Speaker, State of Osun House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Najeem Salaam has asserted that the embattled Justice Folahanmi Oloyede has betrayed the oath of her office, saying she has lost her worth to be a judge in the temple of justice in Osun.

Speaker Salaam stressed that the violation of processes and procedure as spelt out by the constitution and judicial code of conduct through her partisan and emotional disposition on the allegations raised against the government she is serving has shown her as unfit for the bench.

Besides, the house in a motion of 25 against one, as moved by the Majority leader, Mr. Timothy Owoeye and seconded by Mr.  Abdulahi Ibrahim representing Iwo State Constituency has adopted the recommendations of the seven man committee headed by Mr. Akintunde Adegboye which dismissed the petition and recommended the petitioner for sanction through the State Judicial Service Commission.

Among the adopted recommendations, the embattled Judge was found wanting of abandoning the petition for non-appearance, lack of evidence, premising  her petition on rumors and hearsay.

Explaining why he allowed the petition to sail through, the Speaker noted that the state parliament under his watch elected to look Into to the petition  not to gag Oloyede freedom of expression in accordance with sections 128 and 129 of the constitution which empowered the legislature to  investigate any public petition forwarded to the house, saying the issue of impeachment raised in the petition was a mere opinion of the petitioner not the position of the law.

Speaker Salaam reiterated that the parliament was conscious of the letter and the spirit of section 188 raised by some lawyers, but pointed out that a petition raised by the judicial officer could not have been substituted for the position of the one-third of the assembly members capable of I intimating impeachment article.

He said, “we appreciate the views of the two legal luminaries who ventilated their opinions on the conduct of Justice Oloyede and the move of the parliament to tolerate the petition at all, but having found no precedence for the action of the Judge, the Parliament under me chose to set up the committee to investigate the content of the petition, but we are surprised that the Judge lost the courage to come forward to defend the allegations leveled against the duo of the governor and his deputy; suggesting that she is not worth her onion. It shows that if an individual drags the government to her court, the ruling could be preempt.”

In another development, Speaker further said he would soon hold talk with the board of Civil Service Commission, the Chams consultancy in charge of workers’ documents, Head of Service and labour leaders on the issue of ghost workers and regime of wage payment with a view to debriefing them.

Speaking at the plenary, Speaker Salaam said the parliament would be guided on its  intervention on the issue of delayed salaries, government/workers’ dispute and the sustainability of the wage regime and other related issues.

He then lauded the labour leaders for coming to the negotiation table, saying that the culture of negotiating with strike at every occasion should be reviewed for collective good.

THIS STATEMENT IS JOINTLY ISSUED BY CHIEF MRS. FOLAKE SOLANKE, S.A.N. AND PROFESSOR ITSE SAGAY, S.A.N.

We note with deep consternation and concern for the dignity and sanctity of the Judiciary, the petition recently sent by the Honourable Justice Folahanmi Oloyede to the Osun State House of Assembly, for the impeachment and removal from office, of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Governor of Osun State.  We are disturbed by the source of this petition because it reveals the embarrassing and gross ignorance of the Judge regarding the process for the impeachment of Governors. We are also disturbed by this apparently reckless descent of a Judicial officer into the murky waters of partisan politics.

The process for the removal of a governor by impeachment is clearly set out in Section 188 of the Constitution.  It states as follows:

“188 – (1)  The Governor or Deputy Governor of a State may be removed from office in accordance with the provisions of this section.

​(2)​Whenever a notice of any allegation in writing signed by not less than one-third of the members of the House of Assembly-

​(a)​is presented to the Speaker of the House of Assembly of the State;

​(b)​stating that the holder of such office is guilty of gross misconduct in the performance of the functions of his office, detailed particulars of which shall be specified….”

Justice Oloyede is clearly not a member of the Osun State House of Assembly.  She is not even a member of a Civil Society Organization.  She is infact a member of the Judiciary, the third Arm of Government conferred with the responsibility of the interpretation of Laws, including the Constitution and the issuing of Orders, Judgments and Sentences.  Indeed, it is the duty of someone in Justice Oloyede’s position to preside over a case for the determination of the issue, whether a purported removal of a Governor by impeachment is valid or not.  It is therefore a cause for great embarrassment and shame that a Judge of the High Court is ignorant of the fact that she cannot initiate impeachment proceedings against the Governor.  This raises a question whether she is fit to hold the office to which she has been appointed.

From what has been stated above, it is quite obvious that the Osun State House of Assembly acted in gross error in entertaining  Justice Oloyede;s petition. That petition is an illegal document which should have been disregarded with contempt by the House.  By setting up a Committee to investigate the allegations in the so-called petition, the House itself was displaying its ignorance of the impeachment process.

Even more fundamental is the question whether a judicial officer should be publicly engaged in a bitter public confrontation with any other Arm of Government, particularly the Executive Arm of Government headed by the target of her tirade, the Governor, who appointed her into office.  Specifically, is a Judge permitted to make public political comments and engage in public diatribes against the Government and the Governor of the State in which he or she is serving?

The code of conduct for Judicial Officers is replete with provisions requiring a Judicial Officer to act with dignity, decorum and a high standard of conduct. The preamble of the code, for example, provides that a Judicial Officer should actively participate in establishing, maintaining, enforcing and himself observing a high standard of conduct so that the integrity and respect for the independence of the Judiciary may be preserved.

Again, rule 1 paragraph 2 of the Code provides that a judicial officer shall respect and comply with the laws of the land and conduct himself at all times in a manner that promotes public confidence in the integrity and impartiality of the Judiciary.  By paragraph 1 of rule 2, a judicial officer is enjoined to be true and faithful to the Constitution and the Law, uphold the course of justice by abiding with the provisions of the Constitution and the law.  He or she is enjoined to acquire and maintain professional competence.

Finally, by rule 3(b)(ii), a judge in excising his constitutional right of freedom of expression should always conduct himself in such a manner as to preserve the dignity of his office and the impartiality and independence of the Judiciary.

Now, one may ask; by issuing this angry accusation of fraud, misappropriation of funds and general denunciation of the Governor of her State to the House of Assembly, has Justice Oloyede acted with decorum? Has she conducted herself in a manner that promotes public confidence in the Judiciary? Has she acted with integrity and impartiality with regard to a possible future party in her Court? Has she been true and faithful to the Constitution? Has she conducted herself in such a manner as to preserve the dignity of her office?  Should she engage in an open confrontation with her appointor and the head of the Executive Branch of Government?  If the answer to all these questions is NO and if she has desecrated the temple of justice and brought down the dignity and respect for the Judiciary, what is she still doing on the Bench?

Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of this episode in Osun State is the apparent silence of the National Judicial Council in the face of gross breaches of Judicial Etiquette and Code of Conduct by Justice Folahanmi Oloyede.  If this open display of indiscipline and crass irresponsibility by Justice Oloyede is left unpunished, the National Judicial Council will be guilty of gross dereliction of duty and the Judiciary in Nigeria will face a bleak future.

Professor Itse Sagay, SAN

The story by Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor, went on to point out that “Two weeks after sharing tax proceeds from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, the three tiers of government yesterday shared a larger amount of cash from the Federation Account for the month of June than they did for the month of May 2015.” With all due respects to my colleagues in the media, this is a story for the front page of every newspaper and headline news on electronic media.
For those who have lately rained maledictions on the governors of Nigeria in general, and inexplicably Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state in particular, it might give them a pause for reflection on the true state of the nation’s economy.
Without defending the governors against charges of profligate spending, the published allocation for June goes a long way towards sustaining the point that the fault is not entirely their own – irrespective of political affiliation, APGA, APC or PDP.
Incidentally, the fault does not belong entirely to the Federal Government under Jonathan either. A lot of what has happened could be traced to our faulty federal system, as will be explained later and to external factors which are totally out of their control.
The majour source of our current problem lies in the federal government assuming sole responsibility for determining the benchmark of price and volume of crude exports on which the annual budget is based, exclusively reporting the revenue generated without verification by the two other tiers of government, states and Local Governments, and declaring whatever the FG wanted as gross revenue, distributable revenue and Excess Crude revenue. It was a “Father knows best” system which had landed us in trouble.
The states, from the 1970s, when crude became the mainstay of the economy, not just now, had been administered by mentally lazy people – both as Governors and Commissioners of Finance—without exception. Otherwise, why should states which depend on revenue from crude for up to eighty (80) per cent or more of their revenue allow the FG alone to determine all the parameters mentioned above?
Why should the FG alone determine the benchmark, export volume, gross revenue and distributable income without checks and verification by the states? The Governors of states, up till now, had managed their relationships like members of a religious group based on faith in which the leader is totally trusted. “Faith”, meanwhile, “is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” (Elton Trueblood, in VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, p 55).
Unfortunately for the States and LGs, the trust had been totally misplaced as the current controversy over the disappearance of US$2bn from the Excess Crude Account, ECA, had demonstrated. That there is a dispute at all is clear proof that the states and LGs now have started to exercise doubt – which should have been there all along. That no small group of individuals can be trusted with funds belonging to others had been the verdict of history.
That is why there are independent or external auditors to verify what those in charge declare. Politicians, who should know themselves better than others should have been the last people to allow the fraud-prone system foisted on us by the military since 1967 till today to continue. The result, which should take some, but not all, the heat from the governors, is shown below between the allocations to states in 2006 and today 2015.
In July 2006, the aggregate to states was N196.26bn when the price of crude was under US$45 per barrel. In June 2015, nine years after crude oil at US$56-60 per barrel, “Mrs Anastatia Nwaobia, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, said the sum of N449.68 was shared…the states shared N111.04bn.
For further reference the states’ allocations in July 2006, were as follows: Abia, N3.96bn; Adamawa, N3.53bn; A/Ibom, N14.44; Anambra, N3.61bn; Bauchi, N4.10; Bayelsa, 13.16bn; Benue, N3.8bn; Borno, N4.1bn; C/River, N3.98; Delta, N15.8bn; Ebonyi, N3.0bn; Edo, N4.2bn; Ekiti, N3.08bm; Enugu, N3.3.29; Gombe, N3.15bn; Imo, N4.37bn; Jigawa, N3.92bn; Kaduna, N4.29bn; Kano, N5.55bn; Katsina, N4.30bn; Kebbi, N3.3.59bn; Kogi, N3.5bn; N3.12bn; N5.49bn; Nass, N2.99bn; Niger, N3.90bn; Ogun, N3.45bn; Ondo N6.95bn; Osun, N3.33bn; Oyo, N4.19bn; Plateau, N3.0bn; Rivers, N23.25bn; Sokoto, N3.72bn; Taraba, N3.4bn; Yobe, N3.39bn; Zamfara, N3.53bn.
No state will collect anything close to that now.
The year 2006 was two years after Obasanjo and Okonjo-Iweala imposed the ECA on the states and the Federal Government commenced robbing the states blind. In 2006-7 US$13-16bn was withdrawn from ECA for POWER PROJECT which has not seen the light of day till now. Thus today, states are receiving less than they did in 2006 –long before the minimum wage reached N18,000 per month and exchange rate escalated from N150 to N220 per US$1.
The first question we must answer is, how was it possible that states received N196bn in allocation in 2006, and a mere N111bn in 2015? The astonishing answer is: the Federal governments of Nigeria under Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan had increasingly kept more than their own share of the revenue as a result of which the states are being pauperized.
The theft of states and LGs share of aggregate revenue, which started under Obasanjo, reached its peak under Jonathan. Between 2004, when ECA started and today, the states and LGs might have been robbed of close to a trillion naira because they were careless enough to allow the FG to determine everything about crude oil.
Now we are all in trouble as crude prices plummet to US$40 per barrel next year. The only silver lining in the horizon is the fact that we would never again have Okonjo-Iweala and Obasanjo in charge of the national purse.
VANGUARD

Pictures of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola receiving an Award of Fellowship from the President, Nigerian Institute of Building, during the 45th Builders’ Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Building, at International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday 04/08/2015.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola receiving an Award of
Fellowship from the President, Nigerian Institute of Building, Builder
Tunde lasabi, during the 45th Builders’ Conference/Annual General
Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of Building, at International
Conference Centre, University of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday
04/08/2015.

Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola receiving an Award of
Fellowship from the President, Nigerian Institute of Building, Builder
Tunde lasabi and Chairman,College of Fellows, Dachollom Jambol during
the 45th Builders’ Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian
Institute of Building, at International Conference Centre, University
of Ibadan, Oyo State, on Tuesday 04/08/2015.

From left – Chairman,Council of Registered Builders of Nigeria
(CORBON),Prof. Bala Kabir,Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf
Aregbesola, President, Nigerian Institute of Building, Builder Tunde
lasabi, Oyo State Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and Former Head of
Service of the Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi during the 45th
Builders’ Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute
of Building, at International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan,
Oyo State, on Tuesday 04/08/2015.

From left -Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, President,
Nigerian Institute of Building, Builder Tunde lasabi, Oyo State
Governor, Senator Abiola Ajimobi and Former Head of Service of the
Federation, Prof. Oladapo Afolabi during the 45th Builders’
Conference/Annual General Meeting of the Nigerian Institute of
Building, at International Conference Centre, University of Ibadan,
Oyo State, on Tuesday 04/08/2015.

The Osun Osogbo Festival is celebrated yearly in the month of August and attracts thou­sands of Osun worshippers and spectators from far and near. The stage is set for the 2015 edition of the cultural fiesta.
The 2015 Osun Osogbo Festival will be celebrated amid fanfare when the grand finale holds Friday, Au­gust 21. This was disclosed by the Chief Festival Consultant, and the Managing Director of INFOGEM, Mr Ayo Olumoko at the Festival Programme Unveiling which held at the Institute of Directors Nigeria (IoD) office situated at 53, Glover Road Ikoyi, Lagos.
Osun Osogbo Festival is a period of stocktaking and assemblage of all sons and daughters of Osogbo land, and most especially, Yoruba speaking people, both in Nigeria and in the Diaspora.
Olumoko, while briefing the media, expressed that various sponsors who have been co-opted in the celebration of the Festival are gearing up to make the occasion an eventful and memorable one.
He said the cultural festival, which is 600 years old, has a two-week programme, which commences with the traditional cleansing of the town called ‘IWOPOPO’ which is followed by the lightening of the 642-year-old points lamp three days after called ‘OLOJUMERINDINLOGUN’.
According to him, this will be followed by ‘IBORIADE’ four days after, which is the assemblage of all the crowns of the past rulers for the blessings, adding that the Festival’s grand finale will showcase the cultural procession of the people to the Osun Groove.
Olumoko disclosed that the Osun Groove was enlisted officially as a World Heritage Site by United Nations Educa­tional Scientific and Cultural Organiza­tion (UNESCO) in Durban, South Africa on July 15, 2005.
He said to get the UNESCO attention, the National Museum, Federal Govern­ment and many others had to be drafted and co-opted into the Festival, as the en­dorsement of IoD has also been secured.
He added that to gain the internation­al prominence, the INFOGEM came in as the official consultant of the Festival in 2002, and since the recognition by the UNESCO, the Festival has gained inter­national prominence the world over, as the Festival Programme Unveiling keeps being moved from one venue to the other.
Olumoko said further that in a couple of months to come, OsunOsogbo Festival will be listed on the Nigerian Stock Ex­change (NSE). He explained that the rea­son the festival will be listing on the NSE is because it (the Festival) is consistent, a Nigerian product which generates rev­enue, and which other festivals look up to as a yardstick to develop. “If our cultures are well developed, our IGR will grow, tourists will be attracted and by this we will have more players,” says he.
Present at the Festival Programme Unveiling are the representative of His Royal Majesty, Oba Jimoh Oyetunji Ola­nipekun, Larooye 11, the Ataoja of Os­ogbo land, the Otun Eesa of Osogbo land, Chief MoshoodAdeyemiAremu, the Olo­ri and Chairperson Women Development Ataoja Palace, Mrs Jelilat Oyetunji, the President/Chairman of Council Insti­tute of Directors Nigeria (IoD), Mr Yemi Akeju,Senior Brand Manager, Seaman, Mr Olayinka Amuwo and Marketing Manager, KASAPREKO, Mr Peter Ad­ekho and the Corporate Communication Manager, Mr Patrick Olowokemi.
Speaking on the sponsors, Olumoko said the Festival always associates with sponsors of proven record and brands that are consistent. The selected sponsors for this year are the Nigeria premiere brewery, Nigerian Brewery Plc (Golberg brand) for the third year running, Grand Oak Ltd (Seaman’s Schnapps, Royale), KASAPREKO (Alomo Bitters), IoD and UNESCO among others.
Some of these sponsors while respond­ing at the forum expressed that they will all be available to add glamour to the oc­casion with the presence of their brands. In the words of the Senior Brand Man­ager, Seaman, Amuwo, “Seaman will be at the groove to be part and parcel of the blessing that the people of Osun will par­take of”, while the Marketing Manager, KASAPREKO, Adekho, said his organi­zation will bring “Alomo Bitters” to the event, as the Corporate Communication Manager, Nigerian Brewery Plc Olo­wokemi, expressed that his organization will do a lot to uplift the town of Osogbo with exiting communication materials. “We will create a beer village in Osogbo, involve in entertainment and increase trade transaction at the village to impact positively on the entire Osogbo people,” he said. The President of Council IoD, Mr Yemi Akeju expressed that IoD will always identify with the Festival.
The origin of Osun Osogbo Festival can be traced to the legendary encoun­ter between the early settlers/founders of Osogbo with OsunOsogbo deity. In about 1370 AD, the founder of Osogbo, Oba Gbadewolu Larooye and the great hunter Olutimehin settled in the sacred Osun forest to establish the kingdom and actualize a pact of association and togetherness with the River Osun deity.
The festival is to retain the African and traditional heritage of the Osogbo people. Speaking on the event, Seun Akintola an indigene of Ososgbo lauded the organizers for their contribution to the festival. He said “the festival is one that brings to bear the cultural pride and traditional legacy of the Osogbo people. In the age of globalization, so many peo­ple have lost their communal identities due to lack of preservation of cultures and traditions that will always appeal to our uniqueness as Nigerians from differ­ent traditional societies. It has become essential to keep the momentum of this kind of traditional festival in order to preserve our unique identities and still maintain our affinity to the values and traditions of our ancestors”.
Another person Mr Kenneth Ojoh a scholar in African Studies stressed on the importance of Osun Osogbo Festival stressing that the festival is a big legacy and inheritance to Africans in the face of what he termed as “the extinction of African Cultures”. He cited example Oriental countries that are great today because they refused to be westernized. He said “China today is great because they refused to dispose their cultural uniqueness. There are other issues that have made them great but the preserva­tion of their culture is one of the out­standing reasons”.
The festival is one of celebration, tra­ditional cleansing of the city and cultur­al reunion of the people with their ances­tors and founding fathers of the Osogbo Kingdom.
NATIONAL MIRROR

Prince Dotun Babayemi is a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Osun State. In this interview, he says, despite the challenges the state is facing, it is a model for future generation of good governance.
As a politician and entrepreneur, what are you doing to boost the economy of Osun State?
We have started the process and it is going to be a continuous exercise. What drew me to politics was the style of governance l saw in Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in the first two years that he became the governor of Osun State. He came as a crusader who has the knack to serve, the type that we witnessed in the early 60s. Not looking at the state as it is but as it can be in the future. When the late Obafemi Awolowo in the 60s introduced free education, a lot of critics thought the policy cannot work, but look at the benefits today and where it has put the former Western Region.
That was what attracted me home that something unique is happening here and wanted to be part of it. Apart from interfacing with organization within Nigeria, we are working with the government to see how we can bring investors to the state to open her economic potentials which are all over. One of the core policies of the state is to make it the food basket of the country. We have the green land and all what it takes to make this a reality.
Action has been taken to that effect about 80 per cent of the rural areas have been  linked up with the state capital through  road net work where food has been transported from Oshogbo to Lagos and other states. What we are seeing is the gradual civil servant economy to that of agro-based economy. Since the Federal Government has said that the country is now ready to exploit the country’s natural resources, Our state has a lot of gold that can be exploited. We are going to collaborate with the Federal government to aggressively pursue those natural resources.  In terms of employment our outfit has engaged significantly the people of the state. We queued into the programme of the state by providing employment for the youths.
Are you comfortable with what is going on in the National Assembly? What is the way out?
No, The APC members in the House should look back and be conscious of where they are coming from. They did not get to the House in a vacuum; the constitution provided that you must run under a party therefore the supremacy of the party should be sacrosanct. Therefore since you are representing the party in the house you must follow the rules and guidelines of the party. The decision of the party is supreme and should be adherent to and should be respected. Our members should realize that service to humanity is one of the cardinal goals of APC; therefore they should be guided on this so that the nation can be moved forward.
What we have seen in the National Assembly in the recent time is that some members have allowed personal ambition to override the goals and objective of the party on whose back they all rode to the National Assembly. Though all that happened was still in the purview of the law, but morally it may not, as a representative of the people, they should lead by example. They should let the past belong to the past and sit down to put in place laws that will alleviate poverty in the country and let the people see in them that they are actual  representative of the people.
It is also important that the party that gave the platform of their existence in the Assembly should be respected in the future, this is critical so that they will remain focus and promises they made to the people would be actualized. When member strained out of line, the consequences of such action if un attended to, can cause anarchy. It is better that member should not stray out of the rule of the agreed norms; otherwise it is the beginning of the end for such a union.
What do you think should be the priority of the APC members in the National Assembly?
The first step they should take is that they should retrace their step back to the party and conform to its wishes. When a child falls, he look  at the front but when an elders falls, he looks back, the elders that looks back wanted to know what brought him down. They should do likewise. It is necessary that we should not forget where we are coming from. For 16 years that the PDP are in the saddle of power, the APC has been toiling all over to provide a credible alternative to the miss-governance of the past. That we have the alternative programme that can restore the lost hope of Nigerians and take care of their basic needs. That the university students would no longer stay at home unnecessarily due to lack of job to do after graduation. Now that we have the reality coming up, we should not buddle the opportunity. Some people toiled night and day to get us to where we are, therefore we should not derail from our known norms and value as a political party with progressive inclination.
Your critics said you are very slow in action which is not expected of a progressive, what is your take on this?
What we have seen in the last 16 years was a nick-jack reaction to situation, no strategy no cohesion and any form of articulation. Everything done was looked from their selfish and personal pocket interest therefore that was why a lot of rot was inherited by APC. A case in point is the recent happening when Ni.2 b was withdrawn from the nation’s purse with impunity. The government at the centre now is completely different from what it used to be, it is no longer business as usual.
Since our campaign days, we have put in place a strategic policy that will fall in place as we execute our programme. We are starting on security and corruption; we have to look at what is happening in the space of five weeks compared with what happened in the last five year.  In case of corruption, you can see how EFCC has been active in the last few weeks, unlike in the past. As we speak three governors have been charged to court, we did not see any of this those years ago.
For many years there was different kind of impunity, but now there is a wakeup call that the music has changed, likewise the dancing step. Accountability is now the watch word, there is always a tomorrow unlike in the past. For the first time on the issue of security, there is a concerted effort with collaborations with other likes mind in the sub- Africa to curb the insurgence of Boko Haram.  The money that suppose to go to the army as a driving forces in the past goes to private purse, but today things have changed. In terms of economy, we voted for a president that is focused, has integrity and know what to do.
The recent bail out to some states when they could not pay their workers salaries is a testimony that the president was not comfortable to see Nigerians workers in agony over accumulated un- paid salaries arrears. This has never happened in the last 16 years. Aside this we are now looking at viable economic impetus that can drive the industry. The President has announced that he is looking at textile, mining and steel industries to create employment opportunity. These industries are viable if you go back a bit into our history before the tenure of PDP. The best textile was made in Nigeria with good value chain that created a lot of opportunities. This government will take the country to this level once again.
THE NATION

Attempt by any group or persons to use the safety of Justice Folahanmi Oloyede as a strategy to throw Osun State into chaos would be futile, the state’s All Progressives Congress (APC) said yesterday.
It explained that from the first day that the state government became aware of judge’s petition for the governor’s impeachment, special security arrangements were provided to prevent anything untoward happening to her.
The party, which spoke in a statement by its spokesman, Kunle Oyatomi, said media campaigns alleging danger or insecurity to the life of Justice Oloyede were aimed at blackmailing the Governor Rauf Aregbesola administration.
The party said: “Unknown to the sponsors of this wicked campaigns of calumny, right from day one that Justice Oloyede submitted her petition, the government had taken a proactive measure by alerting the head of the courts in Osun, Chief Justice Adepele Ojo and security agencies, including the police and the Department of State Services (DSS), to provide adequate and enhanced security around the person and residence of Justice Oloyede.
“Justice Oloyede herself cannot deny the fact of this enhanced security around her person and residence up till now.”
The statement added that Aregbesola took the precautionary measure, “bearing in mind what opponents of his administration were capable of orchestrating with the life of Justice Oloyede”.
It added: “This is because of the antecedents of the sponsors of this inexplicable and unnecessary tension in our state that they might want to use the opportunity of her petition against the governor to unduly stoke crisis in the state.
“It is, therefore, worrisome that several weeks after this had happened, the scallywags are still pursuing their totally untenable subversion of the popular will by campaigning on the pages of newspapers, a threat that never existed, except in their weird imagination and criminal intentions.”
The APC called on the public to be wary of the activities of those plotting to throw the state into chaos, asking the security agencies to be alert.
“This is to alert members of the public and all security agencies of the criminal intentions of the sponsors of these orchestrated campaigns to prevent our peaceful state from being plunged into needless anarchy.
“Osun has been peaceful and remains so and any impression of tension or anarchy being created is just a manifestation of the evil plots of those who are in desperate pursuit of an agenda to plunge the state into crisis,” the statement said.
THE NATION

Two days after Valentine’s Day (February 14, 2014) that was some 17 moths ago, Governor Rauf Aregbesola in a front page interview on Vanguard Newspaper, alerted warned the Nigerian public that the Jonathan’s Administration had declared an economic war on Nigerians, but like a prophet scorned, GEJ and the PDP ignored his timely warning.
The story by Nduka Chiejina, Assistant Editor, went on to point out that “Two weeks after sharing tax proceeds from the Nigerian Liquefied Natural Gas, NLNG, the three tiers of government yesterday shared a larger amount of cash from the Federation Account for the month of June than they did for the month of May 2015.” With all due respects to my colleagues in the media, this is a story for the front page of every newspaper and headline news on electronic media.
For those who have lately rained maledictions on the governors of Nigeria in general, and inexplicably Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola of Osun state in particular, it might give them a pause for reflection on the true state of the nation’s economy.
Without defending the governors against charges of profligate spending, the published allocation for June goes a long way towards sustaining the point that the fault is not entirely their own – irrespective of political affiliation, APGA, APC or PDP.
Incidentally, the fault does not belong entirely to the Federal Government under Jonathan either. A lot of what has happened could be traced to our faulty federal system, as will be explained later and to external factors which are totally out of their control.
The majour source of our current problem lies in the federal government assuming sole responsibility for determining the benchmark of price and volume of crude exports on which the annual budget is based, exclusively reporting the revenue generated without verification by the two other tiers of government, states and Local Governments, and declaring whatever the FG wanted as gross revenue, distributable revenue and Excess Crude revenue. It was a “Father knows best” system which had landed us in trouble.
The states, from the 1970s, when crude became the mainstay of the economy, not just now, had been administered by mentally lazy people – both as Governors and Commissioners of Finance—without exception. Otherwise, why should states which depend on revenue from crude for up to eighty (80) per cent or more of their revenue allow the FG alone to determine all the parameters mentioned above?
Why should the FG alone determine the benchmark, export volume, gross revenue and distributable income without checks and verification by the states? The Governors of states, up till now, had managed their relationships like members of a religious group based on faith in which the leader is totally trusted. “Faith”, meanwhile, “is not belief without proof, but trust without reservation.” (Elton Trueblood, in VANGUARD BOOK OF QUOTATIONS, p 55).
Unfortunately for the States and LGs, the trust had been totally misplaced as the current controversy over the disappearance of US$2bn from the Excess Crude Account, ECA, had demonstrated. That there is a dispute at all is clear proof that the states and LGs now have started to exercise doubt – which should have been there all along. That no small group of individuals can be trusted with funds belonging to others had been the verdict of history.
That is why there are independent or external auditors to verify what those in charge declare. Politicians, who should know themselves better than others should have been the last people to allow the fraud-prone system foisted on us by the military since 1967 till today to continue. The result, which should take some, but not all, the heat from the governors, is shown below between the allocations to states in 2006 and today 2015.
In July 2006, the aggregate to states was N196.26bn when the price of crude was under US$45 per barrel. In June 2015, nine years after crude oil at US$56-60 per barrel, “Mrs Anastatia Nwaobia, Permanent Secretary of the Federal Ministry of Finance, said the sum of N449.68 was shared…the states shared N111.04bn.
For further reference the states’ allocations in July 2006, were as follows: Abia, N3.96bn; Adamawa, N3.53bn; A/Ibom, N14.44; Anambra, N3.61bn; Bauchi, N4.10; Bayelsa, 13.16bn; Benue, N3.8bn; Borno, N4.1bn; C/River, N3.98; Delta, N15.8bn; Ebonyi, N3.0bn; Edo, N4.2bn; Ekiti, N3.08bm; Enugu, N3.3.29; Gombe, N3.15bn; Imo, N4.37bn; Jigawa, N3.92bn; Kaduna, N4.29bn; Kano, N5.55bn; Katsina, N4.30bn; Kebbi, N3.3.59bn; Kogi, N3.5bn; N3.12bn; N5.49bn; Nass, N2.99bn; Niger, N3.90bn; Ogun, N3.45bn; Ondo N6.95bn; Osun, N3.33bn; Oyo, N4.19bn; Plateau, N3.0bn; Rivers, N23.25bn; Sokoto, N3.72bn; Taraba, N3.4bn; Yobe, N3.39bn; Zamfara, N3.53bn.
No state will collect anything close to that now.
The year 2006 was two years after Obasanjo and Okonjo-Iweala imposed the ECA on the states and the Federal Government commenced robbing the states blind. In 2006-7 US$13-16bn was withdrawn from ECA for POWER PROJECT which has not seen the light of day till now. Thus today, states are receiving less than they did in 2006 –long before the minimum wage reached N18,000 per month and exchange rate escalated from N150 to N220 per US$1.
The first question we must answer is, how was it possible that states received N196bn in allocation in 2006, and a mere N111bn in 2015? The astonishing answer is: the Federal governments of Nigeria under Obasanjo, Yar’Adua and Jonathan had increasingly kept more than their own share of the revenue as a result of which the states are being pauperized.
The theft of states and LGs share of aggregate revenue, which started under Obasanjo, reached its peak under Jonathan. Between 2004, when ECA started and today, the states and LGs might have been robbed of close to a trillion naira because they were careless enough to allow the FG to determine everything about crude oil.
Now we are all in trouble as crude prices plummet to US$40 per barrel next year. The only silver lining in the horizon is the fact that we would never again have Okonjo-Iweala and Obasanjo in charge of the national purse.
By Dele Sobowale
SOURCE: VANGUARD NEWSPAPER

Pictures of the Governor State of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, the President Ijesa Society Group, Chief Tunde Aluko, and others during the courtesy visit to the Governor, at Government House, Osogbo

Governor State of Osun, 0gbeni Rauf Aregbesola (4th left); Secretary
to Osun State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti (3rd right), President
Ijesa Society Group, Chief Tunde Aluko (3rd left), First Vice
President of Ijesa Society Group, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (4th right),
Second Vice President, Chief Obafemi Aluko (2nd left), Engr. Ade
Famuboni (right), Members of the Group, Chief Tunde Olojo (right) and
Dr. Niyi Adedeji, during the courtesy visit to the Governor, at
Government House, Osogbo

Governor State of Osun, 0gbeni Rauf Aregbesola and President Ijesa
Society Group, Chief Tunde Aluko, during the courtesy visit to the
Governor, at Government House, Osogbo

Governor State of Osun, 0gbeni Rauf Aregbesola (2nd left); Secretary
to Osun State Government, Alhaji Moshood Adeoti (right), President
Ijesa Society Group, Chief Tunde Aluko (left), First Vice President of
Ijesa Society Group, Chief Felix Fagbohungbe (2nd right), during the
courtesy visit to the Governor, at Government House, Osogbo.

Elite Society, a socio-cultural organisation in Ijesaland, has reiterated its support and confidence in the administration of Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola to lead and transform the state for better.
The society representing Ijesa sons and daughters worldwide, described Governor Aregbesola, as a pride to the Yoruba nation going by the numerous developmental initiatives he initiated under his leadership in the state.
The society stated this during a courtesy call to the Governor at the Government House in Osogbo on Tuesday.
The President, Chief Tunde Aluko, described Aregbesola as a torch bearer who has represented Ijeshaland well, saying it was the duty of all well-meaning Ijesa and Osun indigenes to support the administration for the greatness of the state.
He said that, contrary to wrong impressions created by cynics, that Aregbesola’s passion for rapid development of the state informed the level of financial commitment of government to various developments across the state, without jettisoning the welfare of workers.
According to him, “You mean so well for Osun. If you were to develop Osun overnight, you would do it. The only thing that is slowing you down is money,” Chief Aluko stressed.
He expressed optimism that the financial challenges confronting the state would soon be over, adding that the governor was creating a legacy that would outlive him in office.
Addressing the guests, Governor Rauf Aregbesola noted that the settings of towns in Osun which dated back to more than 100 years is the most qualitative across Africa.
He added that every construction and other contracts entered into by government were conducted in the most transparent manner.
Appreciating the visit of the Ijesa elite, the governor described the visit as “huge and significant at a time some people are being sponsored to rubbish our achievements.