Governor Makinde demands PDP Chairman’s resignation

Governor Seyi Makinde has demanded the resignation of Iyorchia Ayu, national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Punch reported that he made the demand on Wednesday September 14, during PDP south-west stakeholders meeting in Ibadan, the capital of Oyo state.

Makinde said;

“Our party wants to rescue Nigeria and our candidate is a unifier. He wants to restructure Nigeria.

“Eight years of the All Progressives Congress have left us sharply divided. The issue is we must practice what we preach. If we want to unify Nigeria, we must unify the PDP first.

“If we want to restructure Nigeria, we must have the willingness to bring inclusivity to the PDP. Do we have the capacity? The answer is a resounding yes.

“The message from the south-west PDP is that the south-west is asking that the national working committee (NWC) of the PDP should be restructured.

“We are asking the national chairman to step down so that the south will be fully included. That is the message.”

Governor Makinde pays N30,500 as minimum wage in Oyo – Ex-NLC Boss

Oyo State governor Seyi Makinde, has said he pays N30,500 as minimum wage for over 101,000 workers on its payroll.

This was disclosed on Wednesday by Comrade Bayo Titilola-Sodo, a former State Chairman of the Nigerian Labour Congress and Special Adviser on Labour Matters to the governor.

Addressing newsmen at the State Secretariat of the Correspondents’ chapel, Mokola, Ibadan, the SA described Makinde as the most Workers’ friendly when compared with previous administrations in the state.

He further hinted that the state government had paid over N13billion as gratuities for retired workers in the state.

He said; “As a worker-friendly Governor, Engr Makinde pays minimum wage for the workers in the state. I have never seen a government which arranged the issue of minimum wage without any noise.

“Oyo State is second to Lagos State in the payment of the minimum wage. We pay workers N30,500 for our workers. But for COVID-19 which affected the economic fortunes of the state, it would have been more than that.

“He has also increased vehicle and housing loans which now stand between N750,000 and N3m depending on the cadre of the worker.

The number of workers in the state is about 101,000 and we have 33 local government areas. The state has over 600 secondary schools.

“Governor Makinde has paid N13b as gratuities for pensioners in the state. The IGR in the state has improved with the state making over N2.5b on the average.

Speaking as a well experienced labour leader on the ongoing brouhaha between Kaduna state governor Nasir El-Rufai and workers in the state, he said the governor should tread softly on the issue adding that he would stand by the workers.

“I will always stand by the workers. You can’t run a whole State like a private enterprise. You can’t just wake up to say you sacked workers like that. There is a process you must follow. There is no way he can win against the workers.”

To make it easier for pregnant workers, he noted that the state had increased maternity leave from three months to six months.

Makinde deploys 200 Amotekun corps officers to Ibarapaland over herdsmen crisis

Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State on Wednesday said the state has deployed 200 officers of the Oyo State Security Network, otherwise known as Amotekun to the troubled Igangan in Ibarapa Local Government Area of the state.

Makinde disclosed this in a statement on Wednesday, adding that the move followed a meeting with security agencies and stakeholders from the crisis ridden area.

Igangan, an ancient town in Ibarapa area of Oyo State has been the scene of skirmishes between residents, led by a Yoruba activist, Sunday Adeyemo, also known as Sunday Igboho and Fulani herdsmen, who residents accused of perpetrating crimes including killings, maiming, kidnapping for ransom and destruction of farms in the area.

The Governor said in the statement: “Following the meeting held with representatives of Igangan, Ibarapaland which was attended by security stakeholders including the recently appointed Commissioner of Police, Oyo State, Mrs. Ngozi Onadeko, our administration has come up with a security strategy for that zone.

“We have resolved to redeploy 200 members of the Oyo State Western Nigeria Security Network codenamed Amotekun to kidnapping/banditry hotspots in the state, especially in the Ibarapa and Oke-Ogun zones.

“These operatives will launch missions to rid the forests of criminals. They will be presenting daily reports of their activities to me in the short run and periodic reports in the long run.

“In the next few weeks, we’ll hold town hall meetings and community outreaches, bringing together residents and security agencies to talk about any issues of immediate concern and how they can be resolved through dialogue and more effective community policing.”

Governor Seyi Makinde , Emotional As He Recounts How He Missed Final Moments With Late Mum.

Oyo state Governor Seyi Makinde on Thursday related how he missed the chance of a final moment with his late mother.

The Governor while speaking in a tribute at the Service of Songs held at The Archade of the Oyo State Government House, Agodi, Ibadan as part of the funeral rites of the late mother, recounted that he had promised to see his mother the weekend after the Ondo election but was unable to pick her calls for the fear of not been able to grant her ‘suspected’ wish of stopping by to see her before the agreed time.

He added that he received the shocking news of her death the following morning noting that although the death of his mother is still a very bitter pill to swallow for him, he will forever cherish the years of relationship he had with her.

Makinde said “It is still very hard for me. The relationship that I share with my mother is like a no other one. I spoke to her on Monday immediately after the Ondo state elections and I told her that I will see her over the weekend, then, I left for Port Harcourt on Wednesday morning.

“And throughout Wednesday she was calling me and I was saying to myself that even if I pick the call, since we were out of town, it wont make any sense because I kind of guess why she was calling me, she wanted me to stop by and see her, so I didn’t pick the call.

“By Thursday morning, they came to wake me up and said, they were knocking on my mum’s door and she wouldn’t answer and then maybe about 15 to 20 minutes later, they forced the door open and they met her, she was gone.”

“It was an experience for me to have spent a little above 52years of my life with my mother. I will forever cherish that relationship.”

In his short exhortation at the event, the Vicar, St Pauls Anglican Church, Yemetu, Dr Samuel Osungbeju recounted the good deeds of the later mother of the Governor calling on others to also remember to take a cue from her.

Other speakers also spoke glowingly of the memory of the late mother at the event which was attend by former Governor Rasheed Ladoja, Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of Ondo state, former Ambassador Taofeek Arapaja, President Christian Association of Nigeria, Dr Olasupo Ayokunle, Pastor Femi Emmanuel, Arch Bishop Segun Okubadejo among other notable dignitaries.

#Endsars :Governor Seyi Makinde inaugurates judicial panel to investigate cases of unlawful killings.

As revealed by Oyo state governor via his social media page, Governor Seyi Makinde stated the following;

“This afternoon, we inaugurated the Oyo State Judicial Panel of Inquiry into Police Brutality, Violation of Rights of Citizens and Unlawful Killings. The panel is made up of eleven (11) members led by Justice Bolajoko Adeniji (retired), as Chairman of the Panel.”

“Members of the panel are drawn from the legal community, the National Human Rights Commission, the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP), the National Youth Council of Nigeria, youth representatives of End SARS protesters and the community.”

#Endsars:Looted covid19 palliatives is not owned by Oyo – official

The Oyo State Government has said that the palliatives that were looted by hoodlums on Friday at a warehouse in the Akobo area of Ibadan, the state capital, did not belong to the state government.

Stressing that the Governor Seyi Makinde-led administration would not short-change the people, the Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Matters, Bayo Lawal, urged members of the public to discountenance the misinformation being spread on social media.

Some hoodlums had attacked a private warehouse belonging to a company in Ibadan carting away bags of rice believed to have been hoarded by the government.

Lawal, who doubles as chairman, Food Security and Palliative Committee of the Oyo State COVID-19 Task Force, said the state was not supplied rice as part of the palliatives from CACOVID and that it did not, at any time, distribute rice as part of the palliatives to the people.

He said, “Investigations revealed that there was nothing that concerns the Oyo State government in that warehouse. The warehouse belongs to a private individual who operates in Oyo State and was given a valid contract by the Coalition Against COVID-19, a coalition of private organisations that have been helping states and the Federal Government to fight COVID-19.

“So, it was the rice that he procured on his own for repackaging that was mistaken to be Oyo State’s, that hoodlums looted.”

The Commissioner stated that the state government could not hoard what it did not have, explaining that CACOVID supported the state with cash, medical items and food items including Indomie and Spaghetti.

He said, it was really a big shock earlier this morning (Friday morning) when I started receiving calls alleging that food items meant for distribution to the masses were being hoarded. But when I enquired further, I was told that the bags of rice were looted in one of our warehouses in Ibadan, in Lagelu Local Government, to be precise. We don’t even have any warehouse outside the secretariat.

All the palliatives given to us were stored in our warehouses within the secretariat, not outside. Whatever is being circulated that Oyo State was hoarding CACOVID-donated rice is wrong and baseless allegation.

“We want the public to know that though CACOVID gave us indomie, spaghetti, there was nothing like rice. We are still expecting their rice up till today. The rice, which was looted, belonged to a private company that happens to be a CACOVID vendor for other states.”

The CACOVID vendor whose warehouse was vandalised, Alabi Adeoye, stated that the looted bags of rice at the warehouse were meant to be supplied to Abia, Cross-Rivers, Plateau and Taraba States, disclosing that his company, which has been operating in Oyo State in the past five years, lost millions of naira to the attack.

“Our facility was vandalised and food items worth millions of naira were carted away. Property that was vandalised was worth millions of naira,” Adeoye was quoted as saying in the statement.