Gov Ambode replaces 58-years old transformer in palmgroove Estate.

…Ijegun, Alapere communities also benefit

LAGOS State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode at the weekend donated a 500kva transformer to residents of Palmgroove Estate in Odi-Olowo Oju­woye Local Council De­velopment Area, as part of the ongoing ‘Light Up Lagos’ initiative.

Ambode also donated transformers to two com­munities in Alapere and Ijegun respectively to boost electricity supply in their localities.

The governor, who was represented at the hand­ing over ceremony by his Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources, Mr. Wale Oluwo, had read about the plight of the residents via a newspaper publication where they ap­pealed to the Ikeja Elec­tricity Distribution Com­pany (IKEDC) to come to their aid to replace their ageing transformers.

The transformer at Palmgroove Estate, ac­cording to the residents, was installed in 1958 and had become problematic in the last 10 years, caus­ing it to develop fault on a weekly basis.

Oluwo, in his remarks, said Ambode was of the view that if the electric­ity distribution companies were not making the right investment, the people would wallow in darkness, hence, his administration is poised to alleviate the suffering of Lagosians.

He recalled the setting up of a committee un­der the governor’s office which included the elec­tricity generation compa­nies, distribution compa­nies, gas suppliers and the Transmission Company of Nigeria, saying the inten­tion of the committee was to intervene as far as pos­sible so as to ensure that the people have access to electricity.

Responding, President of Palmgroove Estate Residents Association, Captain Jide George said the prompt manner with which the governor re­sponded to their plight was worthy of emulation by other leaders. He said it was an eloquent testimony of leadership by example.

“This is very much un­precedented. I never be­lieved that such a thing could happen where you will just put something in the papers and the gover­nor will respond to it ex­peditiously. We are ready to support the efforts of the governor. All of us are behind him and we want to say ‘thank you’ to the governor,” George said.

Anambra senatorial crisis: Stella Oduah, Andy Uba approach Supreme Court for clear clarification of the judgement.

 

• Chris Uba storms INEC for certificate

Indications emerged at the weekend that the nine federal lawmakers repre­senting Anambra State on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) at the National Assembly, in­cluding Senators Andy Uba and Stella Oduah may return to the Supreme Court this week for clarification regard­ing their status with respect to its judgment on the leader­ship crisis rocking the party in the state.

Interestingly, Chief Chris Ubah, John Emeka, Annie Okonkwo and others on the list of Ejike Oguebego-led national executive of the party, who got judgment of the Supreme Court, have approached the Independent National Electoral Commis­sion (INEC) to issue them Certificates of Return as elected senators and House of Representatives members for Anambra State.

Already, Uba and Oduah have written to INEC insist­ing that the judgment did not affect their seats in the Na­tional Assembly.

Sources close to one of them told Daily Sun that the motion seeking clarification of the judgment became nec­essary in view of the insinua­tions that the lawmakers may have lost their seats by the judgment of the apex court.

In a letter addressed to the Chairman of INEC by their lawyer, Chief Arthur Oka­for (SAN), the politicians insisted that the Supreme Court judgment delivered last Friday has not in any way rendered their seats va­cant in both chambers of the National Assembly.

The January 29 letter stated that the lawmakers urged the INEC chairman to “resist the machinations of those who are ill-motivated and bent on causing confu­sion in the system. If you find that the national ex­ecutive of PDP, which, in the case, nominated our cli­ents, then in the absence of a court order, there will be no compulsion or justifica­tion on your part to interfere with the mandate vested in our clients by the PDP and the electorate.”

They insisted that the primary election which pro­duced them as candidates for the 2015 general elec­tions was conducted by the national secretariat of the PDP as required by law and not the Anambra chapter of the PDP as being insinuated.

In a related develop­ment, House of Representa­tives member representing Anambra East and West Federal Constituency and former state chairman of the PDP, Tony Nwoye, has said he foresees further crisis in the party in the state follow­ing the Supreme Court judg­ment.

Nwoye reiterated that the judgment of the court was purely on who was the au­thentic state chairman and had nothing to do with their positions as lawmakers.

The lawmaker said this when he addressed mem­bers of his constituency whom he invited to his Nsugbe country home to say thank you for their support for him. Nwoye noted that the Supreme Court had ear­lier decided the issue of the PDP tickets when it held last year in a matter brought by Charles Odedo that Ogue­bego had no business in the PDP list.

Yesterday, in Abuja, Chief Chris Uba, Andy’s brother said he would, today, storm INEC to demand for his cer­tificate of return as winner of the election. Uba warned his brother and Oduah, as well as others to stop parad­ing themselves as senators.

He insisted that the judg­ment of the Supreme Court last Friday which affirmed an earlier High Court ver­dict recognising the Ogue­bego executive as the state’s authentic leadership, meant that he and the people in his camp have become mem­bers of the National Assem­bly.

He advised the affected ‘former’ senators and House Representatives members to accept their fate and honour­ably step down, adding that he will lead other members of the party who emerged as 
candidates under the Ogue­bego-monitored primaries to the office of INEC today to demand for their 
Certifi­cates of Return.

Andy Uba and Oduah had faulted the assumptions that the Supreme Court judg­ment effectively removed them from office, arguing that they were not party in the suit, which basically had to deal with issues of leader­ship crisis in Anambra PDP.

Chris, who described himself as “senator repre­senting Anambra South” told newsmen in Abuja yes­terday that he was “shocked that those who should be conversant with the laws of the land could be deceiving the public regarding their true status after the Supreme Court failed to recognise the dubious way through which they got to the Senate.

PDP NEC to picks national chairman of PDP Thursday.

• North East, South West team up, press for tenure elongation
• Party may ratify 6 months tenure for Acting Chairman

Ahead of the meeting of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) National Ex­ecutive Committee (NEC) fixed for Thursday, osten­sibly to appoint a substan­tive national chairman, indications emerged at the weekend that the North East and South West cau­cuses of the party have sealed a deal to ensure that whoever emerges from the former zone will get only a six- month tenure.

The new chairman, it was gathered will conduct the party’s national conven­tion.

A source told Daily Sun that the South-West cau­cus of the party is back­ing the North-East caucus and may likely call for an extension to “clean up the party register for the del­egates’ list as a lot of party chieftains have defected to the All Progressives Con­gress (APC). You can’t organise a convention with an old register.

“ The South West caucus wants to lend its support for the extension so that it can enjoy the support of the North East in the former’s determination to produce the party national chairman at the convention when new set of national officers are expected to emerge.”

Checks revealed that Ekiti State Governor, Ayo­dele Fayose has been in the vanguard of the agitation for the zoning of the chair­manship slot of the main opposition party to the South West as he has con­sistently argued at meetings of the PDP Governors’ Fo­rum that the zone was yet to produce the party chair­man.

The meetings of other statutory organs of the par­ty, the PDP national caucus and the Board of Trustees would precede the NEC to ratify the candidate to be presented by the North- East caucus of the party.

The party source dis­closed that “the caucus meeting will hold on Tues­day, simultaneously with the North-East caucus at separate venues.

“The Board of Trustees meeting where the position of the caucus is expected to be tabled will hold on Wednesday.”

Further checks revealed that the Board of Trust­ees may likely appoint its substantive chairman to replace Dr. Haliru Bello who has been holding forth in acting capacity after the exit of its erstwhile chair­man, Tony Anenih last May.

The main opposition par­ty has been embroiled in leadership tussle with three chieftains laying claim to its national chairman. Ahmed Gulak, erstwhile Presidential Adviser on Political Matters to former president, Dr. Goodluck Jonathan had last Wednes­day stormed the party na­tional secretariat to assume position as the national chairman of the party.

Addressing newsmen, Gulak had claimed that a court judgment delivered by Justice Hussein Buba on December 15, 2015 asking the acting national chair­man, Uche Secondus to vacate his office within 14 days equally pronounced himself (Gulak) as the new chairman of the party.

But the PDP Gover­nors Forum had, in their emergency meeting same day condemned what they called Gulak’s invasion of the part’s national secre­tariat.

The governors, in their communique made avail­able to newsmen at the end of their meeting, frowned at Gulak’s action and fur­ther declared that a meeting of the statutory organ of the party, the National Execu­tive Committee would soon be convened to elect a sub­stantive chairman from the North-East to replace the immediate national chair­man of the party, Ahmed Mu’azu, who resigned last May.

The governors equally directed the National Sec­retary of the party, Pro­fessor Wale Oladipo to assume the position of na­tional chairman.

Their proclamation was however, dismissed by the party’s National Working Committee which insisted that Uche Secondus re­mains the party acting na­tional chairman.

National Assembly urges NERC to halt new electricity tariff takeoff.

The House of Representa­tives has urged the Nige­rian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) to halt implementation of a new electricity tariff re­gime today.

The NERC has sched­uled today to implement the new tariff regime na­tionwide.

Last December, the House promised to halt any increment in electricity tariffs across the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT)

The new tariff regime, however, contravenes the official position of the House of Representatives, which had, mid December 2015, through a motion, di­rected NERC leadership to halt plans to increase tariff.

Speaking to Daily Sun on why the House failed to prevail on NERC spokes­man, Abdulrazak Saad Namdas, blamed the fail­ure on the delay in the submission of the Ad-hoc Committee Report on Power.

“The ad-hoc committee on DISCOS invited NERC and they have submitted all the relevant papers. That was just last week. But the committee has not finished its job. Then the House was on recess. We will take a decision once the report is laid.

“The report will be laid immediately the House resumes; our position still remains that this tariff be suspended until we lay our report.

We cannot sanction them until we lay the report. The House is not in session. You cannot take an action while the House is on re­cess. It was the change of management at NERC that delayed the submission of the report.”

However, efforts to get the official position of the Senate on why the Red Chamber failed to prevail on NERC to halt the new tariffs, failed.

Calls and text messages put across to the Senate spokesman, Senator Sabi, were not responded to.

Corruption war: Judiciary, my headache - Buhari.

in far away Addis Ababa, Ethiopian ,President Mu­hammadu Buhari said the judiciary remained his main headache in his ad­ministration’s anti-corrup­tion war.

He said the ongoing fight against corruption can be effectively tackled with strong support of the judi­ciary.

The president also said re­covered looted funds will be used to reduce deficit in the N6.08 trillion 2016 budget.

This is just as Buhari disclosed that far-reaching reforms of the judiciary remained a key priority for his administration.

He said this in Addis Ababa yesterday at a town hall meeting with Nigeri­ans living in Ethiopia,

“On the fight against corruption vis-à-vis the ju­diciary, Nigerians will be right to say that is my main headache for now.

“If you reflect on what I went through for 12 years when I wanted to be the president, I attempted three times and on the fourth at­tempt through God and the use of technology, it was possible for Nigerians to elect an APC candidate as president.

“In my first attempt in 2003, I ended up at the Supreme Court and for 13 months I was in court. The second attempt in 2007, I was in court close to 20 months and in 2011, my third attempt, I was also in court for nine months.

“All these cases went up to the Supreme Court until the fourth time in 2015, when God agreed that I will be president of Nige­ria,” he said.

He assured members of the Nigerian community that with the support of the Chief Justice of Nigeria, he will continue to do his best to improve the nation’s ju­dicial system.

On the proposed N6.077 trillion 2016 budget sub­mitted to the National As­sembly, President Buhari said for the first time in Nigeria, the budget will be largely financed from non-oil revenue.

He identified the col­lapse of the international oil market and oil theft in the Niger Delta as main reasons for projecting more revenues to fund the budget from the non-oil sector.

The president added that the recovered assets of the country would also be used to reduce the budget defi­cit.

Elsewhere, he assured that his administration would increase budget­ary allocation to projects by Federal Government ministries, agencies and departments specifically targeted at improving the lives of women. This, he said would guarantee the economic rights of women.

He gave the assurance at the 26th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union at the weekend in Addis Ababa.

Still in Ethiopia, the president called on the African Union (AU) to ac­celerate the implementa­tion of its vision to silence the guns and reduce pre­ventable conflict-related deaths in the continent by 2020.

Buhari said the vision must be achieved “now” not 2020, decrying the use of scarce resources in Africa on armed conflicts rather than economic and social development of the continent.

The president challenged fellow African leaders to engage decisively with the people and government of South Sudan and Burundi to bring the conflicts they face to a speedy end.

He added that African leaders must also forge a united front to rid the con­tinent of the scourge of ter­rorism and face together, with determination, the no­ble goals of Agenda 2063, as espoused by the AU.

Novak Djokovic wins sixth Australia open title.

Novak Djokovic

World number one Novak Djokovic hammered a misfiring Andy Murray in straight sets to win a record-equalling sixth Australian Open title and strengthen his grip on men’s tennis on Sunday, AFP reports.

The Serbian world number one swept to a 6-1, 7-5, 7-6 (7/3) victory in two hours, 53 minutes to hand Murray his fifth defeat in the Melbourne Park final.

Djokovic equalled the tally of Australia’s Roy Emerson, who won the tournament six times between 1961 and 1967, an achievement that had gone unmatched in the 49 years since.

It was also Djokovic’s 11th Grand Slam title, putting him in equal fifth place on the all-time list alongside Rod Laver and Bjorn Borg, behind leader Roger Federer’s 17.

“It’s an incredible feeling, especially because of the fact that I managed to make history tonight and equal Roy Emerson’s record of six Australian Opens,” Djokovic said.

“This trophy is even more unique for me tonight and when you have an opportunity to make history it adds to the motivation and incentive before you come out on the court.”

Djokovic underlined his status as the dominant force in Melbourne, after downing Jo-Wilfried Tsonga to win his first major title in 2008 and beating Rafael Nadal in an epic final in 2012, along with his four wins over Murray in 2011, 2013, 2015 and now 2016.

Djokovic also extended his Grand Slam winning streak to 21 matches. He has not lost a match at the majors since he was defeated by Stan Wawrinka in last year’s French Open final at Roland Garros.

While Djokovic was further enhancing his reputation, Murray has the unwanted statistic of becoming only the second man in the post-1968 Open era to lose five Grand Slam finals at any one major.

Ivan Lendl, Murray’s former coach, lost five finals at the US Open in 1982-1984 and 1988-1989, before winning at Flushing Meadows in 1985-1987.

Murray had tears in his eyes at the presentation when he thanked his pregnant wife Kim Sears, who is due to give birth to their first child in the coming weeks.

Djokovic won 24 more points than Murray, 123-99, in the final, while Murray made a total of 65 unforced errors – including 28 off his forehand and 29 off his backhand.

Djokovic faced a break point in his opening service game but then went on a blazing run, breaking Murray’s serve twice to claim the opening set in 30 minutes.

Murray survived four break points to hold serve in a marathon 12-minute third game as he tried to stay in the second set against the pressing Serb.

But Djokovic gained another psychological breakthrough with a service break in the seventh game after Murray overhit a forehand to trail 4-3.

Fighting Murray broke back in the following game with his backhand clipping the baseline, which was confirmed by Djokovic’s challenge.

Murray fought off two break points in a fiercely contested ninth game in a war of the attrition between the two long-time rivals, who have known each other since their junior days.

But Djokovic fought back from 0-40 down to break Murray’s serve for a fourth time, in a game featuring one exhausting 36-shot rally, to lead 6-5 and serve for the second set.

The Serb claimed a two sets to love lead after winning an 80-minute battle for the second set, leaving Murray with it all to do.

Pastor accused of diverting church funds commits suicide.

A 49-year-old pastor, identified only as Bassey, has reportedly slashed his throat after he was accused by his church members of diverting funds for personal use.

It was learnt that the incident happened last Monday around 5am on Abari Street in the Mulero, Dopemu area of Lagos.

Inner room gathered that the suicide was reported to the police at the Dopemu divison, and policemen deposited his remains in a morgue, while his wife, called Iya Emmanuel, and son, Emmanuel, were arrested in connection with the incident.

It was learnt that the pastor had written a short note, stating that his family was not complicit in his death.

A police source told our correspondent that preliminary investigation revealed that the pastor was frustrated after he was accused by the church of diverting the undisclosed sum.

“The knife used by the pastor to kill himself has been recovered. He also wrote that he killed himself. We learnt that he was accused by his church of diverting money. He was probably frustrated because his neighbours described him as a God-fearing and honest person. We are still trying to find out the actual amount involved,” the source said.

A neighbour, who identified herself as Seun Oladimeji, said the pastor had been awake in the night, walking around the passage. She said a note, which read, “I, myself, not my wife”, was found in the family’s room after his death.

“I don’t know whether he (pastor) did it because of the money issue, but he and his wife were very friendly. He woke up around 3am that day. I learnt his wife and son, Emmanuel, later begged him to go back to bed. At about 5am, the woman screamed for help. We all gathered in their room and saw blood gushing out of the pastor’s neck.

“Unknown to the woman, he hid a knife which he used to slash his throat. Before he died, he wrote on a piece of paper ‘I, myself, not my wife’. I can say it anywhere that it was not his wife who killed him. The son was just crying; he was not himself. Both of them were arrested.”

Another resident, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the pastor and his wife had a good relationship with each other, adding that she did not believe his family members had a hand in his death.

He said, “Pastor helped his wife with her hair before the incident. They really loved each other. Most times, while the wife washed clothes, he would be spreading it on the line.”

Another resident, Mr. Olatunde Olasunbo, said the pastor moved to the area with his family two years ago.

“I did not know his church, but he was God-fearing and very nice. He was always with his bible. Even if he diverted the church funds, suicide is not the solution. He and his wife related like siblings. They moved to this area two years ago,” he added.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Dolapo Badmos, confirmed the incident via a text message, adding that the case had been transferred to the State Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.

“Case transferred to the SDCI for further investigation,” she stated in the text.

Aluko is desperate to become governor - Gov Fayose.

Fayose 

Governor Ayo Fayose yesterday condemned the statement by a former secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Tope Aluko, saying he does not deserve a response.

The governor spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media Mr. Lere Olayinka.

He said Aluko was beclouded by his desperation to seek revenge against Fayose because of his refusal to make him his Chief of Staff. He (Aluko) is not mindful of committing the criminal offence of perjury, the statement added.

The governor described as “shameful” that the All Progressives Congress (APC) has refused to accept a scandalous electoral defeat they suffered 19 months ago, asking whether it was also soldiers that rigged the 2015 presidential, senatorial, House of Representatives and State House of Assembly elections that the party lost.

He said: “For Aluko to be taken seriously, he must first have to report himself to the police to be tried for perjury and committed to prison for three years since what he is now saying is different from what he said under oath at the Election Tribunal where he was the only witness called by the PDP and Governor Fayose.

“If after giving evidence under oath at the tribunal that the Election was free, fair and credible and that security agents, including soldiers performed their duties creditably, saying something else more than one year after is not fair.

“It is also a demonstration of the fact that given the right offer tomorrow, the same Aluko can also 

address the press tomorrow to deny all he said today. He can even deny his own existence since he can deny what he said under oath just because he was not made Chief of Staff.

“Therefore, we won’t bother ourselves responding to what a political parasite  chooses to say because he wouldn’t have said what he is saying today if he had been made Chief of Staff to Governor Fayose and it is sure that if he is called today, and given the right offer, he will

begin to sing another song.

“Also, the APC bad losers in Ekiti State should know that it will take more than recruiting and paying a disgruntled TKO Aluko to discredit an election adjudged by both local and international observers, including the United States government as free, fair and credible.

They will probably need to pay INEC to tell Nigerians that an election it conducted, in which an incumbent governor lost in his own local government, was not credible.

“As per his claim that $37 million was given to the governor for the election, the governor got financial support from various sources as it is usual of anyone contesting election and it is not for him to begin to advertise in the media the level of support the governor received from individuals, corporate organisations or groups.

“However, if money belonging to the APC is missing and they suspect that the money was stolen by Dr Goodluck Jonathan to fund Ekiti State governorship election, they can approach the EFCC.”

Nigeria imported N20.2tr fuel in five years.

Nigeria spent N20.2 trillion to import petrol, diesel and kerosene between January 2010 and September 2015, the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics (NBS) has said.

Figures jointly compiled by both the NBS and the Petroleum Products Pricing Regulatory Agency (PPPRA) released at the weekend indicate that N12, 529, 746, 397, 978. 48 was spent on the importation of 102,374,588,480.91 litres of petrol (Premium Motor Spirit).

An amount of N6,450,576,065,479.43 was spent to import 16,679,065,103 litres of diesel (Automotive and Gas Oil).

Between January 2012 and September 2015, N1,271,500,290,241 was spent on the importation of 9,448,409,070 litres of kerosene.

Boko Haram kills 85 people in a small village near Maiduguri .

Boko Haram Leader

Eighty-five people have been confirmed dead in last Saturday night’s attack at Dalori, on the outskirts of Maiduguri, the Borno State capital.

Commissioner for Health Dr. Haruna Mshelia told the deputy governor and the General Officer Commanding (GOC) at the Specialist Hospital, Maiduguri, that 65 bodies were deposited at the Specialist Hospital, 10 at the University Teaching Hospital, while 10 were buried at Dalori village.

An eyewitness said he saw over 20 bodies burnt beyond recognition, but unofficial sources said more than 100 died.

However, a rescue worker with one of the humanitarian agencies said over 100 people were killed.

A civilian joint task force operative, Hassan Aliyu,  told The Nation on phone that more than 100 people died.

“As at Saturday night, the people who died were over 100. I’m sure many might have died today. Anybody who tells you that the figure is less than 100 is not saying the truth,” he said.

Modu Ajari, who escaped, told our correspondent on the phone in Maiduguri that the insurgents shot sporadically and people ran for safety.

He said a bomb detonated by a suicide bomber caused the high casualty.

The terrorists reportedly arrived the village in a convoy of Golf vehicles and motorcycles, carrying explosives and petro-bombs. They were said to have fled towards Alau Dam at 6 p.m.

Dalori is a farming and herding community, 12 kilometres east of Maiduguri.

Modu Anfoni, a villager, said the insurgents stormed the community through Yale village in a convoy of vehicles and motorcycles in the evening, into Maiduguri without passing through the military posts on the Maiduguri-Bama Road.

Confirming the attack, the Media Coordinator of Operation Lafiya Dole, Col. Mustpaha Anka, in a statement, said: “The insurgents came in Golf cars, motorcycles and opened fire, burnt houses. They wanted to cause confusion and penetrate the crowd with suicide bombers.

“While people were running to Gomari Kerkeri village, three female suicide bombers attempted to make their way into the crowd, but were intercepted and got blown up.”

He said during the 45-minute military “fierce repulsion”, lives were lost, while people were injured.

Anka said: “The insurgents attempted to enter Dalori IDP camp, but they were resisted by troops, which resulted in the detonation of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) by the suicide bombers.”

The Theatre Commander of Operation Lafiya Dole, Maj.-Gen. Umaru Hassan, yesterday consoled the District Head of Dalori, Alhaji Lawal Bashir and his subjects on the attack.

He assured them that the command would end insurgency in Borno State soon.

Hailing the villagers for their resilience, he urged them to be strong and committed in the fight against terrorism.

Gen. Hassan said: “I praise the National and State Emergency Management Agencies (NEMA and SEMA), Red Cross and others for rescuing and resettling displaced people in camps.

Aftermath of Gov Fayose visit to Aregbesola to escape justice,Ekiti PDP chief, Dr Temitope Aluko revealed how former president Jonathan gave Gov Fayose $37m with 1,040 soldier to rig Ekiti governorship poll.

Former President Goodluck Jonathan gave Ekiti State Governor Ayo Fayose $37 million cash for the June 21, 2014 governorship election, it was learnt yesterday.

A former Secretary of the Ekiti State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr. Temitope Aluko, a member of the team that prosecuted the election, said Dr. Jonathan gave Fayose $2 million in March 2014 for the primary election. He alleged that the cash was collected at the NNPC Towers in Abuja from businessman Ifeanyi Uba, who last night denied playing any role in the election or giving Fayose any money.

Aluko said the cash was taken to Fayose’s private house in Abuja from where it was moved to Ekiti.

“Immediately after the primary election, we collected another $35 million from Jonathan on June 17, 2014. The money was brought to us by the former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.

“We all assembled in front of Spotless Hotel, Ado-Ekiti, owned by Fayose. Thereafter, the cash was taken to a Bureau De Change in Onitsha  where, with the support of Chris Uba, it was converted to N4.7 billion,” Aluko added.

But Fayose dismissed Aluko as a “distraction” and his story “untrue”.

The embattled PDP chief, who fell out with Fayose shortly after the election, disclosed that the governor collected about N3 billion cash from Senator Buruji Kashamu in 2013 to revive the then comatose PDP structure in Ekiti.

But Kashamu’s aide Augustine Oniyokor said: “While it is true that Senator Buruji Kashamu supported PDP candidates, including the Ekiti State governor, as a true party man, I’m not aware of the financial implications.”

Giving an insight into how the military and other security agencies were drafted into the Ekiti 

State election, Aluko said Fayose insisted that the only way the PDP could win was to use the military.

Said he: “The former President agreed with Fayose and summoned a security meeting at the Presidential Villa for the purpose of the election.

“Those at the meeting were the former Chief of Defence Staff, Air Chief Marshall Alex Badeh, then Chief of Army Staff Lt.-Gen. Kenneth Minimmah and former PDP National Chairman Adamu Mu’azu.

“Others included Fayose, Senator Iyiola Omisore, then Minister of Police Affairs Jelili Adesiyan and Obanikoro.

“At that meeting, the former President made it clear to the ex-Chief of Defence Staff that Fayose would stand for him (as Commander-in-Chief) in terms of providing security for the election.”

According to Aluko, the implication of Jonathan’s directive was that the military chiefs were to take orders from Fayose for the duration of the election.

On the strength of Jonathan’s directive, Aluko said Fayose then approached the former Commander of the Army Brigade in Akure, Brig.-Gen. Dikko, to take charge of the election for the PDP.

“But Gen. Dikko did not give us audience. He stated bluntly that he would not be available for such operation. So Fayose sponsored a petition against him, which led to his replacement with Brig.-Gen. Aliyu Momoh who was amenable to our plans,” Aluko stated.

Giving details of how the military and other security agencies were mobilised to win the election for the PDP, Aluko said four party stalwarts were picked from each of the 16 local government areas.

According to him, the 64 party stalwarts were carefully picked because they knew the terrain in their local governments very well.

“They gave detailed information regarding names and locations of opposition members in all the local governments, the various routes, areas of strength and weaknesses of the PDP in the 16 local government councils.

“Today, most of these 64 men are members of the Senate, House of Representatives, state House of Assembly, commissioners, local government chairmen, special advisers and the rest,” Aluko said.

“We went into the election with 1040 recognised soldiers and another batch of 400 unrecognised soldiers brought from Enugu by Chief Chris Uba.

“In addition, we raised 44 Special Strike teams, brought in Toyota Hilux buses from Abuja and Onitsha. We made special stickers for the vehicles that conveyed members of the Strike Team and black hand bands for each of them.

“Each Strike Team was made up of 10 members headed by a soldier and comprising soldiers, policemen, DSS operatives and Civil Defence Corps. They were detailed to attack and arrest prominent APC chieftains in all the local governments.

“We set up anchorage, mainly residential houses, in every local government where the Strike Team members collected their welfare and other allowances.

“To encourage the Strike Team members, we gave them orders to share money and other valuables they could lay their hands on in the houses of APC chieftains they raided.

“Then we set up detention camps, mainly in primary schools, where most of the APC chieftains were detained. Others were detained in police stations where the DPOs were friendly with us. We let them off after the election was over.

“A day to the election, we used the military to block all routes in the local governments and prevented APC chieftains, including former Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi, from coming into Ekiti.

“So we ensured that no APC chieftain was in sight on election day. We provided polling agents for the APC in most of the polling units so we had no problem getting them to sign election results in the units.

“All these local and foreign observes that described the election as free and fair only witnessed the voting on election day without knowing what transpired before the voting.”

Aluko, who was the Chief Returning Officer who signed the results for the election, said he was fully involved in the plot with Fayose from the very beginning.

According to him, he was forced to divulge the information because Fayose betrayed him and derailed from the original plan they had for the development of the state after winning the election.

Said he: “Before the election, Fayose, Femi Bamishile and I jointly swore with the Holy Bible on a sharing formula after we must have won the election. We agreed that Fayose would be governor, Bamishile his deputy and I, Chief of Staff.

“But the moment he got into office, Fayose reneged on the agreement and left me in the lurch. More worrisome is the fact that Fayose has derailed from the original Ekiti project we envisaged”.

He also spoke about the Osun election which followed and the inability of the PDP to take the same system they adopted in Ekiti, to Osun State which Governor Rauf Aregbesola resisted.

Aluko, who testified in camera before the military panel that investigated the role of the military in Ekiti and Osun states elections, said he gave the same testimony before the panel.

Gov Fayose denies using soldiers and money to rig Ekiti governorship election.

Fayose

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose, has described the expelled former State Secretary of the Peoples Democratic Party, Mr Tope Aluko, as a new distraction from the All Progressive Congress in Ekiti State.

The governor, who spoke through his Special Assistant on Public Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, said Aluko was already beclouded by his desperation to seek revenge against him because of his refusal to make him his Chief of Staff, such that he (Aluko) was not mindful of committing the criminal offence of perjury.

He said, “For Aluko to be taken seriously, he must first have to report himself to the police to be tried for perjury and committed to prison for three years, since what he is now saying is different from what he said under oath at the Election Tribunal being the only witness called by the PDP and Governor Fayose.

“If after giving evidence under oath at the tribunal that the Election was free, fair and credible and that security agents, including soldiers performed their duties creditably well, saying something else more than one year after is an admittance by Aluko himself that he is not a stable character.

“It is also a demonstration of the fact that giving the right offer tomorrow, the same Aluko can also address the press tomorrow to deny all what he said today. He can even deny his own existence since he can deny what he said under oath just because he was not made Chief of Staff.

“Therefore, we won’t bother ourselves, responding to what a political parasite  chooses to say because he wouldn’t have said what he is now saying today if he had been made Chief of Staff to Governor Fayose and it is sure that if he called today, and given the right offer, he will begin to sing another song.”

Fayose, however, did not deny receiving $37m from former president Goodluck Jonathan for the 2014 governorship election in which he defeated former governor Kayode Fayemi.

He added that it would take more than recruiting and paying Aluko to discredit an election adjudged by both local and international observers, including the United States government as free, fair and credible.

Jonathan gave Fayose $37m to rig Ekiti governorship election - Dr Tope Aluko.

Ekiti State Governor, Ayodele Fayose

Embattled Secretary of the Ekiti state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party Dr. Temitope Aluko, has alleged that former President Goodluck Jonathan gave Governor Ayo Fayose of Ekiti State, $37m cash to prosecute the June 21, 2014, governorship election in the state.

Aluko said the money was effectively used to defeat the then Governor of the State, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, who was the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress.

He spoke with reporters in Abuja on Sunday.

Aluko, who said he was part of the team that prosecuted the election and also added that he was the chairman of the Intelligence, security committee  for the campaign.

Beside, he said he handled the waiver Fayose got from the PDP at the national level to enable him qualify to take part in the governorship primary.

To further buttress important roles he played in the emergence of Fayose, Aluko also said he delivered the congresses that produced Fayose and was also the governor’s principal witness at the Election Petition Tribunal.

He said Jonathan initially gave Fayose $2m in March 2014 for the primary election and that this money was collected at the NNPC Towers, Abuja.

Aluko said, “It was about $35m dollars which is about N4.7bn he gave us for the real election and for the primaries, he released 2 million dollars to Fayose.

“I have details for all I am saying and I was present when they brought the money and it was Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro that brought the money, the 35 million dollars which he delivered to Fayose at Spotless Hotel.

“I can name eight people that were there. We were all there because he said he will want us to take delivery so that there will be transparency and accountability.