ITV News

By Khalid Imran The ancient town of Ilero in Kajola Local Government, Area of Oyo State was busy with ceremony as the Elero, HRM Oba Wasiu Oyedele Saka Olokolonigi II installed Chief Rasheed Jawesola as Baale Paje, Gbokoyi Area of Ileroland. The glamorous event which occurred on Friday, November 17th at Elero Palace, Ilero had in attendance of the Elero, some Oke-Ogun monarchs, Ilero Council of Chiefs, Jawesola’s families, executives of Irepodun Omo Ilero, Chief Imam of Ileroland, other religious clerics, well wishers and host of others. While speaking on purpose of gathering, Oba Oyedele Saka said the installation of Jawesola as Baale Paje was to ensure extension of the ancient town to the area in order to feel sense of belonging. The monarch added that the axis was a large area of land which requires installation of a capable hand to head the place and defend it against external aggressors. Elero asked people residing in the axis to cooperate, support and embrace his leadership in or...

The crisis rocking the All Progressives Congress(APC) in Oyo State is getting worse as party faithful last night vehemently opposed reported plans by the National Chairman of the party,Dr Umar Ganduje to hand over the control of the party to the dissident members who are in the Accord Party. Many party sources in Ibadan and Abuja confirmed that the national Chairman in several meetings with the minister for power,Chief Adebayo Adelabu and leader of Accord party in Oyo State,Senator Abiola  Adeseun had resolved to set up a caretaker committee to oversea the affairs of the party in the state. Ganduje, at a meeting of some stakeholders in the party last month in Abuja, had hinted that the Omodewu led executive committee would be dissolved to accommodate returning members from the Accord party  who left the APC ahead of  the last election. Competent party sources said last night that Ganduje in the next few days will action the plan. In place of the Omodewu led executive woul...

  By Kazeem Awojoodu The Oyo state Federal Controller of Works, Engr. Kayode Ibrahim has refuted a report by the ‘Budgit Tracka’ on the federal intervention road project in Saki town. The federal controller of works through a press statement made available to journalists in Ibadan, the capital city of the state described the report as a misleading and damaging one. Engr. Kayode through the statement stated that “It has come to the notice of the office of the Federal Controller of Works Oyo State, the erroneous and grossly misleading misinformation by a certain organization known as ‘Budgit Tracka’ about the Federal Government intervention project in Saki Oyo State. The project titled “Limited Rehabilitation of Opo Malu Road in Saki Oyo State” was awarded on 31st January 2022 to Messrs Laralek Ultimate Limited with the Engineer’s order to commence work dated 1st March, 2022 and the completion period of three months. The then Honourable member of the National Assembly represe...

Ahead of Saturday, November 11 gubernatorial elections in Imo, Bayelsa and Kogi states, tension is high, particularly in Imo and Kogi states, where the indices are not looking so good. There are fears as threats of violence loom large, especially in the two states. It was the same scenario in the two states during the 2023 general elections. Feelers show that though residents are desirous of coming out en-masse during the polls, they are afraid of losing their lives. They are equally skeptical and concerned that the electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), might not deliver free, fair and credible elections, considering what happened during the 2023 general elections. The destruction of posters of the opposition candidates in states like Imo and Kogi, the physical attacks on party supporters and the malfunctioning of the BVAS machines have not helped matters either. However, President Bola Tinubu had during the handing over of the All Progressives Congres...

  The memory of the 2023 presidential election is still fresh in our minds. According to the Electoral Act 2022, and the Independent National Electoral Commission guidelines, INEC was expected to transmit the election results from the polling units electronically in real-time to the Result Viewing Portal. INEC transmitted the National Assembly election results in real time as promised, and the outcomes were clear in many states. Overall, IReV greatly manifested in the outcome of the National Assembly election results, as people who could not buy votes won the election to become federal lawmakers. Kudos to INEC in this regard but the commission failed to transmit the presidential election result in real-time as promised, and attributed it to “technical glitches.” The off-season state elections are here again (the Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa governorship elections) and many people are wondering if the experience of the presidential election in February 2023 will repeat itself, in terms of...

Given the toxicity and the incendiary waves of the period and leading to the Supreme Court adjudicating on the appeal by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi, of the Labour Party, what would have been said of Chief Justice Kayode Ariwoola is better imagined than experienced if he had headed the Supreme Court panel of the Justices to hear the appeals! He did not also enlist on the panel the two other Justices from South-West, Justice Kudirat Akin-Kekere Ekun and Justice Helen Ogunwunwumi. The judgment would have been a bone of fierce contention, to put it mildly, between the Yoruba and the Igbo: What do you expect, is Ariwoola not a Yorubaman? He gave the judgment in favour of his brother, Tinubu! That would have been the careless and cruel talk. Did a Professor not say Chief Justice Ariwoola flew to London under the guise that he was ill to meet secretly with Tinubu? It was false and the fellow, a lawyer for that matter, was to promptly apologise. There were bush radios a...