrous grass, from where he is currently recuperating politically, because he wanted to win via a back door. Today, those who vowed to truncate the tenureship of Comrade Oshiomhole as Governor of Edo State are presently wallowing in the stew of ridicule, confusion and regret, as the Comrade Governor has emerged the winner of the recent attempted democratic coup.

Just few weeks ago, Comrade Oshiomhole’s controlled Edo State House of Assembly (with majority members) passed the 2015 budget successfully, while the PDP-controlled House of Assembly sat idling away and ranted without achieving any headway. It is tragic to recollect that most politicians

in our clime are more or less uncivilised and demented towards acquisition of elective positions, even in the face of stark fact that they are unwanted and unpopular, as a result of their political or professional antecedents.

Today, the powers that be have defecated on the judiciary in Ekiti State, while a man, who was supposed to be in the dock has been sworn-in as governor. I feel dismayed by the culture of intimidation, squandering of democracy and noxious practises of enslaving some Nigerians such as are being noticed in Edo and Ekiti States because the South West must be taken as a presidential spoils in the race for 2015.

In Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola must be left alone because what the PDP- cum Senator Omisore is digging out against the resounding victory of August 9th recorded by All Progressives Congress is ridiculous to every stretch of imagination and resembles a medieval political witch-hunting.

Since 2007, I have watched Ogbeni Aregbesola to know that he is nothing but a bundle of character, competence and capacity. The magic of Aregbesola is but a catechism for democratic dividends in Nigeria. This magic is tantamount to a revolution in the State of Osun.

As he prepares for his second term inauguration on November 27th, 2014, Omisore and his gang should kindly leave him alone and not speak for the judiciary. Ogbeni deserves to be left alone because he won the August 9th election convincingly.

Blatant lies in the Name of PoliticsCALL it wicked lies or absolute falsehood and you will not be far from the truth. The build-up to the

August 9, 2014 gubernatorial election in the State of Osun was fraught with a lot of propaganda and evil machinations. The federal might was brought to bear on the hapless citizens of the state. Hooded security officials were brought to the state to do the bidding of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) by installing an unpopular candidate.

Not only were soldiers, who ought to be drafted to Sambisa forest, deployed to the State of Osun, policemen, members of the Department of the State Security, Nigeria Security and Defence Corps personnel and anti-bomb squad were mobilized to Osun because an election was to take place.

To their utmost surprise, however, the people were determined and resolute that they would stand by the truth and ensured that justice prevailed. They voted and ensured that their votes counted. Among the lies told against Governor Rauf Aregbesola before the election was that he planned to turn Osun into an Islamic state. He was also accused of planning secession. How ridiculous and ludicrous this assertion can be, knowing full well that the state is in the heart of the country and such cannot be done alone.

Some people have turned blatant lies into an art and feel that politics cannot be practiced without lying to the people. Some politicians just sit down and cook up stories and begin to spread it around.

In the case of Osun, some politicians and their followers were so gullible to

believe that Governor Rauf Aregbesola was of unsound mind and could not undertake the task of governance in the State of the Virtuous. It was because of these negative tendencies that in the 60s, some people were of the view that politics was not meant for good people or men of God. However, if we continue to hold that position, it means we would have relegated our basic duties to riff-raffs and nonentities, who would lead us astray.

The last election in the State of Osun brought out the desperadoes in some of the opposition political parties.

The candidate of the major opposition party was cocksure sure that he had the governorship title to pick on the election day. Cabinet in-waiting had been formed, people to be dismissed from civil service have been pencilled down, men and women to replace current office holders in agencies and organizations have been drawn up.

A seeming aura of a governor had enveloped the major opposition candidate before the election. He had during his electioneering campaigns alluded to the fact that some traditional rulers would be destooled. Things were done with impunity. He chose not to campaign on any solid issue except the fact that he will undo all that the sitting governor had done.

He also told the people at his campaigns that the supporters of the government party do not know the value of the ballot papers, so it should be retrieved from them.

The supposing overwhelming support of the federal might was the basis for that audacious posturing realizing that resources in terms of money and security personnel would be at his beck and call.

Strong supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) were either arrested by phantom security personnel wearing masks on the eve of election day or were chased out of town.

In all their calculations, they forgot to factor-in providence or the will and determination of the people to take their fate in their hands.

Propaganda, which is false information emphasizing just one part of a situation, is allowed in politics and even in international politics, albeit not outright falsehood.

What transpired in Osun before and during election was outright ignominy. There were subtle attempts by the opposition party in the state to change election results. Some even attributed the delay in the pronouncement of the winner of the election to a shenanigan sort of.

Some analysts have concluded that the resort to the Election Petition Tribunal by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was a ploy to keep their supporters together, else, they would abandon ship.

First, it was the misinformation or misinterpretation of the Appeal Court

verdict in Akure that refused the prayer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it affected the 2011 general elections, that sent is some ignoramus into wild jubilation.

The opposition party went to town that the court had nullified all the election conducted by INEC in the state in 2011, when the substantive Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ambassador Rufus Akeju, held sway, which is absolute falsehood.

The latest of the malicious lies is that the Election Petition Tribunal (EPT) ordered inspection team of ballot papers has recounted the votes in the disputed 17 local government council areas and that the report shows that Iyiola Omisore has more valid votes than Aregbesola. In reality, only ballot papers in five local government council areas have been inspected as at Thursday, October 30th. Unfortunately the African Independent Television (AIT) fell for it and fed its teeming viewers with the false information. This, the television station has retracted the news item and apologized for being misled.

Desperado and malicious lies cannot win election. It requires solid preparation with good manifesto.

by IgbOTakO NOWINTa

by FAITH EHIREMEN

14 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November

r o u n d - t a b l e Osun Defender Round-Table chat is a platform for all aspirants in the State of Osun to espouse their programmes for the electorate.It is a forum where activities aspirants intend to embark upon are brought bare to the people.It exposes the real person of the aspirant, his values and his plans for his constituency. This forum is open to serving public officials as well as those who intend to contest.For any additional information on the above issue, any of these numbers should be contacted: 08033927286, 08033880205, 08061197897 and 08062207954.

triBUNAl UPDAte:

The ruling on the PDP application that all the objections raised by the 1st (Rauf Aregbesola) respondent and 3rd (INEC) respondent be heard together with the main petition was delivered today 4/11/2014 with the tribunal ruling that they are inclined to hear the application together with the main petition.

After the ruling, the court called on the Petitioner to streamline issues in their petition. Chief Chris Uche SAN, learned counsel for the petitioner was directed to submit the issues for determination which he claimed was not ready but that he would submit them on or before the close of work on Tuesday.

He however informed the court that they would be reducing their witnesses by half which is now 500 witnesses, while still saying they would file application for additional witnesses.

The learned counsel for the petitioner changed his position on the issue of documents to be tendered from contention to tendering of all documents by consent of the parties. He proposed five minutes for cross- examination and 10 days for both 1st and 2nd respondents since, according to him, they are one and the same.

Chief Akin Olujinmi leading two other SAN and 22 other lawyers including Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, former Governor of Osun, in his own scheduling proposal, assured the court of his readiness to slash his own witnesses.

He informed the court that they were willing to tender by consent all 35 electoral documents duly certified by INEC while other listed document will be disputed as shown in paragraph 12 of Form TF008. On the 10 days proposed for 1st and 2nd respondents, Chief

Olujinmi referred the court to Paragraph 41 (10) of 1st Schedule to the Electoral Act which provides that each respondent shall have not more than 10 days to present its case. For cross examination, he proposed 20 minutes each for the witnesses because the court will be recording in long hand.

Kemi Pinhiero SAN for the second respondent alligned himself with the submission of the learned counsel for the 1st respondent and added that the 20 minutes proposed for the witnesses should be relaxed for witnesses that needed interpreters and the PDP’s additional witnesses.

Ayotunde Ogunleye Esq, counsel for INEC, submitted that they have 18 witnesses of which they intended to call all. On document, he said INEC certified electoral documents should be tendered by consent while others would be objected to. On cross examination, he proposed that star and expert witnesses should have, at least, 30 minutes while 20 minutes should be for other witnesses.

Chief Chris Uche SAN, learned counsel for the petitioner, while contending that the respondents should be specific about number of witnesses to be called, the court countered by saying that counsel could not dictate how a party should conduct his case.

The tribunal finally ruled that parties should file their issues for determination on or before 5th November, 2014 and the court adjourned to 6th November, 2014 for scheduling order.

•Ibrahim Lawal Esq, SSA (Legal and judicial Sector Reform) to the Governor, State of Osun.

‘Counsel Could Not Dictate How A Party should Conduct His Case’

15 OSuN DEfENDER Thursday, November 6, 2014

The People’s Governor of the State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, would be inaugurated on Thursday November 27, 2014 for his second term.

There is no denying the fact that Ogbeni Aregbesola has warmed himself into the hearts of the people of the State of Osun with his massive developmental projects.

His impact has been felt in all the nooks and crannies in the state while he has touched every aspect of our lives in the State of the Virtuous.

What else could we do as individuals or corporate bodies on this auspicious occasion if not to identify with him by congratulating him.

Your popular soar away grassroots tabloid, OSuN DEFENDER Newspaper, is doing a supplement to congratulate the workaholic governor of our time in commemoration of the inauguration. Individuals, corporate bodies, institutions, and well-wishers can avail themselves with our low advert rate below:

adVerT raTeFull Page Colour - N150,000Full Page Black & White - N120,000Half Page Colour - N80,000Half Page Black & White - N70,000Quarter Page Colour - N50,000Quarter Page Black & White - N40,000

Any of these phone lines can be contacted: 08033927286, 08033880205,

Governor rauf Aregbesola’s inauguration

- ManagementThe Newly-concluded AuD Middle School In Ikirun, State Of Osun, under The Administration Of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, As Captured By Our Cameraman, GBENGA ADENIYI, Recently.

•front view of AuD Middle School in Ikirun.

Thursday, NOVember 6, 2014

www.osundefender.org T h e 6 T h m O s T - V I s I T e d N e W s -

by ade OLugbOTemITH E t h e a t r i c a l escapade of our political gladiators

in Nigeria has continued to plunge people in utter bewilderment because as one riddle is at the verge of being decoded, another one unfolds for attention; thus compounding the rigmarole of ever-volatile political terrain of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. At least, we have seen that it is only here in Nigeria that the more you try to be keenly observant, the less you visualize telling stories about. I am not sure this is explicitly peculiar to Nigeria, but events over the years are indicative of the reality that Nigeria is a country to outwit in the art of muddled scenario.

It is the wish of any politicians, or aspiring political office seekers to rise to pedestal of recognition in office. Everything is done for this purpose, and irrespective of what dirty antics are applied, beneficiaries believe that mere fence-mending effort will be enough to assuage frayed tempers. That is the reason behind the common saying in the political circle that “there is no permanent friend or foe in politics”. This is where the rottenness of politics domiciles, because an average typical politician is both a schemer and a chameleon. These attributes are applied in their reticent game to outwit one another, and the gains accrued are apportioned according to individual ingenuities, positive or negative.

The Speaker of the House of Representatives, Mallam Aminu Tambuwal, has tasted both the juicy and not too palatable sides of politics. His ascendancy to the seat of number four citizen in the land was not without its challenges and stiff opposition from the powers- that-be in his own party. All top-notch stakeholders in the ruling-Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were against his emergence as Speaker. It took mere goodwill across the rank and file (cutting across party line) of House members to ensure that PDP’s preferred choice in Jadesola Akande, a legislator representing Oyo State in the lower chamber was schemed out. The result of that internal democracy in the House of Representatives is there for the whole world to see today.

We have suddenly discovered that it is possible for lawmakers to develop independent minds that will shield their consciences from the idiocy of executive overbearing. We see a departure from the inglorious era of stooge-parliament, when elected legislators only play the script passed across by the executive arm. Legislative process

has almost turned an executive rubberstamp that is devoid of robust constitutional debate desirable for oversight scrutiny. Many moves of the executive arm have been faulted based on the resolve to depart from the inglorious era of legislative junketing, whereby executive bills are given easy passage without thorough scrutiny.

The natural tendency of humanity is to desire privilege and pleasure. The sure availability of honour, money, opportunities, and other paraphernalia of office at Tambuwal’s beck and call are enough to cause him to stay put with the ruling-Peoples Democratic Party. Because it is certain from the onset of Jonathan’s tenure that he would seek for re-election, it is also certain that Tambuwal will remain the Speaker upon his return to the lower chamber in the fast-approaching general elections. It is then just rational not to leave certainty for uncertainty.

Tambuwal must then have seen what remains in obscurity for most of us.

The motivator of Tambuwal’s unprecedented move may be unveiled so, so soon, when the dust settles on his decamping. The revelations that may likely come in torrents will no doubt help the teeming voting Nigerians decide on which of the parties and candidates to vouchsafe their votes to at the polls early next year. Speaker Tambuwal may not have such motive as to open any can of worms yet, the attempt by PDP to vent a spleen will definitely force words out of his mouth. My consternation domiciles in the overall effect such exchange of banters will have both on the success of the much-envisaged elections and the socio-political structure of Nigeria. The sitting Speaker of the lower chambers may hold his peace and keep sealed lips, so long as PDP allow for natural course of justice.

We must not be surpr ised

if words are forced out the gentleman’s mouth through reprisal vilifications that PDP may bring to bear. The security details of Mr Speaker have been withdrawn, and people are already sending out warning signals that PDP may plan for the worse in terms of the content of their vindictiveness

that may be charged against the innocent. Speaker Tambuwal has to be careful and be security-conscious more than ever. This is definitely not the best of time to take anything for granted; especially the issue of his personal security and safety. The party to which he has decamped (APC) must also note that the time of seeking repose and smirking is not now, as the endangered cobra that comes out of its hiding with a smiley face is not a best companion for the hunter.

Few days from now, Nigerians will have the opportunity to assess the maturity of the people in the lower chamber. They will see whether our legislators are really the executive stooges that most people call them, or they have come of age to really show objectivity that distinguishes most legislative arm of government in the developed world in Tambuwal’s case. We shall see whether or not fifteen years of a so-called stable polity has really translated to a body of lawmakers that cannot be tossed around by those who are even in the position to learn from their robust legislative experience. This period poses a litmus test, and it is yet to be seen if actually our legislators will not constitute a threat to the transition period that will climax in February elections.

It may be that the decision of Tambuwal to settle for Sokoto State gubernatorial ticket will be an asset to his new party, after the well-orchestrated conjecture that the man was eying presidential seat. It is now very obvious that the nationwide consultation, which cut across party divides prior to the decamping was well thought out. Nigerians now patiently await the outcome of the melodrama that has already led to Tambuwal, a sitting Speaker being humiliated with the withdrawal of his security details by the overzealous Acting Inspector General of Police, who may probably be out to do a dirty job to impress his principal, and possibly convince him that he is qualified to be made a substantive Inspector General.

This is the appropriate time for our legal instruments to again be put to test for the efficiency that ordinary Nigerians have often clamoured for. Our nationhood is likely to be threatened, depending on how PDP

OSUN DEFENDER is published by Moremi Publishing House Limited, Promise Point Building, Opposite Guaranty Trust Bank GTB, Gbongan Road, Osogbo, State of Osun. All correspondence to the Managing Editor, KOla OlabiSi, Telephone: 08033927286 (kolaolabisi@yahoo.com); Editor, KaYODE aGbaJE, Telephone: 0803-388-0205, E-mail: osundefender@yahoo.com, kayodeagbaje@yahoo.com. ISSN: 0794-8050.Website: www.osundefender.org.

speaker tambuwal And His Clear Con-

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