₦airaland Forum

The South West zone of the Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria (IPMAN) on Wednesday said, it may direct its members in the zone to increase the pump prices of Premium Motor Spirit (P.M.S), as well as the A.G.O popularly called Diesel should the appropriate federal government’s regulatory agency fails to address the continuous non -supply of the products to its members.

IPMAN’s Zonal Chairman, Alhaji Dele Tajudeen, who made the disclosure while addressing journalists in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, said his members had for the past six months, not been able to access supplies of the products from any of the six government’s owned depots, but resorted to making purchase from the private depot owners, who had continued to exploit the situation to put extra cost on his members.

Tajudeen explained that the federal government’s depots, located at Mosimi in Sagamu, Ogun State, as well as others in Ibadan, Lagos, Ore in Ondo State as well as the one in Ilorin, Kwara State capital had all refused to load any of the Independent Marketers, the development, he said compelled his members to start making purchases from the private depot owners since January, 2022.

The IPMAN Zonal Chairman further disclosed that these private depot owners had however, decided to take advantage of the non-availability of the products at government’s depots to jack up the loading price to between N157 and N158, “excluding the transportation cost to our various destinations”.

“So, by the time we add the cost of transportation to the purchasing amount, we will be arriving at a sum above N165, which is the government approved pump dispensing price”.

“But sad enough, the regulatory agency appeared incapacitated to control and compel these private depot owners to sell at government’s approved price for us”.

“As at today, the purchasing price of diesel has increased by 400%. Again, I want members of the general public to know that cost of transporting the product ranges between N6 to N8 and N10 depending on where the products are being transported to from the Lagos private depot where we make purchases”.

“I wish to equally intimate you that making purchases from these private depot owners is not the ultimate end, we also have some overhead costs to bear like running an electricity generator to power our filling stations; paying the staff salaries, as well as servicing the bank loans among other costs”.

“So, by the time we have to add the cost of transportation with the purchasing amount, this situation clearly implied that we as independent marketers will be left with no other option than to dispense the products for nothing lesser than N175 to N180 for customers in the Lagos to Ibadan axis, while those within the Ogbomoso and Ilorin axis may have to buy at a dispensing pump price of N200 per litre”.

“Now, we want to let members of the general public to be aware that the fault is not coming from our end, rather, it is the failure of the regulatory agency to direct the government’s depots to sell the products for us at their depots and at the government’s approved price”.

The National leader of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has said he remains unshaken and very confident of winning the presidential ticket of the APC.

The presidential hopeful who is in the race with over 20 other aspirants in the APC spoke weekend in Jalingo, Taraba state capital after an interface with delegates of the party.

He explained that his chances of winning the presidential ticket are very high.

According to him, “my chances of winning the ticket are incredibly high and I am very confident. I am sure I can and I will win it.”

When asked if the option of a consensus arrangement sits well with him if his party eventually opts for it, Tinubu said he prefers democracy.

In his words, “I want democracy. I am voting for democracy. One man, one vote.”

Meantime, the governor of Sokoto State, Rt. Hon. Aminu Tambuwal who was also in the state to woo delegates of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, ahead of its presidential primary election hinted at agreeing to a consensus arrangement if his party considers the option.

He explained that he and three other presidential aspirants under the platform of PDP from the North had earlier tried to work out a consensus arrangement among themselves but failed.

He further noted that despite the failed attempt, he would not kick against a Consensus arrangement if his party sees it as the best option to select the presidential flag bearer of the PDP in 2023.

He said, “I am sure you are aware that four aspirants from my party including myself came together voluntarily to try a consensus which we were unable to achieve.

“I am not averse to anything the party may decide to come up with at the national level, but what I can say is that we have tried consensus in producing our national working committee members and leaders of the party.

“The National Chairman himself, Prof. Iyorchia Ayu is also a product of consensus, so it is part of democracy.

“If our party decides to attempt it, I will be ready to participate and be part of it.”

Tambuwal also told the delegates at the instance of Taraba governor, Darius Ishaku, that he has all it takes to get Nigeria working if voted to fly the PDP’s flag at the presidential election in 2023.

National leader of the All Progressive Congress and presidential aspirant in 2023 election, Ashiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has thrown a poser to his opponents, daring them to try and see who wins the party’s ticket and the election proper.

He also observed that the reward system in APC was poor, promising to change the system if elected president next year.

Tinubu also said he would address the economic and security challenges if given the opportunity.

Tinubu, who is a former governor of Lagos State spoke on Thursday evening in Abuja when he hosted the Forum of Former Deputy Governors of Nigeria (FFDGN).

He appealed to the forum to support his presidential ambition and also ensure the unity of the the party in their various states to achieve success, starting with Osun and Ekiti elections which are afoot.

“Many of you I know, and you have participated in governance and political activities. You have given a value to your various states. When we merged as one and took broom as the symbol of party, broom has a lot of meaning.

“Let me first of all address our element of constitution, I promise to look into that if elected. Our reward system as APC is very poor, and it was late before I could recognise that. Let me assure you, I won’t repeat that mistake, if I’m elected.

“I know that you still have people who believe in you, in the system. In some states where we have divisions, please, tell us, we have to harmonise and become one. Particularly, Oyo is divided, Osun and Ekiti elections are coming, these elections are precursors to the national election.

“But for those who have decided to be an opponent, I will not dwell on that, let’s see who wins, but I want to win and I want you to work along with me and to convince more delegates,” Tinubu added.

Earlier in his remarks, the national chairman of the forum and former deputy governor of Edo State, Lucky Imasuen pledged the support of APC deputy governors to the presidential ambition of the national leader.

“You can tell from the attendance that the level of enthusiasm was extremely high, when we have a political meeting of this nature, APC members will attend APC meeting and PDP members will attend PDP meetings, same to other political parties, but when we hold meeting, we hold meetings together as one family.

“We came here to listen to you, we are going to talk less and listen to our leader,” he said.

The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, will today meet the Senate caucus of the party by 2.30pm.

Senate President, Ahmad Lawan, disclosed this in a letter read during plenary on Wednesday.

The letter was signed by the Senate Leader, Senator Yahaya Abdullahi (Kebbi North).

“There will be APC Senate caucus meeting with His Excellency, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu today, February 16, 2022,” Lawan said.

The meeting is scheduled to hold in the Senate President’s conference room.

PRESIDENT of the Senate, Senator Ahmad Lawan has boasted that the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC will continue to rule Lagos State and Nigeria as a country.

Lawan has also urged Nigerians to continue to entrust the affairs of the country to the APC, saying that the party is the one to trust, just as he described Lagos as a home for APC and expressed the confidence that “APC, by the Grace of God, will continue to rule Lagos and rule Nigeria.”

The President of the Senate made the appeal in Lagos at the fifth edition of the empowerment programme of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, APC, Lagos West.


The event which was held at the premises of the Nigeria Police College, Ikeja was also witnessed by the Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.

In a statement, by his Special Adviser, Media, Ola Awoniyi, the President of the Senate said, “All that we need to do is to continue what we are doing now. Support our leaders. Tolerate us. Unite ourselves and of course, remain focused.

“PDP may tell you something funny about the administration of APC at the national level but PDP ruled Nigeria for 16 years and all that they did was to leave or bequeath so many challenges to us in 2015.

“We are dealing with those challenges one after the other and if on the way, we encounter new challenges, we are equal to the task.

“By the Grace of God, we are going to turn around the fortunes of this country for the better. We have done so much but we are also challenged especially in the area of security.

“When someone tells you that the APC administration only takes loans or borrow money, PDP had 16 years of so many resources and they did very little infrastructure in the country if any. The money disappeared and our options are limited.

“But one option that is not on the table at all is not to do anything. Because you don’t have money, so we shouldn’t develop your country? Nigeria’s administration at the national level is responsible and responsive.

“We wouldn’t like to take loans or borrow money but when the options are limited and the imperative of development of infrastructure in the country is there, what do we do?

“If we have to borrow, we have to borrow responsibly, targeted at capital development and today I want to say without any fear of contradiction that in every part of this country, there is infrastructural development either in terms of roads, bridges, dams and so on and so forth.

“This is to tell you that we desire to develop our country and that APC at all levels deserves the trust of Nigerians because we will always tell Nigerians what it is. We won’t hide anything because you gave us your trust.

“What you witness in Lagos is to tell you one of the best the APC can do and we have many APC states that are working so hard to develop those states.

“I want to assure Nigerians that APC as a political party is the one that you can trust because, for us, the citizens of this country are the most essential elements and people that we must always focus on.”

Lawan who urged Lagosians to consider Governor Sanwo-Olu for another term based on his wonderful performance, said, “Your Excellency, we have been watching you over the last two and half years. You have been very wonderful. You have been consistent in terms of service delivery to the people of Lagos State and indeed this country.

“You are focused. You are reliable. And I want to say even though the fate of politicians is in the hands of voters, your fate is in the hands of Lagosians but Your Excellency, I’m under this tremendous and massive temptation to say that one good turn deserves another term. We are proud of you. APC stakeholders, I hope I will be forgiven for this statement because that is what believe in seriously “

The Senate President commended Senator Adeola aka Yayi who is also Chairman of the Senate Committee on Finance, for the programme which involved the distribution of ambulances, incubators, drugs to health facilities and empowerment items to his constituents.

“What we will say about Distinguished senator Olamilekan, about his performance, his representation, is going to be weighty because we work with him. And I want to report here that you have voted for a very loyal person, a very prolific and productive Senator who works round the clock.

“This your Senator, Yayi, has done so much for the Senate in terms of his productivity and I want to add here that Lagos West is controlling the economy of Nigeria. And I want to tell you why. Before the budget of the Federal Government is passed, you need a financial analysis of what will be available in revenues.

“It is this Yayi and your Representative in the House, Honourable James Abiodun Faleke, the two of them will sit and decide on what is available for Nigeria to share. The size of the cake is decided by Yayi and Hon. Faleke. And I’m happy for you because you took the right decision by voting for him(Yayi).

“So you have given Nigeria a very solid, very stable, very reliable person to serve as your Senator. We are all appreciative for what you have been able to help us achieve in the Senate and in the National Assembly, for so many superlative performances that we have been able to achieve in the ninth Senate,” Lawan said.

The Senate President said the constituency projects were essentially to complement the efforts of the Federal and state governments.

Lawan said the various empowerment programmes being undertaken by members of the National Assembly were also to actualise the presidential efforts at reducing the poverty level in the country.

“This is what members of the National Assembly are doing across the country. And we believe that we will continue to do this as members of the National Assembly because our people, those who voted for us, are happy with it. Actually, they need these things, we should be able to say congratulations to the beneficiaries,” Lawan said.

On the Senate President entourage from Abuja were Senator Mohammed Sani Musa, Senator Micheal Opeyemi Bamidele and Senator Yakubu Oseni.

•Bello, Umahi, Ngige, Fayemi, Fashola too •‘How Abba Kyari’s death altered permutations for Geoffrey Onyeama’

Barely twelve months to the 2023 general elections in the country, there is high-level strategic lobbying by ambitious politicians, especially those touted to be close allies of President Muhammadu Buhari and with the strong desire to succeed him as Nigeria’s next President.

The development has led to maneuvering, intrigues, eye service and hero worshiping as those eyeing the presidential seat lobby the high brass and the political cabals and their agents that decide who occupies the coveted number one seat of the land after Buhari.

Of late, the seat of power, otherwise known as the Aso Rock, has become a Mecca of sort as those angling to become the next President have been coming to court Buhari for his blessings if not to be adopted as the anointed candidate.

It was reliably gathered that the death of the immediate past Chief of Staff to the President, Mallam Abba Kyari, has thrown the race open.

A source close to the late ‘Power House of the Villa’ had claimed that Kyari’s demise has, in a way, changed the political equation.

The source said that the thinking then was that the race for the presidential seat in 2023 will be arrangement between the North-East and the South-East as they are the two geopolitical zones that have yet to occupy the seat.

Under the arrangement, the former Chief of Staff was being positioned to take over from his principal while the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Geoffrey Onyeama, a bosom friend of Kyari, was supposed to be the running mate and, after eight years, power will go to the South-East.

However, that arrangement, if at all it existed as claimed, has become a thing of the past.

The question on the lips of many appointees of the President and some of the staff in the State House is, who will ‘Baba’ anoint as his successor?

The question is pertinent against the backdrop of the fact that Buhari should ordinarily be interested in who succeeds him for the sake of continuity of government programmes.

While some of the appointees have been put under suspense on whom to pitch their tent with because the body language of the President has not given any green light on the direction to go, some persons who are close to Buhari have claimed that, going by his nature, he may not anoint anyone as he would prefer that all the aspirants pass through the democratic process in which the people will choose whoever they want.

To support this claim, the people said that the President has told whoever cares to listen to him to carry his cross as he attempted to be elected President for three times without success only to succeed at the fourth time in 2015.

Meanwhile, on January 10, 2022, the All Progressives Congress, APC, National Leader and former governor of Lagos State, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, opened the floodgate of consultations as he met with Buhari to inform him of his aspiration to contest for the presidential election slated for February 2023 by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

Some have also said that the visit was to ask for the President’s support even though some power brokers within the Presidency have argued that the APC National Leader should continue to play the role of a kingmaker and not to throw his hat in the ring.

It was rumoured that some elements in the ruling APC are working hard to ensure the enthronement of the Lagos politician as the next President.

He had said that it has been his life ambition to be President.

Dave Umahi

Less than 24 hours after Tinubu’s visit, the governor of Ebonyi State, Mr Dave Umahi, also went to meet the President to inform him of his intention to contest for the presidency in 2023 on the platform of the APC.

Umahi was elected as governor in 2015 on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and re-elected on the same platform in 2019, but he dumped the party for the APC in November 2020, claiming that PDP had not been fair to the South-East.

The Ebonyi governor said that despite the support the South-East had given to the PDP, it was against natural justice that the party should contemplate zoning its presidential ticket outside the region.

Some people have suggested that Umahi was propelled to visit Buhari a day after the APC National Leader made his ambition known to Mr. President.

It was gathered that the Ebonyi governor is in the good books of some persons in the Presidency and it is expected that he will be among those to be presented to Buhari for consideration.

Rochas Okorocha

APC stalwart and one of the founding members of the APC, Owelle Rochas Okorocha, is another aspirant who has presented his 2023 presidential ambition to Buhari.

The immediate past governor of Imo State and current senator representing Imo West visited the seat of power last week to tell the President that he is interested in taking over from him next year. Okorocha, like President Buhari, has been a regular aspirant and it is not certain yet whether he has a lobby group that will convince the President on why he should be considered as his (successor).

The ‘iberiberism’ proponent has friends from the North but is in fierce battle with his successor, Governor Hope Uzodimma, over who controls the APC structure in the state.

Professor Osinbajo

Also in contention is Vice President Yemi Osinbajo who is being projected by some APC elements to succeed his boss.

Although he hasn’t publicly declared his interest in the job, some have argued that the law professor and Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, RCCG, has the necessary prerequisite to take over from his boss having undergone tutelage for eight years.

It was gathered that some powerful forces from the North, including a former Director General of a Federal Government agency, are at the forefront of the Osinbajo for President project.

Whereas the body language of President has never suggested that he is supporting anybody, some people have said that Buhari may be comfortable to handover to his Vice President.

But it is not clear yet whether Osinbajo will contest the 2023 presidency or not despite the ongoing consultations organized by various support groups urging him to run.

A report last week that the Vice President will declare his ambition to contest for the presidential election after the APC’s Convention was quickly dismissed by his spokesperson, saying the law professor has never made any pronouncement on when he is going to declare his ambition.

Some people have even alleged that there is a cold war going on between Osinbajo’s supporters and those of Tinubu.

Recall that it was Tinubu who nominated Osinbajo as Buhari’s running mate in 2015 after it became clear that he (Tinubu) couldn’t run with then presidential candidate of the APC (Buhari) because of the widespread opposition to Muslim-Muslim ticket.

For now it has not been made public whether Osinbajo, like other aspirants, has informed Buhari of nursing any ambition but sources in the Villa told Sunday Vanguard that his promoters have apparently been making a case for him.

The slightest hint yet that the VP could be preparing to take a shot at the 2023 presidency is the public declaration of a close aide that he would not support Tinubu’s presidential bid.

Yahaya Bello

Equally believed to be nursing presidential bid ahead of 2023 is a friend of the Villa and the first family, Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State. Unconfirmed report say Bello ascended the Kogi governorship throne on the instrumentality of the first family.

Some have further contended that some of his loyalists have taken his ambition to the Presidency.

It is not yet made public whether his aspiration has gotten the blessing of the President but he is not relenting in ensuring a fait accompli for the project. For now, he has not officially visited to announce his ambition at the State House.

Senator Ngige

Senator Chris Ngige, a serving Minister of Labour and Employment, is among cabinet members some persons within the Presidency believe have performed well.

His access to Buhari has made political pundits to conclude that he is very close to the President.

The former Anambra State governor and medical doctor by training has declared that he would make his presidential ambition known in April after consultations with his political friends and associates.

Most of his meetings with Buhari are held behind closed-doors, so, it has not been made public whether he may be the anointed candidate the President mentioned about when he granted television interview recently. Recall that Buhari had declined to mention his preferred candidate, saying that revealing the identity of the person might lead to the person’s elimination.

However, within the labour circle, some leaders have extolled the sterling qualities of the Anambra APC leader.

Some of the labour leaders urged Ngige to contest for the presidency in 2023.

Rotimi Amaechi

A former governor of Rivers State and Minister of Transportation, Rt. Hon. Rotimi Amaechi, has been rumoured in some quarters as the President’s preferred candidate, in fact the anointed candidate to take over from him in 2023.

Although there has not been any display from the President to that effect, sources within the Presidency claim that the odds appear to favour him.

Only last weekend, he was conferred with a chieftaincy title (Dan Amanar Daura, meaning Trusted Son of Daura) by the Daura Emirate of Katsina State, the President home town.

The title has been interpreted in different quarters to mean, ‘The Preferred’, ‘The Trustworthy’ and ‘The Face of Nigeria’s Future’.

This has increased the speculation that Amaechi is the APC anointed candidate in the 2023 presidential election.

Again, Amaechi, who was Chairman of Nigeria Governors Forum, NGF, when he was governor, was hosted by the First Lady, Dr. Aisha Muhammadu Buhari, after the conferment of the Daura chieftaincy title on him. The Minister was accompanied by his wife, Judith Amaechi, during the First Lady’s visit.

Babatunde Fashola

Also in reckoning as a potential successor to Buhari is the Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola. The minister is said to be among those that get Mr. President’s attention at any given time. A Presidency source said that if the President has the sole right to appoint his successor, Fashola will be one of those to be considered. However, the former Lagos State governor has not openly indicated interest in the presidential race.

Kayode Fayemi

Another person that appears to be admired by the President is the governor of Ekiti State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi. The former Minister of Mines and Steel Development, some analysts claim, has the aura and potentials to take over from Buhari. Even though the Chairman of the Nigeria Governors Forum is always spotted with the Chairman of the APC Caretaker Committee and governor of Yobe State, Mai Mala Buni, the Chairman of the Progressive Governors Forum and governor of Kebbi State, Atiku Bagudu and the governor of Jigawa state, Mohammed Badaru, he has not formally declared whether he has the ambition to contest the presidential poll next year. Incidentally Fayemi has few months to complete his second term in office.

Suspense

As the lobby continues, the President is keeping his followers and party members in suspense on whoever is likely going to succeed him.

But one thing is certain: May 29, 2023 is the exit date for him and someone, possibly one of those mentioned in this report, will succeed him.

The House of Representatives has declared a national emergency on the increasing spate of ritual killings.

The Green Chambers asked the Inspector General of Police to bring to book all those involved in the act.

The House also asked the Nigeria Film and Video Censors Board to increase monitoring of videos produced with ritual killing contents and ensure that such contents are deleted in line with its mandate.
Adopting a motion of urgent public importance by Deputy Minority Leader, Toby Okechukwu, the House asked the National Orientation Agency (NOA), the media, school owners and parents to carry out enlightenment campaignS with a view to curbing the rising cases of ritual killings in the country.

Okechukwu had raised concerns about the rising cases of kidnaping for ritual purposes and the increasing cases of missing persons, which he said has assumed an alarming rate.

He also said that scenes containing killings for ritual purposes have become rampant in home videos, adding that if not checked such movies have the capacity to impact negatively on the mind of young Nigerians.

The Federal Government says it is set to amend its relevant statutes and code to enforce the operational conditions of Twitter in Nigeria on other social media platforms.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed disclosed this in Cairo at a meeting with his counterpart, Egypt Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Dr Amir Talaat.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was on the sidelines of a bilateral discussion with Africa Export Import Bank (Afreximbank) on how Nigeria can access funding to support its growing creative industry.

NAN reports that Mohammed had led some private sector stakeholders involved in Digital Switch Over (DSO), to Afreximbank to assist them on how they can source fund to complete the wholly private sector financially driven project.

In his interaction with Talaat, the minister disclosed that Nigeria was amending its National Broadcasting Act and Broadcasting Code to ensure that all online platforms operating in the country must comply with stipulated conditions.

Mohammed said the decision was borne out of the recent development on suspension of Twitter operations in the country and the agreement reached before the suspension was lifted.

“The beauty of the engagement with Twitter is immense.

“Whatever applies to twitter will apply to all other social media platforms, be it WhatsApp, Facebook or any other.

“That is why we will be having a retreat to amend the NBC Act and the NBC Code to incorporate these new gains we made with the engagement with twitter,’’ he said.

On the agreement reached with twitter which the minister said would be applicable to other online platforms, he said the micro blogging site had agreed to open the Nigerian office within the first quarter of 2022.

He said twitter agreed to appoint a designated country representative within one month of lifting its suspension while its global policy team would also be available to engage directly with the government

The minister said twitter agreed to meet all regulatory demands, including Companies and Allied Matters Act, Nigeria Communication Commission laws and rules and National Broadcasting Commission Code.

“Twitter has agreed to comply to all payable taxes as they are operating under the Nigerian laws and this they agreed to do within one week of restoring their operations.

“Twitter agreed to immediately work with the Federal Government in the area of code of conduct which is in line with global best practices

“Twitter agreed to immediately enroll Nigerians in its Law Enforcement portals and Partners Support Portal.

“The law enforcement portal will provide dedicated channels for the Nigerian laws enforcement agencies to escalate reports on contents that violate the code of conduct or the national laws.

“Similarly, the partner support portal provides a direct channel for government to engage twitter staff to manage prohibited contents,’’ he said.

The minister explained to his counterpart that twitter operation was not suspended in Nigerian because they wrote something about president as being carried about in certain quarters.

He said the operation was suspended because twitter had become the platform of choice for those who wanted to destabilise Nigeria and create disunity and heat up the polity.

“We met with a barrage of knocks, we were accused of running authoritarian government, trying to infringe on freedom of press, violating the constitution but we were sure in our mind of what we were doing.

“We were glad that after seven months of serious engagement with twitter, we can say that what we achieved is what the suspension of the operations of twitter was all about,” he said.

Also speaking, the Egyptian minister said his country had similar challenges in the area of dissemination of policies and programmes of government.

He said he was a recent victim of fake news report which was very devastating to him.

To combat the menace, he said a department was established in the office of the Prime Minister where they monitor on hourly basis what kind of fake news was being cooked up.

He said government would immediately react to such news by giving the truthful perspective to the issue. (NAN)

Osun State Traditional Council of Obas, chaired by the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, yesterday assured Governor Adegboyega Oyetola of its support for his re-election.

The governor has declared his intention to run for a second term on July 16.

His Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ismail Omipidan, said the Council of Obas, during their monthly meeting at the Finance Building, Abere, hailed the modest achievements recorded by the Oyetola administration in the last three years.

A statement by Omipidan said the governor paid an unscheduled visit to the Council of Obas and declared his intention to run for a second term as part of efforts to consolidate on the good work and appreciable performance of the administration.

He said: “Speaking on behalf of his colleagues, the Chairman of the Osun State Traditional Council of Obas and Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, praised the achievements the administration has made since its inception.

“Ooni Ogunwusi, who described the governor’s visit as first of its kind in the history of the state, said the governor’s high sense of modesty, prudence, probity and integrity necessitated their decision to continuously give him all-round support.


“Today, being the first meeting of traditional rulers in the new year, the governor paid us a surprise visit and we were very elated, very happy and we prayed for him because we were very excited about the visit.

“This is the first of its kind in the history of our state. I have been on the throne for years. No governor has ever come to visit us as he did today. Though they tried their best to leave us alone for us not to be partisan, this time we are very joyous that the governor brought around the entire governance structure to come and see the way we operate; and with all humility too, the governor sat as one of the floor members.

“What we saw in the past were commissioners, special advisers, among others. But today, Mr. Governor sat with us and we discussed together on the need to take our state to greater heights. We are very appreciative of this gesture and we are very proud of him for creating something out of nothing. We will continue to pray for him on the thrones of our forebears.”

Oyetola thanked the monarchs for their affection, which he noted had been the driving force motivating him to put in his best in governance.

He said: “I decided to come and visit our fathers when it occurred to me that they would be holding their first meeting today. Also, I was highly impressed by the large presence of traditional rulers at the inter-religious prayers session we held two days ago where we had about 60 monarchs in attendance. This to us shows that they are with us. They own this government and see this government like theirs.”

Some of the traditional rulers in attendance were Orangun of Ila, Oba AbduWahab Oyedokun; Timi of Ede, Oba Munirudeen Adesola Lawal; Aragbiji of Iragbiji, Oba Abdul-Rasheed Ayotunde Olabomi; Alaagba of Aagba, Oba Rufus Ogunwole; Olunisa of Inisa, Oba Joseph Oladunjoye Oyedele; Orangun of Oke-Ila, Oba Adedokun Abolarinwa; Owamiran of Esa-Oke, Oba Adeyemi Adediran; Elegboro of Ijebu-Jesa, Oba Moses Olufemi Agunsoye’ among others.

A group of aggrieved women, who claimed to have lost their loved ones during the October 20, 2020 Lekki Tollgate shootings, stormed the Ikoyi residence of Lagos State Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, in protest over the incident.

The protest followed claim of various inconsistencies identified by Lagos State Government in the report of of the Judicial Panel of Inquiry on General Police brutality cases and Lekki incident investigation, led by Justice Doris Okuwobi, in the White Paper released.

The state government had earlier on Tuesday, released its White Paper on the report of Justice Okuwobi panel, rejecting the claim that nine people died at the Lekki Tollgate October 20, 2020.

Meanwhile, to express their grievance, the women group organised the protest led by Adetoun Onajobi, popularly known as Just Adetoun, one of the #EndSARS protesters Sanwo-Olu invited for a peace walk.

The women later dispersed, prevailed on to leave by the aides as the Deputy Governor, who said he was not available at the particular time.

A senior official in the office of the deputy governor, who spoke in confidence, said: “The protest actually took place.

“We were told by the aides at the residence, but the Deputy Governor was not around to receive them as he was at two different state’s assignments in Victoria Island and Ikeja.

The state government had earlier on Tuesday, released its White Paper on the report of Justice Okuwobi panel, rejecting the claim that nine people died at the Lekki Tollgate October 20, 2020.

The Federal Government has said the suspension of Twitter has not been lifted because the company has met 10 out of the 12 conditions given it.

The government however raised the hope of Nigerians that it is a matter of time before all issues with Twitter are resolved.

But it clarified that the suspension of Twitter had nothing to do with issues bordering on President Muhammadu Buhari.

The Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, made the clarifications while responding to a question from a participant at Nigeria International Partnership Forum in Paris.

Most investors at the forum were eager about the circumstances behind the suspension of Twitter.

Mohammed, who spoke in fluent French, caught the audience unawares.

The lady participant, who asked the question was perplexed and caught off guard by the Minister’s mastery of French.

But Mohammed took time to explain why the suspension of Twitter was not yet lifted.

He said: “I want to categorically say that Twitter was not banned by Nigera, it was only suspended. So, Twitter was never banned, it was suspended.

“Also, the suspension has nothing to do with President Muhammadu Buhari.

“The correspondences between us and Twitter have reached advanced stage. I want to say that the correspondences and the exchanges have been fruitful.

“But we have a few more issues to resolve. Out of about 12 conditions, Twitter has been able to meet 10.

“Very soon, all issues will be resolved in a way that it will be good for both our country and Twitter.”