TUESDAY. JUNE2I. 2011
Brie y
ACN tackles Alao-Akala over anti-Ajimobi comments
Farmers la ment food p rice HE PTI!5Ident·Generll\ 01 the Niger;!! Farmers and Hunters Union, 1Iiso
O llllekan Ad e l ayo, Ibarlan
known as AgbekOYIl. Chief
HE ()yo Stale chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has criticised whal it called ce",se less medill attacks former Governor Adebayo Alao-AklIl", ag",inst his successor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi. lind the new adminislrlltion in the state The party's position wllS con tll ined in a s tatemenl mllde available to our in lbadan. the
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K"morudl"l!n Okikiola. hlls bemoaned In!'! cUTf("nl rising
cost of food items
In
the
country
He also frowned III the general decline in Clgricultu re practice in the Souih-West region of the country.
Okikiola rMde his position knO\\.'n in a silitemeni mllde <lvailable to our crnte'ipondenl in Ibad,,". ()yo Siall! capilal on 1-1ondllY by the group's Media Consull"nl, Chief Olatunji BandeJe, after the
1~la'.!J-"1II
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slate capital, on Monday by Ihe state Se~tary, Mr. Wasiu Olatubosun. Olatubosun was reacting 10 an opinion arlicle published in II national newspaper (not THE PUNCH) on Sunday by Ihe spokesman of Ihe former governor. Mr. Dotun ()yelade. He said, MThe ACN finds il womsome Ihat some people after losing a popular eleclion would be hell-bent on making the state ungovernable by sponsor ing Chll05 among
with media attacks against Ihe person of the governor. ~Oye la de had . by his lIrlicle. re-emphllsised Ihe vicious inlent of the AllloAkala group 10 frustrate Ihe presen t administration in all fronts simply because Ajimobi and the ACN rose to the chaUenge of ending bad governance in the ~cesetter sta te as supported by the el~torate who voted the PDP
-It Is time Alao-Akala lind his acolytes changed Iheir wlly by appealing to the people of the state for forgiveness having wasted their enormous resources in the last couple of years. "It 15 even disturbing to note thai Alao·Akala keeps telling the public that he m",n",ged properly the financ;al resources of the
cases 01 wasteful spending and official r«klessnl!Sl5 thlll turned the people against him even before he was forced on them In 2007 ~In a matter 01 days. Ihe world would be made to see Ihe clear picture of immeasurolble cases 0 1 oflielal corruption which his government engilged in while il would be revealed to Ihe world how he wi!lsted about NQOObn in just lour years H
Call for sacking:
Agents of destabilisation at work ~ Rector
union's nation,,! executives meE'ling.
S e511n Olulowobi
He attributed the increase
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in prices 01 food Sluffs In the South·West to alleged lack of commitment by Ihe state
governors in the region to 1tN! development of agriculture. He claimed thai the state governments were only paying lip service to agriculture and food production in the last 12 years. This, he added. had brought the region to its present sony situlilion of food scarcity lind price hike. Okikiola ClIUed on the neo. ... governors of Oyo. Ogun and (}sun slates. Senalor AjiboLa Ajimobi. Senator lbikunle Amosun, and Mr. Raul Aregbe<;ola.. loappoint per.;ons who a re knowledgeable in agriculture and committed as commissioners of agriculture in Iheir respective states.
'S ubmit asset declaration forms ' HE Director of Code o f Conduct Bure",u in Kwara State. Mr. Joseph Adeoye. has direcled all the newly elected political office holde~ in Ihe stOllte to submit their asse ts d~la.l<ltion forms ....~ thi n 30 days to avoid any form 01 embarrassment by the agency. He said this would ensure transparency and accountability. - • Adl':oye hsued the directive in [[orin on Monday and urgl':d the public official5 10 comply with the dlreclive which he !IiIid was in accordance wilh the provision of the n",tion·s constitution on assets deelaRltion in their own interest. He said a special commlitee from the bureau's headquarters in Abuja would be in the state between July 5 and 8 to verify assets dedllred by the political office holdeB. He added that Ihe committee would screen every asset declared to ascertain the authenticity of such document. He noled that some politicIans in the state were prosecuted in Ihe last eight yellrs for not dedaring thei r
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-".Adeoye
..... arned them against non-t:ompliant:e. saying his ilIdministr", tion would not treat ",nyone illS SlIned cow.
HE Rector of Abraham Adesanya Polytechnics. Ijebu Igbo, Mr Ibikunle &njo. on Mond",y said worke~ of the institution calling for his saddng might be agents of destabilisation. even <IS he described their lIllegalions i!gainsl him as imllginary The Redor, who spoke with our correspondent through text mesSllgeS. also stated that the meeting of the worken;, where they tailed for his sacking WClS in bad taste He ",dded that he did not receive the communiqUl! 01 the mee1ing as stated by the spokesm",n for the school. Mr. Oluseun Onadeko The workers under the aegis of the three unions of the polytechnic; Aca.demit Staff Unions of Polytechnics, Senior St",ff Asscxi"'tion of Nigerill Polyt~hnics and Non Academic Staff Union, had passed a vote of no confrdence on &njo and demanded for his immediate removal. The workers had ",ccused him of being insemittve to their welfare and refusing to develop the school. while spending N2m monthly lIS dl!O\.Oli'Ince. Bul &mjo said Ihl': allegations were not true. ~The issue 01 livIng In a hotel is an imaginary allegation. Since joining the polytechnic on May 1. 2010. I have no oFfidal accommodation, ",nd I h<lve not lived in any hotel as being "'lleged. At no time did I appropriate N2m to myself as allowances per month_ In any case, such fund never existed. he said. He explained that the i5SUe of unpaid sal",ries "'OIlS a debt brought forward from
A.,",'~
Assistant Country Representatiue J programme Implementation Agreeme1lt. In
,,,",., State Governor, Dr Olusegun Mlmiko; and UNICEF Nyonli. during the signing ceremony 0/ die 2011-2013
Corruption: Lucky Igbinedion's brother agency sough t 10 prosecute , gets stringent bail si)( accused persons.
J a m u Azllnla . Be nin
A
Federal High Court in Benin. Edo State, on Monday. granted bail to a younger brother of former Edo Stale governor, Chief Lucky 19binedion, Mich",el. ",Iter two weeks In prison cus.tody. Justicl': Adamu Hobon also granted bail to an aide of th e former governor. PatrIck Eboigbodln. who was charged along with the Igbinedionsand four others in a 62-counl ch"'rge bordering on corruption and conversion of public funds 10 privllte "~ .
Hobon. while gr"'"ting the plell for bail said the two accused must present sureties wUh NIOm deposit in any bank, and !hI': amoun t musl always be there throughout the duration of the trial. The sureties ilIccording to the bail conditions must be owners of landed property worth NlOOm. They must also be house owne~ lind nol tenants ~ Igbinedion, Eboigbodin "'nd three others were accused by the EFCC of acting as surmgales for former governor, Lucky Jgbinedion. and di ver ting sl",le funds
running into billions of Mira. The Iwo accused are to deposit their inte rn ationa l passports. residency permits and other v ital tra velling documents throughout the duration of the trial. In the origi nal case insti tut ed by the EFCC on behalf of the Federal
Government of Nigeri",. suit number FHCIlIC/ II against Lucky 19binedion . Patri ck Eboigbodin . Mich",el 19binedion. G",va Corporation, Romrig Nigeria Limited, PML Secu ritie s Company Limiled and PML (Nigeria) Limited, on February 8. befo re Justice Hobon. the anti-corruption
While the former Edo governor was discharged ",nd acquitted of ",II the offences. for wha t Hobon said would have amounted to ~S\.Iffering double jeopard y." having been tried and convicted in 2008 for Ihe same offences by an Enugu Hi gh Court. Michael ilInd Eboigbodin's plea on similar grounds was rejected. ,
N49m fraud : Accused pleads to repay victims Ad ~
Adesomoju
A Lagos based est",te /'"\a gent. Bayo LlI wal. accused by the Economicand Finandal Crimes Commission of defr",uding ",bout 200 in tend ing tenants of about NQ9m. on Monday begged the Court to allow him to reJ>"'y the victims. The Q6-ye'''r-01d accused person, who was on Junl': 3 arrlligned on a 119-coun t chllrge on conspiracy lind fraud in a Lagos High Court in lkeja. !IiIld he would make restitution by selling some o f his property. LawaI. alongside an accomplice, Mr. Femi Johnson. allegedly conspired to defr",ud the intending
tenants between 2005 and 2008 on the prete)(t of secu ring vllrlous kinds of lIpartments for them. AI the tria l on Monday. LlI w", I's lawyer. Mr A.D . Lasisi. informed the cou rt thaI his dient h",d entered a pie", bargain agreement with the EFCC. Lasisi said by the plea bargain. La .....al had granted the EFCC Power of Attorney to auction or self th e properly to any interested buyer for th e JlIITpOSe of us.ing the proceeds to ~y the victims. The properties a lluded to by lawai are Ioc3ted at 5 and 55 Olaiya Street. Mafoluku. (}shod!: IQ Orobiyi Street. Oshodi; 15 Sokunbi Street. Mushin and 20 Ogun koya Street. Oshodi. all in Lagos.
EFCC llI...vyer. Mr Anselem Ozioko, welcomed the plea bargain. saying the victims had been clamouring for the repayment of their money. The two accused persons are facing three other separate trials relaling to fraud before Justices Habeeb AblTU and Jumoke Pedro. LlIwal and Johnson are currently being remanded in Kirikiri M3)(imum Prison. The EFCC alleged that their offences con travened Sections 390 (9), 419 and Q67 (1) (b) of the Criminal Code LOlIw. Cap C17, Vol. 2 . Laws of Lagos State 2003. The commIssion also SlIid the <lccused persons nouted 5e<:tion 3( 1) of the Advance Fee and Other Fraud Relllied Offences Act, 2006.
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:~e th:"!~h:x,i.d~~iS~d~~d that it was receiving adequate ",ttention. ~ It is !'In accumulation of ~ary debt even before my assumption of office. ~ The R~tor assured 01 development in the Institution. He SlIid the spi'lte of development was slow beClluse contributions from notable indigenes of the!own did not materialise due to downturn in the businesses of th ose who made pledges.