Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) discussing with the United States Consulate General of American Embassy, Lagos State,Mr. Jeffery Hawkins, during a courtesy visit to the Governor in Lagos State, on 07/05/2015.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) presenting his state Emblem to Consulate General of American Embassy, Lagos State,Mr. Jeffery Hawkins, during a courtesy visit to the Governor in Lagos State, on 07/05/2015.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (second right); Consulate General of American Embassy, Lagos State, Mr. Jeffery Hawkins (second left); Political Officer of American Embassy in Lagos, Mrs. Erica Chiusano (right) and Former Senior Assistant to the Osun Governor on Federal Matter, Mrs. Idiat Babalola (left), during  a courtesy visit to the Governor, in Lagos State, on 07/05/2015.
 

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (middle); Consulate General of American Embassy, Lagos State, Mr. Jeffery Hawkins (left) and Political Officer of American Embassy in Lagos, Mrs. Erica Chiusano (right), during  a courtesy visit to the Governor, in Lagos State, on 07/05/2015

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (right) with Former Nigerian Minister of Finance and Agriculture, Mallam Adamu Ciroma, during Aregbesa’s visit to his Abuja residence, on Wednesday 06-05-2015

 

From left, Former Nigerian Minister of Finance and Agriculture, Mallam Adamu Ciroma; Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Former Deputy Chief of Staff to the Governor, Mr. Gbenga Adebusuyi; Former Special Adviser to the Governor on Federal Matters, Mrs Idiat Babalola and others, during Aregbesola’s visit to Ciroma’s Abuja residence on Wednesday.
 
 

The Governors elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress have stated that they met with President-elect Muhammadu Buhari to discuss the precarious state of the Nigerian economy.
The Chairman of the APC Governors forum and governor of Imo state, Rochas Okorocha, who briefed reporters at the end of the meeting that held at the Defence House Abuja, said the country’s economy is in such bad shape that no state has been able to pay salaries of its workers.

President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari (Centre); Vice President-Elect,Professor Yemi Osinbajo (5th right); Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola (4th right back row); Chairman, All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun (4th left); Chairman, Progressives Governors’ Forum, Rochas Okorocha (3rd right); Speaker House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal (2nd right) and other Governors of the APC, during a solidarity visit to the President-Elect in Abuja on Tuesday 05-05-2015.
 

From right, President-Elect, Muhammadu Buhari; Vice President-Elect, Professor Yemi Osinbajo and Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, during a Courtesy Visit to the President-elect in Abuja on Tuesday 05-05-2015.
 

From left, Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola; Speaker House of Representatives, Honourable Aminu Tambuwal; Nasarawa State Governor, Umaru Al-makura; his Borno State counterpart, Alhaji Kashim Shettima and others, during a Solidarity Visit to the President-Elect in Abuja on Tuesday 05-05-2015.
 

 
   Osun State Chapter of Parents Teachers Association of Nigeria (PTA) has expressed its preparedness to assist the state government in the enforcement of the payment of N1,500 tax bonanza introduced to boost its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR).
The decision to assist in the enforcement of the payment of the tax bonanza was conveyed to the state government at a meeting held with the State Internal Revenue Board led by its chairman, Mr. Dayo Oyebanji.
At the meeting attended by the PTA chairmen from across the 30 local government councils of the state, it was also agreed that the N1,500 tax bonanza for 2013/2014/2015, making N4,500, would be paid to assist the state out of its current financial predicament.
The state government owes four months salaries of its workers as a result of the dwindling revenue from the federal allocation.
Speaking at the meeting, the chairman of the association, Mr. Demola Ekundayo, said the decision to assist the government in the tax collection was part of the association’s resolve to contribute to the development of the state especially regarding the public primary and secondary schools.
He explained that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has been using the tax for the ]development of the state. Saying “this is why parents have deemed it fit to complement his efforts in moving the state forward.
Ekundayo who lauded the developmental programmes embarked upon by Aregbesola’s administration, especially in the education sector however appealed to government not to relent in providing qualitative education for the students as promised in his Six Point Integral Action Plans.
Reacting, the Chairman of State Internal Revenue Service, Mr. Dayo Oyabanji expressed happiness with the support of the PTA, promising that government would not relent in ensuring good standard of living and better education for the pupils.
Oyebanji noted that the government introduced tax bonanza to make it payment affordable and serve as relief adding that at the expiration of the bonanza period, each parent would have to pay that according to their earnings as enunciated by the tax law.
 
http://leadership.ng/news/430978/osun-parents-back-aregbesolas-revenue-drive
 
 

 

Osogbo – House of Assembly members-elect in Osun have been urged to shun partisanship and work together for the development of the state.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr Adekunle Ogunmola, made the call on Monday while presenting certificate of return to them at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Osogbo.
He said that now that the elections were over, the next thing for the assembly members-elect to do was to ensure service to the people.
The REC, who described the in-coming lawmaker as members of the same family, said ‘’we are all members of the same family and we must ensure that we do our best to ensure good governance in the state.
Also read: Lagos REC says satisfied with parties’ conduct
“What is next now is service to the people and to achieve this we must remove partisanship and work collectively for the development of this state.
“Your people have reposed their confidence in you and you must work hard not to betray that confidence.”
In his speech, the Speaker of the house, Mr Najeem Salaam, who was also re-elected, described the next dispensation in the assembly as ‘’a new challenge’’ which required more commitment from the legislative arm of government.
He promised that the assembly would continue to do its best to better the lot of the people, to justify the confidence the people have in the members.
 
http://www.news24.com.ng/Elections/News/REC-urges-Osun-Assembly-members-elect-to-shun-partisanship-20150504
 

The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, has congratulated workers in Nigeria as they join their counterparts all over the world to celebrate the International Worker’s Day just as he assured them that with commitment to transparent governance, the days of revenue crisis would soon be over.
The governor in a statement to mark the day by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, charged workers to cooperate with the in-coming government of Alhaji Muhammadu Buhari to take Nigeria to a greater heights.
He described workers as the engine room of any administration, urging  them to direct their professionalism towards the realisation of the goals and aspirations of the in-coming administration in the country.
Aregbesola noted that, workers as indispensable elements in any government, relevant stake holders in all sectors of the economy, must strive to ensure that the welfare of their employees are not treated with levity.
He re-affirmed the commitment of his government’s desire towards running worker’s friendly administration as has been before, maintaining that Osun government is working round the clock to clear pending salaries. ‎
He expressed regrets that the slip-shod handling of the nation’s resources was allowed to culminate to nationwide delay in payment of salaries and other entitlements despite alarms raised early enough to forestall such an unfortunate development.
‎
‎According to the statement, “With transparent handling of national resources, the days of revenue crisis in Nigeria would soon be over and workers would once again be assured of their place of priority. We are committed to furthering our achievements in Osun as far as the welfare of workers are concerned,” the statement noted.

 

The Osun State University (UNIOSUN) has matriculated 2,315 students for the 2014/2015 academic session.
At the ceremony, the Acting Vice-Chancellor, Prof Jelil Oguntola, advised the students to face their studies, saying anything could happen between matriculation and graduation. He charged the students to put in their best effort to graduate from the school within apportioned time.
His words: “You have to make great sacrifices in time and efforts. There is no shortcut to success; hard work is the prerequisite for success. God can only bless the efforts you put in, but please strive hard to maintain your studentship.
“You must adhere to the letters of the oath, which you have taken as well as abide by the code of conduct in dressing. Violation of any rule would be met with the appropriate sanction.”
The delighted VC also informed the students and their parents that the school had enshrined non-discriminatory policy in its activities and promised that the institution would not relent in implementing the policy.
He added: “This policy notwithstanding, the authorities is poised to ensure a high quality standard in teaching and learning, for which the university is reputed. We will continue to strive for excellence in our activities.”

 

 
The Speaker of the Osun House of Assembly, Mr Najeem Salaam, on Tuesday commended civil servants in the state for their understanding and patience over the delay in the payment of their salaries.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that civil servants in the state are being owed five months salaries arrears.
Salaam, who commended the workers during the assembly’s plenary, explained that the non-payment of the salaries was due to dwindling allocations from the Federation Account.
The speaker said: “In spite of the difficulties, they (civil servants) are prepared to move on and for this gesture we are also assuring them of our support.
“And if there is anything they need from us, we are ready to support them.
“ This is a trying period, yet, the workers have abided by the civil service rule to come to work and discharge their duty diligently.’’
On the massive defection of PDP members to the APC in recent times, Salaam cautioned the party leadership to be careful in accepting defectors.
“Our party is receiving the blessings of God now, but we must be very careful. The moral value of the party must not be set aside.
“The principle of the party must be well articulated so that the values and ideals of those who have defected would not be in conflict with the beliefs of our party,” the speaker said.
Salaam also congratulated those newly-elected into the Assembly following the April 11 governorship and State Assembly elections.
He advised the newly elected members to see power as transient and therefore to use their positions as representatives of their constituencies to positively impact on the lives of their people.
“There are lessons that we can learn from the elections and the lesson is that power is transient and we must be ready to leave landmark achievements that everyone will be proud of.
“The power to elect is in the hands of the people and they have used that power in our favour, therefore, we must justify the confidence they reposed in us, ” he said.
 
http://leadership.ng/news/429155/salary-delay-osun-speaker-commends-civil-servants
 
 

 

Osogbo — At a recent forum in Ijesa, Osun State, non-indigenes look back at their many years of residence in the state.
They were in ecstasy as they danced to the traditional music provided by a cultural group. Of course, they had every reason to be happy. Most of them have lived and worked in Osun State for close to 30 years and they are successful. Hundreds of people of Igbo origin under the aegis of the Non-Indigenes Forum in Osun State converged in a hall, chatting, eating and making merry during the inauguration of the Ijesa Zonal Chapter the forum.
The non-indigenes could barely hide their excitement. From the way they were rejoicing, even the blind would know that they are happy living in the State. The Forum was formed to promote cooperation among the non-indigenes in Osun state and defend their interests. According to the forum, the non-indigenes constitute about 40 per-cent of the population of the state, and have been partaking in the electoral process and many other activities in the state.
The President of the Forum, Chief Tony Onyewesi in a chat with Daily Trust said that membership of the forum comprised indigenes of South-South, South East and North Central, who are currently living in Osun State. He said all of them have become indigenes of Osun by naturalization. Onyewesi said the forum was founded in 2005 , and that it had been in the vanguard of promotion of peace and harmony between the indigenes and non-indigenes of the state.
His words “among the non-indigenes in Osun State, we have professionals from all walks of life who are adding value to the socioeconomic development of the state ,and also making significant contributions in political activities. I have spent all my life here and I also have property here.
Likewise many others and in any market in the state, you will certainly see the non-indigenes and many of us have big shops and businesses.”
He urged Osun State governor, Mr Rauf Aregbesola to carry the non-indigenes along in his administration by appointing members of the forum into his cabinet, saying such appointment would encourage the non-indigenes to feel a sense of belonging in the affairs of the state and motivate them to do better.
“We want Governor Rauf Aregbesola to carry us along in his government so that we can also participate as citizens. We usually partake in electioneering activities and we vote during elections. We shall continue to assist the state government by supporting developmental efforts of the government. The bible teaches Christians to remain loyal to leaders and pray for them, and that is exactly what we are doing in the Non-Indigenes Forum in this state. In the last administration of former governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, he appointed one of us, Dr Umoh Bassey Umoh from Akwa Ibom State as Special Adviser to the Governor on Inter-Community Relations and Ethnic Affairs. We want Aregbesola to do the same.
For Chief Solomon Nwajiobi, the Onowu Ndigbo of Ijesaland, who is also the patron of Non-Indigenes Forum in Osun State, safeguarding the interests of all members of the forum is the number one priority. Nwajiobi who is a prominent businessman in the state, said Osun remains a peaceful place, and that the non-indigenes are enjoying the peaceful coexistence among the Yoruba people.
“The non-indigenes have become stakeholders in this state and we are comfortable with our relationship with the indigenes. They have never treated us like strangers in this community. For instance, I am a traditional title holder in Ilesa. As the patron of the non-indigenes, my responsibility is to protect the interest of on-indigenes, and I’m committed to discharging this responsibility at any time.”
The chairman of Ijesa Zonal Chapter the body, Oliver Akunaeziri, wants the voice of the forum and its members to be heard. He also savoured the peaceful atmosphere in Osun State and commended the state government for providing an enabling environment for the non-indigenes to live and do their businesses in the State. Speaking on the insinuation of possibility of election violence, Oliver advised the non-indigenes not to entertain any worry.
We have been sensitizing the non-indigenes in Osun State not to entertain fears over the forthcoming elections. The election would be peaceful by the grace of the Almighty. We encouraged our members to collect their Permanent Voter Cards and exercise their franchise during the elections. We encourage our members to vote based on their conscience, without imposing any candidate on anyone,” Oliver said.
Other members of the Forum including the Vice Chairman, Okon Udofia, the Secretary General, Ladan Simon and the youth leader, Ngozi Blessing, were unanimous in their separate remarks, as they all praised Osun indigenes for being accommodating. They also charged governor Aregbesola to adequately incorporate the non-indigenes in the affairs of Osun state.