An NGO, Hope for Family Development Initiative (HFDI), has donated 190,000 vitamin A supplements and Albendazole tablets to Osun State Government.
Presenting the drugs to the government, the NGO said the donation was part of its social responsibility to ensuring healthy living in the state.
Executive Director of the HFDI, Mr Stephen Aremu, who presented the drugs to the state government said the drugs would assist in the care of children in the state.
He said the assistance was in support of the state government’s free health programme, adding that the organisation appreciates the efforts of the Governor Rauf Aregbesola-led government at ensuring healthy living.
Aremu said the gesture would go a long way at preventing eye defects, anaemia, diarrhea and measles among the children.
He stated that the NGO collaborated with Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to procure the drugs.
Speaking on behalf of the state government, state Commissioner for Health, Dr Temitope Ilori, lauded the NGO for the gesture and assured that the drugs would be given to those meant for.
The commissioner, who was represented by Mr James Oloyede, a Director in the Ministry, commended the NGO for the gesture.
While advising parents to ensure that their children benefit from the gesture, the commissioner stressed the need for all parents in the state to benefit from the health care system of the state government.
DAILY INDEPENDENT

Osun State Police Commissioner, Alhaji Abubakar Marafa, on Thursday canvassed the engagement of youths at the grassroots to assist the police in stemming the security challenges facing the nation.
Marafa was speaking at an interaction secession organised by the command in partnership with the State Harmonised Vigilante Group in Osogbo, stressing that there is need for the engagement of the youths to assist the police in tackling the security challenges, which according to him are assuming new dimension by the day.
He explained that the involvement of the youths in assisting the police in policing the nation is the only way to guarantee safety of life and property in the country.
Marafa, who was represented at the event by the Area Commander of Ile-Ife, Abubakar Jimoh, said that the current security situation needs more intelligence reports and local assistance of persons, who are conversant with the terrain of the nooks and crannies of the country.
The Commissioner, who commended the leader of the Harmonised Vigilance Group, Alhaji Rilwan Hussein Yah’Salam, for the support of the group to the men of the command, assured that the command would ensure that the state is adequately policed.
According to him, “you as a community police, you must continue the good work of assisting the police at the grassroots level and the most important thing you must know is that, the police must always be your guide for you to carry out your duties in the most acceptable and desirable manner.
“Police are engaging the service of vigilance groups because the discharge of the responsibility of enforcing law and order, protection of life and property among others that are core traditional duties of the force, have appeared to be increasingly difficult to perform by the Nigeria Police alone”.
Responding, Yah’Salam reiterated his support to the Nigeria Police in combating criminal activities.
Yah’Salam assured that his men were battle ready at ensuring free-crime state in conjunction with Osun State Police Command.

Daily Independent

Osun state government in southwest Nigeria says the ongoing rehabilitation of Ede waterworks is aimed at enhancing water distribution to thirteen local government areas of the state.
Special adviser to osun state governor on water resources, Mrs. Tawakalitu Williams stated this in Osogbo, the state capital while speaking with newsmen on the level of development at the waterworks.
Mrs Williams, who noted that the rehabilitation had reached completion stage, explained that the waterworks had been furnished with twelve new water pump and 50kv generator as well as four transformers to ensure stable electricity supply to the waterworks.
She hinted that people of Ile Ife, Ilobu and Gbongan have been enjoying stable water supply due to the rehabilitation of the waterworks.
While noting that efforts were in top gear to replace damaged pipelines, the special adviser said the damaged pipes across the state had hindered adequate supply of water to some areas in the state.
She urged consumers to always pay their water bill to improve state internally generated revenue adding that government was committed to the promotion of welfare of citizenry.
RADIO NIGERIA

The expert witness of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in the August 9 election in Osun State, Mr Samuel Oduntan has confirmed to the state Election Petition Tribunal that there was no any discrepancies in the results of the election he analysed for his principal.
The witness who had claimed to be a statistician early in his witness statement also made a u-turn while giving oral evidence before the Elizabeth Ikpejime-led tribunal on Thursday and confessed that he was not a registered statistician.
He said he used Certified True Copies (CTCs) and duplicates of the results forms of the election which had earlier been tendered by the petitioners and he found no discrepancies in the course of his analysis .
Omisore and the PDP are challenging the August 9 re-election of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the All Progressive Congress (APC), while the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was joined as a party.
The witness who had stated in his written deposition that no voting point was created in the polling units being challenged by the petitioner, was confronted with the result forms of some of the units and he quickly made a u-turn that voting points were created, but not based on 300 voters per voting points.
Being drilled by the INEC counsel, Mr Ayotunde Ogunleye, the expert said, “I am not a registered statistician. In this kind of two analysis I have done in the past, those who employed me did not win the case.‎
“I did a similar analysis in the case of Kogi State and submitted the report, but it was not tendered for the case.
“I am not from Osun, neither did I monitor the election, but I was employed by the petitioners to do the analysis of the election materials”, he confimed.
Also answering question from the APC counsel, Professor Yemi Osinbajo (SAN), Oduntan said “in his comparison of the duplicates result forms given to the petitioners and the CTC of the forms, I found no discrepancies. I didn’t say I found any discrepancies.
The witness who had also claimed in his statement that the result forms he analysed were not stamped nor signed, confirmed to the tribunal that he did not see the original copies of the documents to ascertain whether they were signed or not.
Osinbajo subsequently confronted the witness with the fact that there were a lot of errors in his report of the purported analysis, which he denied.
While also being cross-examined by Aregbesola counsel, Mr Femi Falana (SAN), the expert witness confirmed that inspite of the fact that not all the polling units and wards in the 17 local governments in contention are being challenged, he based his analysis on all the wards and units of the 17 councils.
Earlier, the INEC counsel had objected to the admissibility of the report of the purported analysis of the expert, saying the document is inadmissible under section 84 (2 and 4) of the Evidence Act.
He argued that the document was a computer-generated evidence. Before it can be admitted, it must be accompanied by certificate of identification of the device through which it was made.
The tribunal reserved ruling on the admissibility of the documents, but marked it as exhibit.
Other witnesses who testfied after the expert witness were Adebisi Gbolagade who was the PDP Collation Agent for Ifelodun Local Government and Wasiu Olaitan, the PDP supervisor for Ward 4 of the local government.
Gbolagade said his party did not have party agents in many of the 105 polling units in the local government, inspite the facts that the agents signed the result forms.
He also confirmed to the court that all the PDP agents in all the wards submitted the result forms to him.
Olaitan also said he was not the one that signed the result form tendered by the petitioners’ counsel as the ward 4 collation agent, even though the document was signed.
OSUN DEFENDER

Hearing on the petition challenging the victory of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the August 9 Gubernatorial election in the state of Osun continued on Saturday 22/11/2014 with tendering of voters register for Atakunmosa East, Boripe and Ede North Local Government.
There were a lot of serious observations raised by the counsel to Respondents ranging from missing pages in the register to certification of several pages of the register sought to be tendered and pencil inscriptions on all the pages of the document.
Specifically, In Atakunmosa East Local Government, the petitioner sought to tender voters register in ward 2,3,4,6,7, and 8. Apart from the facts that inscriptions were on all the pages, unit 3 of ward 6 has a missing front page.
In Boripe Local Government, the petitioner sought to tender voters register in wards 1-5. Apart from pencil inscriptions on all the pages of the register, ward 1unit 4 and ward 3 unit 3 have no page 1.
In Ede North Local Government, petitioner sought to tender voters register in 11 wards. Apart from the usual pencil inscription on all the pages of the register, INEC Counsel, Ayo Ogunleye Esq observed that ward 4 unit 004 pages 15,40,43,44,45,46,47,48 and 50 are missing while page 51 bears no certification.
Ward 5 unit 003 pages 31-41 are missing, while in unit 008 of ward 9 page 80 is missing.
The final straw was the observation that in unit 001 of ward 9, pages 20-29 have no certification. The documents were admitted in evidence subject to the objection of the Respondents being incorporated at the final address.
The learned Counsel for the Petitioner, informed court around 10am that they need a stand down till 3pm to enable them sort out other register from the remaining Local Government. The court granted the application after all the respondents indicated that they have no objection.
OSUN DEFENDER
Don’t Insult me, Aregbesola’s Counsel Tells Omisore’s Lawyer
Counsel to the Osun State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Professor Yemi Osibajo, SAN, has warned the lead counsel to Senator Iyiola Omisore, and the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in the August 9 election in the state, Chief Chris Uche, SAN, against impugning the professional integrity of his team.
Osibajo was reacting to alleged consistent statements by Omisore’s counsel that Governor Rauf Aregbesola, APC and INEC legal teams were deliberately delaying the hearing of the petition filed against the election.
Uche, had at the continued hearing of the petition of Omisore and PDP against Aregbesola’s re-election before the Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime-led tribunal sought to tender the register of voters’ used in all the units and wards of the 17 local governments, including the ones not being challenged in the petition.
VANGUARD
 

The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has described as saddening the death of popular entertainer and General Manager Unique FM Ilesa, Osun, Mr. Opeyemi Fajemileyin.

In a statement by the Director, Bureau of Communications and Strategy, Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, Aregbesola described the death of Mr. Fajemilehin as one that has once again dealt a devastating blow to the media industry, particularly the broadcast section, robbing the country of another energetic man and a versatile journalist.

The Governor said the demise of the experienced Yoruba broadcaster will no doubt leave a huge vacuum in the media industry.

The statement said in part: “Once again, we have lost a very precious gift in the GM of Ara (Unique) FM. To say that his death has thrown us into a state of mourning is just a mild way of expressing our sorrow and sadness.

“Fajemilehin, in the past 25 years, practised journalism actively and distinguished himself among his peers as a thoroughbred professional. This made him and his programmes such as ‘Fajemilehin on FM’, ‘Pirilolongo Nji’ and Fajemilehin on the Rock,’ on Paramount FM 94.5, Abeokuta, darling of numerous homes across the South-West and other Yoruba-speaking places.

There is no contravening the fact that the nation, media world and particularly his Ara FM Radio Station, will miss Fajemilehin’s’s creative energy, love for the promotion  of our culture and managerial capacity.

On behalf of the myself, Government and people of Osun, I commiserate with his family colleagues and all his fans across Nigeria praying that may God admit him into complete eternal  rest.

It was a laughter at the State of Osun  Election Petition Tribunal on Wednesday November 19, 2014, as Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) witnesses indicted men of Nigerian Police Force of eating puff-puff and drinking beer during voting exercise on August 9 gubernatorial election in the state. The three man panel tribunal could not bear it as they all fell into derisive laughter.
It would be recalled that Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s counsels are calling witnesses before the tribunal, challenging the victory of Governor Rauf Aregbesola of All Progressive Congress (APC). However, the court turned laughter when the 8th witness, Tajudeen Badmus, told the tribunal that policemen were eating puff-puff when under-age children were voting for APC on the day of election.
This is just as one Sikiru Olalekan, who was the 10th witness, alleged that police officers were drinking beer at a restaurant and were not available to receive voter’s complain. This development made the tribunal members to fall into uncontrollable laugh till the Chairman, Justice Elizabeth Ikpejime, said “they stepped the puff-puff down with beer.“
The witness who claimed to be a former member of Education board, when cross-examined by 1st respondent’s counsel, Femi Falana (SAN), admitted that there was a restriction of movement on the election day, insisting that the restaurant was opened at the back. Also, another witness, who claimed to be a supervisor for ward 8, Olorunda Local Government, Akin Akande, alleged that he was forced by over 400 people to sign form EC8A.
During cross-examination by Falana, Akande denied that Dagbolu is far to Kolabalogun, insisting that all the 12 units in ward 8 are very near to each other and he covered them. The witness however stated that Dagbolu, Steel rolling company and Kola Balogun are in the same ward and they are not far to each other.
Meanwhile, the Nigerian Police Force was not joined in the suit by the petitioner.
 
Omisore’s Witnesses Run Away From Court
Apparently scared of the damaging questions from counsel to the respondents in the petition of Senator Iyiola Omisore against the re-election of Governor Rauf Aregbesola, some of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) witnesses ran away on Wednesday.
The witnesses were in court during the morning session, but in the afternoon session, when they were expected to give evidence before the tribunal,none of them show up.
When tribunal members resumed from the break at exactly 2:30 pm, the PDP legal team discovered that the witnesses have disappeared into thin air.
Subsequently, some members of the PDP legal team, including Otunba Ojo Williams quickly rushed out of the court, running helter skelter, making calls to get the witnesses back to the court.
Subsequently, the lead counsel of the petitioner, Mr Chris Uche (SAN) appealed profusely to the court for the delay, as the witnesses were not on ground, admitting that “this is not good for us at all”.
When the delay was becoming unbearable, the tribunal Chairman stood down the case, rose and ask the petitioners’ counsel to inform them when they were ready with their witness.
It took about 15 minutes before the legal team could get the witnesses back to court after several appeals and assurances.
After the witnesses were gotten back to court, the tribunal resumed sitting and the petitioners continued calling of their witnesses.
A source said the witnesses deliberately ran away because they were scared of what they would face from the Aregbesola’s counsel having heard from witnesses who had earlier given evidence.
BIOREPORT

Osun state government has restated its commitment to the urban renewal project of the present administration.
The state governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola stated this in Oshogbo while declaring open a two day conference of directors and heads of town planning organizations in Nigeria organized by the state government and federal ministry of Lands, Housing and Urban Development, held in Oshogbo.
Speaking on the theme of the conference “Contemporary Development Agenda and Physical Planning in Nigeria”, Mr. Aregbesola who was represented by the head of service, Mr. Yinka Owoeye said the conference was timely coming at a time when proper planning  was needed to move the country forward.
In a keynote address, Minister of lands, Housing and Urban Development, Mrs. Akon Eyakenyi who was represented by a director in the ministry, Alhaji Abubakar Yewa urged participants at the conference to address salient issues confronting the task of planning the environment.

The Osun State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Bola Ajao, has told the Election Petition Tribunal in Osogbo that voters were allowed to be accredited and voted freely on the August 9 governorship election.
Also, a chieftain of the party, Gbadebo Adeyemo, who is the third witness in the petition filed by the party and his candidate in the August 9 gubernatorial election, Senator Iyiola
Omisore,  on Tuesday informed  the tribunal that incompetent policemen  were deployed to his polling unit in Osogbo Local Government Area.
Ajao stated this before the tribunal while giving evidence at the continued hearing of the petition filed by Omisore and his party, the PDP, against the re-election of Governor Rauf Aregbesola and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
While being cross-examined by Aregbesola’s counsel, Chief Charles Edosonwan, the APC counsel, Chief Yomi Aliu, and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) counsel, Mr.
Ayotunde Ogunleye, Ajao who was the petitioners’ first witness, said his claim as to the alleged rigging of the election were not witnessed by him, adding that: “I was told by my party agents.”
Responding to questions by Edonsonwan, he said: “I got to my Ward 8, unit 9 of Ifelodun Local Government Area at about 6:30a.m. on the election day, accreditation started by 8a.m. and voting started at about 12:30pm.
“I pass through the same process and I voted on that. I did not leave my unit until after the election. My party lost in my polling unit. My
testimonies on other units that our party is challenging are based on what I was told by my agents. I was not there.
“Omisore contested for a senatorial slot in 2011, but lost along with other candidates of the party. We did not challenge the election in court. I don’t know the number of polling units we are challenging.”
While being cross-examined by the INEC counsel, Ajao said he followed all the processes required from accreditation to voting, adding that after accreditation, people were allowed to vote.
Also answering question from APC counsel, the witness confirmed to the tribunal that all the result sheets for each of the local government areas in contention were signed by PDP supervisors on the election day.
The second and third witnesses, Mr. Kolapo Sikiru and Gbadebo Adeyemo, who claimed to be PDP ward supervisors in Ward 1 and 2 of Osogbo Local Government Area respectively, confirmed that their polling agents signed the result forms for each of the units except few.
Contrary to his claim that the result sheets of unit 2,3,4 and 5 of Ward 2, were not signed by his party agent, as deposed to in his witness statement, Gbadebo was confronted with the duplicate result
for the units that were tendered by the petitioners’ counsel which bore the signature of the agents and the witness was dumbfounded.
Meanwhile, at a point, there were altercations between counsel to the petitioners and the first respondents, as the former accused the latter of interjecting the cross-examination of the witnesses at the detriment of the 20 minutes permitted to cross-examine the witness.
The intervention of the tribunal judges brought the altercations under control.
Addressing journalists after the sitting, the first and third respondents’ counsel, Edosonwan and Ogunleye respectively, said the
testimonies of the petitioners’ witnesses had vindicated the respondents that the petition has no merit.
They were optimistic that more of such vindication would unfold in the course of cross-examining other witnesses.
The tribunal was on break as at the time of filling this report.
FG Deployed Incompetent Policemen To My Ward — PDP Witness
A chieftain of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who is the third witness in the petitioned filed by the party and his candidate in the August 9 gubernatorial election, Senator Iyiola Omisore, on Tuesday told the tribunal that incompetent policemen were deployed to his polling unit in Osogbo Local Government.
Gbadebo Adeyemo, a retired civil servant, during cross-examination by counsel to the third respondent, Barrister Ayotunde Ogunleye said contrary to the deployment of heavy security to man the election in the state, incompetent police officers were stationed in his polling unit at Isale-Osun area, Osogbo.
He alleged that INEC officials prevented his party’s agent from staying at the polling unit, insisting that the election was marred by irregularities.
When asked why he did not report the development to security personnel, he said only incompetent police were around, alleging that they worked with the direction of INEC officials.
Adeyemo who claimed to be a supervisor, denied that he wore PDP shirt with members of his party on the day of election.
Also testifying before the panel, Kolapo Sikiru, expressed dismay when he was shown Form EC8B and asked if he was the one that signed it.
During cross-examination by respondents’ counsel, Sikiru said, “I’m afraid of this court. I’m not the one that signed this. I’m a prince and I don’t tell lie.”
He said the signature in the voters’ register form EC8A were not the same, denying that all agents in ward 1 to 19 of Osogbo Local government have died.
When asked by counsel to the third respondents whether they are still alive, Sikiru said, “I didn’t receive information that anyone of them has died, and nobody wear PDP shirt on the day of election.

Governor Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola of Osun has declared that digital form of journalism has become an integral part of our cherished political legacy as it offers new scope and invaluable tool of ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections in the country.
Aregbesola, however advised that it should be explored and protected for the betterment of our electoral process and political life, noting that, it should be constitutionally made part of our electoral process.
The governor stated this today while speaking as a Guest Speaker at the official opening ceremony of the 2014 Ogun NUJ Press week.
The programme which was held at the Press Centre, Iwe Iroyin, Oke Ilewo, Abeokuta had media dignitaries from across the Southwest in attendance.
The governor, who was represented by the State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Oluomo Sunday Akere spoke on the lecture titled: ‘Effectiveness of Journalism in a free and fair election: The Social Media advantage’. He explained the importance of digital journalism, especially as it affects elections in the country, adding that, it was part of what made him victorious during the last August governorship election Osun.
“A new frontier in press freedom has been opened with the advent of the internet and the social media. The internet offers new opportunity for freedom beyond the traditional reach of government clampdown. The internet has rightly observed, breaches and bridges the physical barriers once constituted by state borders. The internet, indeed, brings the world to a borderless state.
“The traditional print and electronic media functioned on information dissemination through restricted platforms in the sense that access to the platforms was controlled by their managers and their owners.
“On the other hand, they were also subject to easy crackdowns by governments. But today, the internet offers us a different world of freedom in digital information dissemination and sharing. The internet platform provides a virtual space of virtually unlimited access in which everybody can disseminate and share information and news to unlimited number of audience. What’s more, such information and news are made available at the click of a button.
“It is a platform of information dissemination in which the barriers of time and space collapses. So the social media form of journalism is a powerful tool that can enhance press freedom in many ways. It thus offers a valuable advantage in that, it can be used to improve our political life as well. And I dare say it has been proving useful in this regard.
“I am fully aware that in the just conclude gubernatorial election in the State of Osun, the social media and the internet made it more difficult for the forces of darkness in our midst to ply their accustomed trade of election manipulation and rigging.
“They played very good roles in making the results available to the public as they were being formally announced by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC. The fact that the announced results were already in the public domain – thanks to internet journalism – made it almost impossible for the election be declared inconclusive as it was done during the June 12, 19993 elections.
“Therefore, the digital form of journalism has become part of our cherished political legacy. It offers a new era and an invaluable tool of ensuring the conduct of free and fair elections in the country. This is something we must further explore and protect for the betterment of our electoral process and our political life. Indeed, it is my belief that this should be constitutionally made a part of our electoral process.
“However, just as there are positives, there are also negatives on the internet. The internet offers a limitless opportunity for libel and falsehood. The kind of control possible in the print and electronic media does not exist on the internet. The internet therefore is also a veritable machine for election rigging. Recall the 2003 governorship election in Lagos when false results were posted on INEC’s website. While many thought that it was a deliberate action as a prelude to manipulating the result, INEC alleged that its website was hacked. The truth is in between.
“Just as updates on electoral situation are being streamed online in real time, so also is falsehood. Conscious efforts are being made to address this problem in other lands. Legal actions can be taken against false reports and some online publications owners have been sent to prison for deliberate falsehood. However, some publications
can still be anonymous and difficult to trace. Some publications can be put down by the internet service provider.
“These disadvantages notwithstanding, the positives overwhelm the negatives and the internet has extended the frontiers of freedom; it has helped pulled down dictatorships and will promote the cause of free and fair election if put to the right use.
“We must continue to insist on the freedom of the people to know as a fundamental human right. This is necessary for the consolidation of our democratic development,” Aregbesola posited.
In his remark at the event, the Chairman of the occasion, Alhaji Yussuph Olaniyonu, who is also the Ogun State Commissioner for Information and Strategy thanked the organisers for choosing the topic and the Guest Speaker, which according to him, put a round peg in a round hole.
“I am very happy that this hall is filled to the brim as the topic we are discussing affects everybody. If this topic is well treated and we all listen to very well, I am very sure that 60 per cent of our problems would have been solved.
“We all know that we are entering into an election year in the country, but yet, we have not understood how to elect our leaders. If we look at the development, especially, concerning the registration of voter’s cards, if you go around the centres, people are on ground but the fear is that are they going to be registered.
“I don’t even know whether I am going to vote next year because I have not got my card. When we talk about this problem, discuss it and x-ray it today, we would have surmounted one of the problems of election and move ahead to
others,” Olaniyonu stated.
The State Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists, NUJ, Ogun State chapter, Comrade Wole Sokunbi disclosed that this year’s event is a twin programme aiming at provides platform for all members to interact and recognize some members and well meaning Nigerian and also to raise fund for the construction of the permanent secretariat of Ogun NUJ.
The programme continues tomorrow with cultural activities where all members are enjoined to wear cultural attires.
The keynote address will also be delivered by the Osun State Commissioner for Home Affairs, Tourism and Culture, Hon. Sikiru Adetona Ayedun.
Programme for the fund raising of N150million construction of the permanent secretariat is slated for Wednesday at the new site, along Abiola way, Abeokuta while Thursday is for the Health walk and an Evening with Her Excellency, the wife of the State governor, Mrs Olufunsho Amosun.
The grand finale is billed for Friday evening after the Jumat prayer where some individuals and corporate organisations will be honoured.
PM NEWS