In her quest to promote Islam as a non-violent religion and find enduring solutions to terrorism, the Muslim World League has invited the Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, to speak at a discussion in Saudi Arabia.
According to a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, Aregbesola will be in Saudi Arabia to discuss how to correct the erroneous impression of Jihad and terrorism and proffer lasting solutions to the worsening scourge.

Governor Aregbesola has been very vociferous in his condemnations of the activities of insurgents in parts of Nigeria and other places around the world where terrorism has caused untold carnage.
The meeting will come up at the King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz AlSaud in Mecca between the 22nd and 24th of February this year.
‎
The Muslim World League is interested in ending the danger of terrorism and the impact of its propaganda on the Muslim community across the world.
According to the invitation letter addressed to Aregbesola, “We are planning to convene a conference on ‘COMBATING TERRORISM’ under the leadership of the custodian of the two Holy Mosques King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz Alsaud. It will by the grace of Allah hold in Makkah between 3rd and 5th/5/1436 -22nd to 24th February2015.

“Muslim World League is inviting you to a partnership in this regard to, together, stimulate discussion on the causes of this conflict”.

Governor Aregbesola has been very consistent and persistent in using every medium he has to condemn acts that have continued to paint Muslims in bad light.

As late as January 15^th 2015 on the occasion of the Armed Forces Remembrance Day, Aregbesola had restated his position on the need for a dogged war against insurgents.

Specifically, the governor had in the past also identified acute poverty as a major source of strength for the insurgents arguing that terrorists would run out of suicide bombers if all governments address the problem of poverty.

He had cited various authorities to strengthen his position that issues of faith are personal and that it is not Islamic to compel anyone to follow one’s own faith.

Ahead of the general elections in the country, candidates contesting state and National Assembly posts in Osun State, yesterday, signed a peace accord pledging to abide by rules and regulations laid down by the legal framework for elections in Nigeria.
They did this as the Assistant Controller of Prison, ACP Adelakun Kayode, warned political parties and their supporters to maintain peace, saying prison yards are wide open for any one that causes political trouble before, during and after the elections.
“Tell your supporters to be mindful of their utterances and if they fail to heed advice, prison yards are wide open and are expecting people,” he warned.
Representatives of political parties and some candidates at the state police command pledged to avoid any conduct or behaviour that may endanger the political stability and security of the state.
They also pledged to refrain from campaign of calumny, hate, religious sentiments, ethnic or tribal profiling.
Speaking at the accord meeting, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, Ikemefuna Okoye, assured that the police will ensure protection of lives and property without bias or prejudice.
Okoye however warned that any candidate or supporters caught fomenting trouble would be arrested and prosecuted accordingly.
State Chairman of All Progressives Congress, Prince Gboyega Famodun, promised that his party will not go contrary to the pledge, urging the police to remain apolitical and fair to all parties.
Also, the State Secretary of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Prince Bola Ajao, said that the party will continue to promote peace despite its loss of the governorship petition at the tribunal.
Director of State Security Service, Andrew Iyokia, State Director of National Orientation Agency NOA, Dr Martins Lawrence, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Adekunle Ogunmola, and other security agency leaders, urged political parties to keep to their promise and take the nation’s interest above personal and partisan concerns.
VANGUARD

In a bid to find a lasting solution to the lingering leadership crises at the Osun State University, the governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola on Tuesday evening set up a five-man visitation panel to the university.

The governor during the setting up of the committee at ‎the Executive Chambers of the Governor’s Office in Osogbo, admonished universities in Nigeria to be problem solvers rather than creating it.

‎The visitation panel is to be headed by Prof. Adebiyi  Daramola, while Prof. Jacob Ladipo, Prof Omotoye Olorode and Mr. Babatunde Adebayo are members with Mrs. Oluwakemi Kolawole, secretary.

The governor pointed out that the panel shall investigate the basis of the simmering crisis and the misunderstanding between the Management and the Council in the university with a view to finding a lasting solution.

He also charged the panel to determine the roles of individuals and groups in the crisis, with a view to ‎recommending appropriate steps to arrest the ugly situation and prevent a reoccurrence in the future.

The panel, according to Aregbesola, will also ‎proffer solutions to address the issue of disintegration in relationship between students in the institution with special reference to the Ikire Campus.

He urged the visitation panel‎ to complete its assignment and submit their report within four weeks‎ after the inauguration.

‎The governor said, “As you are aware of late there has been some disquieting dust being raised in the institution. The Ikire campus was shut until recently. Now, the management and Council are at loggerheads.

“When a university is thrown into crisis, the non-curricular teaching the students freely take away is the fighting, disorder and disorganisation. Whereas, the ultimate learning they should take away from the university is problem solving skills, and not crisis generating capability.

“Worse still, the energy of the combatants will be dissipated in writing petitions, counter-petitions and fighting, instead of positively deploying it to teaching, mentoring young and impressionable minds and conducting researches.

“This unintended consequence of the university system regrettably has been a reoccurring feature in Nigeria,” Aregbesola pointed out.

He held that universities should direct their research into existential challenges faced by the society, by first solving its own problems, which he described as being similar to those of society.

Aregbesola noted that university can make its environment beautiful, clean, and run it with sustainable resources, which it can easily transfer to the society.

“I find it troubling therefore that our universities are not problem solver but crisis generators. We want to end this and return UNIOSUN on the path of its founding mission”. The governor stressed.

Aregbesola admonished the committee to be fair and listen to all the sides, noting that they should leave no stone unturned by following the truth and care less about stepping on toes.

Speaking, the Chairman of the visitation panel, ‎Prof. Adebiyi  Daramola‎ thanked the governor for giving them the opportunity to serve.

He noted that the committee will try his best to bring out the truth without any fair or favour and that members of the panel will not be short of courage in the discharge of its duties.

He said, “I want to use this opportunity to thank the governor for having confidence in the panel. We will not be short of courage in getting to know the truth of what is happening in UNIOSUN.

“There is something fundamentally wrong with governance in the country. What is happening in the university is a reflection of what is going on in the country. The problem in UNIOSUN is that of governance problem,” The chairman averred.
“The commission hereby assures Mr. Governor that we shall do our work to the best of our ability within the set time frame,’’

The Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and his Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori were visited by the Assistant Controller General of Prisons (ACG) Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘F’, Ibadan, Mr Emmanuel Ogundele and Controller of Prisons, Osun Command, Deacon Babalola Kunle on Thursday 12-02-2015 and we have the pictures.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) with Assistant
Controller General of Prisons (ACG) Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘F’,
Ibadan, Mr Emmanuel Ogundele, during a Courtesy call on the Governor
at Government house, Osogbo, State of Osun on Thursday 12-02-2015

From right, Deputy Governor State of Osun, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori;
Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Assistant Controller General of Prisons
(ACG) Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘F’, Ibadan, Mr Emmanuel Ogundele,
during a Courtesy call on the Governor at Government house, Osogbo,
State of Osun on Thursday 12-02-2015

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd right); his
Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori (2nd left); Assistant Controller General
of Prisons (ACG) Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘F’, Ibadan, Mr Emmanuel
Ogundele (right) and Controller of Prisons, Osun Command, Deacon
Babalola Kunle (left), during a Courtesy call on the Governor at
Government house, Osogbo, State of Osun on Thursday 12-02-2015

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (3rd right); his
Deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye-Tomori (3rd left); Assistant Controller General
of Prisons (ACG) Zonal Coordinator, Zone ‘F’, Ibadan, Mr Emmanuel
Ogundele (2nd right); Controller of Prisons, Osun Command, Deacon
Babalola Kunle (2nd left); Deputy Controller of Prisons, Mrs Gladys
Boluro-Ajayi (right) and Assistant Controller of Prisons, Danmairomu
Shuaibu (left), during a Courtesy call on the Governor at Government
house, Osogbo, State of Osun on Thursday 12-02-2015

Gov. Rauf Aregbesola of Osun is seeking an amendment to the law establishing the state’s Debt Management Office (DMO).
A letter to this effect, which was sent to the state House of Assembly by the governor, was read at Wednesday’s plenary by the Speaker, Mr Najeem Salaam.
The letter dated Jan. 6, according to the speaker, contained a request from the governor asking for a reduction in the years of experience of a substantive Director General for the DMO.
The governor requested a reduction in years of professional experience of the Director General from 20 years to 15 years, inaddition to other conditions.
Salaam said the letter made it clear that it had become almost impracticable for the law passed in 2012 to be effective due to the stringent requirements attached to the position.
Also at the plenary, the Osun Water Sector Bill 2015 passed through the first reading.
The Assembly also opposed the postponement of the general elections, saying the action was unnecessary.
(NAN)

In this piece, FEMI MAKINDE examines the outcome the judgment delivered by the Justice Elizabeth Ikpejimi-led Osun Election Petitions Tribunal in Osogbo
Shortly after suffering a heavy loss in the August 9, 2014 governorship election in Osun, the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Senator Iyiola Omisore, headed for the Election Petitions Tribunal sitting in Osogbo, where he sought to upturn the victory of the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, who garnered 394,684 votes.
A few days to the judgment of the tribunal headed by Justice Elizabeth Ikpejimi, tension hung in Osun political space with supporters of both parties bragging about the chances of their candidates. The singsong in a typical PDP setting was, “You these APC people, it is all over for you. You will be flushed out on Friday. Omisore’s government of peace and abundance will be sworn in on May 29. Nothing will change it!” The typical mantra among APC supporters was, “There’s no more PDP in Osun State! We must never hear you shout power again. APC is running an eternal government in Osun. Aregbesola has turned Osun around for the better.”
As Justice Ikpejimi, in a verdict that lasted for seven and a half hours, knocked off, one by one, the grounds on which Omisore’s petition was predicated, members of the APC within the court sent text messages to others at home, sending them into wild jubilation.
Aregbesola swept the polls by winning in 22 local government councils while Omisore won in eight. Subsequently, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced Aregbesola as the winner of the poll but a dissatisfied Omisore, who came second, headed for the tribunal, praying the three-member panel to sack Aregbesola and declare him winner or order a rerun.
The petitioner, who scored 292,747 votes, said in his petition that the election was vitiated by corrupt practices by agents of the first respondent ( Aregbesola), who had contended that the petition lacked jurisdiction.
Three issues were placed before the tribunal for determination with the issue of jurisdiction being the first one. In the judgment, Ikpejime held that the panel resolved the issue of jurisdiction against Aregbesola who is the first respondent and proceeded to hear the petition.The petitioner challenged the election results in 939 polling units of 142 wards in 17 local government areas. The disputed local government areas are Ayedaade, Atakumosa-East, Boripe, Ede-North, Ede-South, Ejigbo, Ifelodun, Ilesa-East and Ilesa-West. Others are Irepodun, Irewole, Iwo, Obokun, Olaoluwa, Olorunda, Oriade and Osogbo local government areas.
The determination of the issue of jurisdiction in favour of Omisore, notwithstanding, the tribunal went ahead to expose the weaknesses in the allegations contained in his petition. The two other issues were whether the election was marred by corrupt practices alleged by the petitioner and secondly, whether Aregbesola won the majority of lawful votes.
The two main pillars of the petition failed the test presented by the three-member tribunal as the judges held unanimously that Omisore failed to prove the allegations beyond reasonable doubt.
In the eyes of the law, the large number of security personnel deployed in the state to monitor the August 9 poll made it extremely difficult for anybody to perpetrate electoral malpractices and virtually all election observer groups who monitored the conduct of the poll said nothing in their reports to indicate that the election was rigged.
Aregbesola said he knew from the outset that Omisore ought not to approach the court because he had no evidence to substantiate his allegations of corrupt practices during the poll.
The governor said, “It is pertinent to state here that ab initio, those who went to the tribunal knew that the petition lacked any substance whatsoever. It is a sheer waste of the time of the judiciary. And they knew it. One is appalled by the fact that a candidate, who knew that the entire state rejected him and the political party he represents performed abysmally in the buildup to the election, during the election and compounded his woes by failing to meet up with the required deadline set by the rule of the court, would be taunting us with any fake victory. We must salute the courage of our people, who in the face of overwhelming intimidation, harassment of unimaginable proportion, stood by their government and ensured the re-election. This is a further affirmation of the fact that any government that makes the people the centre of its policies will always find the people solidly behind it.”
Omisore did not personally comment immediately after the verdict but his campaign organisation, which reacted to the judgment, rejected the verdict and raised allegations bothering on the integrity of the members of the panel. The Iyiola Omisore Campaign Organisation, in a statement signed by its spokesperson, Mr. Victor Oriola, said that there was an indication that the judgment was procured because supporters of the APC started jubilating round the state even while the judgments were still being read.
The statement read, “We had thought that the tribunal members were of impeccable character when our supporters were calling our attention to unholy liaison between Aregbesola’s agents and the tribunal members. An indication that the judgment was procured emerged shortly after the tribunal began its ruling around10.00am on Friday when the APC supporters were jubilating that they had won. It is instructive to note that the tribunal commenced its ruling at 9.10am and rounded off by 4.38pm. The question to ask is: If the APC was not privy to the judgment, why were they jubilating when the tribunal had not pronounced its judgment? The National Judicial Commission should beam its searchlight on unscrupulous judges who had compromised and desecrate the judiciary with a view to rid our law courts of corrupt judges who have a penchant for perverting justice. We approached the tribunal with the abiding faith in God that justice will be done no matter how long it takes and we are unwavering in our belief that the appellate court would do justice to the petition. We want to urge our teeming supporters not to despair despite this momentary setback as we shall surely retrieve our mandate in due course.”
However, Omisore, in a statement on Sunday, said that he would not disparage the judiciary because the verdict did not go his way. The statement was signed by the media aide to the petitioner, Mr. Victor Oriola.
Omisore said, “Let me expressly state my abiding faith in the Nigerian judiciary to do justice at all times without fear or favour and the pronouncement of the tribunal, though against us, has not shaken that belief, and would not, even if there were no higher courts to review the tribunal’s judgment. The preceding political activities of the ruling party in the state hours before the judgment, which went in tandem with the party elements’ prediction, necessitated the call on the National Judicial Council to take another look into the bewildering scenario which was now being interpreted by our opponents as a call for the probe of the judges.
“Going by the laws guiding elections in the country, two layers of appeal are still available unto us, which we are currently exploring. As earlier mentioned by our lawyers, we are proceeding to the Court of Appeal and we have total faith in the higher court to dispense justice in the matter. Despite my disavowal of the said judgment, I have taken it in good faith since other avenues of seeking redress are open and (are) being explored.”
The Justice Ikpejime-led tribunal has not been accused of bias from any of the parties involved in the case since it was constituted and one of the lawyers to the petitioner, Mr. Nathaniel Oke (SAN), while closing the petitioner’s case, hailed the wisdom of the members of the panel who he said had remained ‘clean’ before all the parties. Oke also reiterated the same position about the integrity of the tribunal members on the judgment day but he said there were areas of disagreements in the verdict.
It will be recalled that the President of the Court of Appeal had constituted a three-man panel headed by Justice I.M. Bako to try the petition but Bako was removed following a petition written against him.
Justice Sulieman Ambrusa was subsequentlyappointed to lead the panel after Bako’s removal but the APC kicked against this and petitioned the NJC that Ambrussa should be replaced.
The entire panel was dissolved and a new panel headed by Justice Ikpejime was constituted to hear the petition. Other members of the Ikpejimi panel tribunal were Justices Vincent Ofosi and A. I. Kutigi.
The people of the state are waiting to see how the case will be eventually settled as Omisore has vowed to pursue his petition to the Supreme Court which is now the final bus stop for governorship election petition.
PUNCH

Osun State Governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, said on Monday that the objective of his administration in conducting a referendum on local government council creation is in line with the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
According to a statement on Monday by the media aide to the governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, the new local councils which will be created will meet the required standard.
He said that his government was prompted into embarking on the exercise to meet the genuine desire and consent of the people of the state.
The governor stated this after casting his vote at the Ifofin Ward 8 Unit 1 in Ilesa during the referendum on the creation of new local governments in the state by the Osun Independent Electoral Commission.
He stressed that the state government was determined to ensure that all legal, technical and constitutional procedures are followed to the letter in the council creation processes hence the referendum in all wards of the state.
The state government, in year 2012, set up a committee to look into how the state could create viable local government councils with sustainable socio-economic potential.
A former Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Prof. Mojeed Alabi, was made the chairman of the committee which has since submitted its report.

NEWS NIGERIA

Pictures of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and  his wife, Sherifat  been accredited by Osun Independent Electoral Commission (OSIEC) officials, during a Referendum Poll for Creation of Additional Local Council Development Area (LCDA) at Unit 1, Ward 8, Ifofin Ilesa, State of Osun on Monday 09-02-2015

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); his wife,
Sherifat (left) been accredited by Osun Independent Electoral
Commission (OSIEC) officials, during a Referendum Poll for Creation of
Additional Local Council Development Area (LCDA) at Unit 1, Ward 8,
Ifofin Ilesa, State of Osun on Monday 09-02-2015

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) casting his
Vote, during a Referendum Poll for Creation of Additional Local
Council Development Area (LCDA) at Unit 1, Ward 8, Ifofin Ilesa, State
of Osun. With him is, his wife, Sherifat on Monday 09-02-2015

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) acknowledging
cheers after casting his Vote, during a Referendum Poll for Creation
of Additional Local Council Development Area (LCDA) at Unit 1, Ward 8,
Ifofin Ilesa, State of Osun. With him are, his wife, Sherifat (2nd
right); House Leader, Osun House of Assembly, Honourable Timothy
Owoeye (3rd right); Executive Secretary, Ilesa East Local Government,
Mr Lanre Balogun (4th right) and others, on Monday 09-02-2015

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) acknowledging
cheers from his supporters after casting his Vote, during a Referendum
Poll for Creation of Additional Local Council Development Area (LCDA)
at Unit 1, Ward 8, Ifofin Ilesa, State of Osun on Monday

As Mr. Jonathan stumbled and wobbled in poll after poll—several of them operated or commissioned by operatives and hirelings in and around the administration—they looked for scapegoats and escape holes.

Up until last Thursday, the 5th of February 2015, there were people in Nigeria who thought President Goodluck Jonathan still had a chance to be re-elected president next Saturday.

Among that number, some mistook the pageantry and pomp of incumbency for the power and pump of Nigeria’s fledgling democratic heart.

As Mr. Jonathan stumbled and wobbled in poll after poll—several of them operated or commissioned by operatives and hirelings in and around the administration—they looked for scapegoats and escape holes.

As politicians trooped from his PDP into the suddenly-attractive APC, Jonathan’s team deployed abuses and excuses.

As organizations and important individuals around the country and abroad endorsed Mr. Jonathan’s principal challenger for the presidency, his cheerleaders encouraged him to disburse more promises, dismissing forecasts of his imminent electoral demise.

Well, not entirely.  At first they clung to the strategy of trying to destroy the claims to character of Muhammadu Buhari, the APC presidential candidate.

That lost steam.

They shifted into blame mode, questioning the readiness of the electoral commission.

That, too, lost steam.

Then they—they who thought the “Independent” in the Independent National Electoral Commission was ridiculous and refused to honour its budgetary and programmatic requirements; who refused to encourage Nigerians to collect their voters’ cards; who refused to protect the rights of the internally-displaced to vote—these emergency philanthropists argued Nigerians had not received their cards.

That track also lost steam.

Then they dropped the P-word: postponement.  They wanted the election postponed.

At first they wanted six months.  Then, dawn and reality closing in, they wanted eight weeks.

Eight weeks?

Eight weeks.  They had had four years—or five, or even eight, depending on how you looked at it—to prepare for the 2015 elections.  They had had all the time in the world to grant the electoral commission all the support it needed to be absolutely prepared, but did not.

They had had all the time to support the IDPs, including those displaced by floods, but did not.

They had all the time in the world to revamp the military and Nigeria’s entire Boko Haram strategy towards making the Northeast safer and more election-friendly, but they did not.

It came down to begging and crawling to try and gain eight weeks.

To be sure, they gained a few voices.  They got some minor political parties to whine on their side of the fence.  They hurled a few moles in front of television cameras and radio microphones and Internet keyboards.  They refused to grant visas to foreign journalists heading into Nigeria to report the election.

But it was hopeless, as opposition to postponing the election was substantial.  Asserting itself, the electoral commission said, “We are ready.  We are as ready as we are ever going to be!”

And then on Thursday, four days ago, the Council of State detonated a bomb right in the heart of the government, saying it had failed to find a shred of evidence why the election could not go on.

In other words, the Council did not fall for the tenure-elongation schemes of the Jonathan presidency in the face of the clamor of the populace to speak at the ballot.

These were gargantuan, seismic shifts.

It is not difficult to imagine that the presidency, after being doused with such ice-cold water on a bitterly-cold morning, did not crawl into alcohol and refuse to be consoled.  It was not difficult to see that Nigerians simply wanted an opportunity to vote out Mr. Jonathan and the PDP.

It may be clichéd, but Nigerians wanted change.

This bothers some people, who argue—bravely you might say—that Buhari and the APC do not offer change.  That argument is what emerges when you fail to clean your ears.

Buhari and the APC, I assert as someone who has openly denounced the PDP since the 2003 elections, are change.  They offer a change from the PDP in the elementary sense that someone—anyone else—is hope, and something of a new beginning.  Anyone and anything but the PDP is the definition of change.

Now, is APC the change Nigerians want?  Well, that is a completely different animal.  The truth is that you cannot have the second without the first.  To say that APC is not the change Nigerians want should not be to say that PDP and Jonathan are a nightmare they want to maintain.  It is the nature of homo sapiens, when confronted with pain or injury, to try something…different.

As for me, I am reformed.  For five years, I have pointed out how weak and unsuitable for leadership Mr. Jonathan was.  But it is all clear to me now: his mission in politics was never to be a conqueror or an achiever, for he is not so equipped; it was to show Nigerians how nasty life can turn when they are not vigilant.

Nigerians were not, and they got Jonathan.

The PDP were not, and now, it is about to be de-mystified and detonated.

In the process, Jonathan’s luck seems to have run out, and he is being unveiled as an impostor, the passerby in the mask of the King.  Unveiled not just as the man who didn’t give a damn, but as one who couldn’t spell it.  He will spend a lot of his old age trying to explain how he got to Aso Rock; how he got to the University of Port Harcourt, if he did, how long he spent there, and what he did there; and even the loyalties of those who cheered when he did not give a damn.

Speaking of Uniport, Mr. Jonathan may have singlehandedly damaged that brand.  Every alumnus is on now his own.

Unless you are wearing damaged ethnic or regional blinkers, the only reason for any passionate support of Jonathan is because he upholds a lootocracy to which you belong.  There is nothing about his public voyage that fills a normal man with anything but contempt.

But let us be clear: this election is not about Jonathan.  It is not about Buhari.  It is about Nigeria, as a country that has for too long been taken for granted.

This is also why Buhari, his team, and the APC must be on notice.  It is not about you, and if you win, it would be the final tragedy should you act as if there is one day to waste, or as if the standards of measurement will be lowered because you enjoyed popular support on your way to the kingdom.  The support is for the country, not you, and not your party.

Actually, your journey will be a lot more difficult because in the period since your much-admired presidential party primary, a lot has changed, and the resources that will be available to you on Friday, May 29, 2015 will be considerably less.

The comfort is that if you really and truly give a damn, you will have plenty of company and help on the road to restoration.

sonala.olumhense@gmail.com