News
Osun PDP crisis: Those who expelled Babayemi not registered members — Ward Executives
By Ismail Azeez, Osogbo
The Executives of the Ward 2 Ayedaade Local Government of People’s Democratic Party PDP on Monday, disclosed that those who carried out the expulsion of the gubernatorial aspirant of the party in the just concluded election in Osun State, Prince Dotun Babayemi were not registered members of PDP in the ward.
It would be recalled that the Ward Executive members of Otun Balogun 2, Ayedaade Local Government Area of the State, had announced the expulsion of Babayemi at a press conference held at the party Secretariat, Osogbo, last week Friday over alleged anti-party activities.
Addressing journalists at a press conference at the PDP Secretariat at Ayedaade Local Governments Area, Gbongan, the Secretary of the party in Ward 2 Ayedaade, Mr Adekunle Munirudeen described the expulsion as a facade and nullity.
Munirudeen said the purported expulsion was carried out by people acted contrary to virtue of Section 57 of PDP constitution 2017 as amended.
He stated that only duly elected Executives of the ward 2 Ayedaade are constitutionally empowered to discipline any erring members adding that prince Dotun Babayemi worked adidiously for the party.
He said, “That allegations of anti-Party leveled against Babayemi are mere fabrication and imagination of traducers just to achieve sinister motive.
“Babayemi produced 25,000 specimen to educate us that we should vote for PDP, we did not work against the party, PDP is our party we are the authentic member and we can’t do otherwise,” he stated .
Also speaking about a chieftain of PDP Mr Adelani Ajanaku said the expulsion was a misplaced one considering the kind and caliber of Babayemi who he described as grassroot politician.
Ajanaku maintained that the PDP aspirant headed to Supreme Court on the issue that has to do with pre-election matter which according to is not out of place in a democratic process.
According to Ajanaku, “If other group had allowed a peaceful reconciliation shortly after the primaries, Babayemi would not headed to court even to the Supreme Court. It is because the other side refused to shift ground and part away with some out of over 20 requests, we ask for just five but they refused.
While explaining that Babayemi worked tiredlessly for the victory of the party at the last Governorship election in the state, Ajanaku hinted that all legal action taken by governorship aspirant was to make PDP a great party in the state.
He, however urged the party members at Ayedaade to remain united and Law abiding by ensuring that peace prevails at all times for overall interest of the state.
It will be recalled that Babayemi had emerged as the governorship candidate of the party in a parallel congress primary held at the WOCDIF event Centre, Osogbo, against the approved venue (Osogbo township stadium) by the PDP National working Committee.
A middle-aged woman, Kafayat Ayobamidele has narrated how some people in Nigeria are threatening to take her life. Ayobamidele, a mother of two based in South Africa said her life has been under threat since her marriage with her ex-husband, a situation that forced her to leave her former residence at No. 22, Salem Street, Magboro area of Ogun State seven years ago.
According to her, she was not aware that her ex-husband had a wife identified as Folashade, whom he married legally before she agreed to marry him about thirteen years ago.
The woman disclosed this in a WhatsApp note made available to journalists last weekend.
Ayobamidele stated that she could not come to Nigeria to check on her two children as a result of the daily threat she received from her former husband’s wife.
The victim added that she was attacked on April 9, 2022 when she came to Nigeria to check on her children by some thugs suspected to be hired by the woman, saying she was sexually molested during the process.
“My life is not safe in Nigeria. That’s the reason I left the country for South Africa. I had some issues with my ex-husband whom I had a child with. Before I married him, he lied to me about being single. But I later got to know he had a wife whom he married legally after a child.
“When the wife got to know about me, she started threatening to kill me. She said I should leave her husband, saying he belonged to her. I had to escape Nigeria when the threat was getting out of hand and I wasn’t safe anymore.
“After some time, I decided to go back to Nigeria to check on my two children. On getting there, I don’t know how the wife got to know I was around. She came to attack me with some thugs. Those thugs whisked me away to an unknown place. I was beaten and got injured in that process. I almost got killed but God saved my life.
“I have to leave Nigeria immediately I escaped the assassination attempt. At this point, I’m not safe to go back to Nigeria and my children are there. I cannot go back there to check on them. In fact, I was molested during that process,” she asserted.
A High Court of the Federal Capital Territory, Maitama, on Tuesday, fixed October 21 for the continuation of the trial of a former Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Mr Godwin Emefiele.
The trial judge, Justice Hamza Muazu, fixed the date on the agreement of the counsel after the close of the cross-examination of the ninth prosecution witness, Mrs Abibia Ockiya-Ogeleye.
Ockiya-Ogeleye, a lawyer, answering questions from the Economic and Financial Crimes Commision’s counsel, Rotimi Oyedepo, told the court that she rendered some services to the company, Architekon Nigeria Limited.
She told the court that in 2021, she filed the company’s annual report and also changed the director and shareholders of the company.
She added that before the addition, Architekon had only two directors.
She said, “Sometime in 2021 one madam Esther called me to effect a change in the company by adding her as a director of the company.”
She tendered a CAC document, which contained the names of Margaret Omoyile, McCombo Omoyile and Esther Oyeladun Adeoun as shareholders.
She also tendered another document containing the record of transfer from McCombo to Margaret, dated March 4, 2021, as well as another document containing the resolution of the company on Esther’s admittance as a director of Architekon.
The witness also presented to the court a copy of an email she said Oyeladun sent her requesting that she be added as a director of the company.
Justice Muazu admitted all the documents as evidence.
The defence counsel, Mathew Burkaa (SAN), during cross-examination, asked the witness if she had a physical meeting with McCombo and she replied no.
He asked her about the signatures in the company documents she presented and if she saw McCombo sign on it.
She replied that she couldn’t tell whether they were at the meeting and signed the resolution since they were sent to her and she wasn’t physically there.
Earlier, the eight prosecution witnesses, a Zenith Bank Compliance Officer, Mr Umar Tilda, tendered three bank documents before the court which included a copy of Emefiele’s bank statement.
Tilda, citing a portion in Emefiele’s bank statement, informed the court that there was a N4 million transfer from Emefiele’s account with the bank to Architekon on January 13, 2015.
When Burkaa asked him if he knew what the transfer was meant for, he said he did not know.
Also when asked if he knew that the accounts he listed as belonging to Emefiele were salary accounts, investments, savings and dividends, he replied, “I wouldn’t know.”
He also confirmed that some of the accounts contained Capital Interest Credit.
He also confirmed that a transaction of N15 million debit, dated April 13, 2015, in count number 2020000064 was part of litigation.
The court adjourned till October 21, for the continuation of trial.
President Bola Tinubu has directed the setting up of a presidential committee to oversee the Cholera Emergency Operation Centre, operated by the National Centre For Disease Control.
The Minister of Health, Ali Pate, made this known on Tuesday after the Federal Executive Council meeting chaired by President Tinubu at the State House, Abuja.
He added that the committee’s effort is in addition to state government support to ensure Nigeria makes progress in reducing open defecation.
“The Council then approved a cabinet committee comprising the federal ministries of Health, Finance,Water Resources, Environment, Youth, Aviation, Education because some of our children will be returning to school . In addition to this, the state government, we will co-opt, so that Nigeria makes progress in reducing open defecation because cholera is a developmental issue that requires a multi-sectoral approach.
“The President directed that a cabinet committee be set up to oversee what the emergency operation centre led by NCDC is doing and for the resources to be provided complemented by the state government,” he said.
Pate further disclosed: “At the moment about 31 states have recorded 1528 cases and 53 deaths in Nigeria. That is what we are working through the Emergency Operation Centre that was activated by NCDC on Monday.
“Now we have a cholera outbreak and we discussed extensively in the Council in addition to a new emergence of Yellow Fever specifically in Bayelsa State.
“On cholera we are in the middle of the 7th pandemic globally which is decades in the making. In 2022, the world had almost 500,000 cases of cholera so it is not only peculiar to Nigeria. In 2023 almost 700,000 cases of cholera were reported by the World Health Organization.
“This year more than 200,000 cases have occurred in five regions of the World.”
He emphasised that a multi sectoral approach is required to tackle the outbreak .
“Resources were deployed to 21 states to help them respond to cholera. We are improving awareness of population, handwashing, hygiene sanitation, in addition to treatment with drugs, and intravenous fluids,” he added.
