It was learnt that the gunmen invaded the community around 10 p.m., firing sporadically to scare residents.

An eyewitness, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the gunmen also abducted three other persons but were confronted by military personnel at the border community.

It was further gathered that the ensuing gun duel led to the rescue of the three victims, while the vice chairman was taken away into the bush.

When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, confirmed the incident and assured that a tactical team had been deployed to secure the victim’s release.

“I want to assure the people of the state to remain calm.

“The situation is under control, and our men are on the ground for the rescue operation,” he said.

Source: NAN

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The post Gunmen abduct Osun local govt vice chairman, three rescued appeared first on Frontpageng.

This is contained in a statement issued on Friday in Osogbo by the command’s spokesperson, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi.

Ojelabi said the suspect was apprehended for disseminating misleading content on social media, an offence contrary to Section 24 of the Cybercrimes Act, 2015, and other relevant laws.

According to him, the suspect published a video via his Facebook account on Monday, falsely claiming that bandits had invaded the state.

He noted that the post triggered widespread panic among residents, adding that preliminary investigations revealed the video was misleading.

“The footage shared by the suspect actually showed members of the public restraining an individual with a mental illness,” Ojelabi said.

He further disclosed that although the suspect was arrested on Wednesday, he was later released following a passionate appeal by his aged parents.

The spokesperson added that the suspect had since tendered a public apology and was warned against repeating such actions.

Ojelabi said the Osun Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, cautioned the public against spreading unverified information capable of inciting fear or disrupting public peace.

He reiterated the command’s zero-tolerance stance on the misuse of digital platforms to circulate harmful falsehoods.

Source: NAN

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The post Police in Osun arrest man over alleged false bandit invasion claim appeared first on Frontpageng.

The command’s spokesperson, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, said in a statement issued in Osogbo that gunmen on a motorcycle opened fire on Ajibola’s vehicle in a suspected assassination attempt.

Ojelabi said the incident occurred on Wednesday at about 11:50 p.m. along the MDS area of Osogbo, noting that two armed men riding a motorcycle reportedly attacked the victim.

He said that immediately the command received the report, officers were mobilised to the scene.

According to him, the victim was taken to a medical facility where he is currently receiving treatment.

Ojelabi added that medical personnel had confirmed that the victim was in stable condition and responding positively to treatment.

He said the police had launched an aggressive manhunt for the fleeing suspects to ensure their arrest and prosecution.

Ojelabi further stated that preliminary investigations at the scene led to the recovery of exhibits, which are being subjected to forensic analysis.

He said the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Ibrahim Gotan, had condemned the incident, ordered a high-powered investigation, and directed the deployment of resources to apprehend those responsible.

Similarly, the Commissioner for Information and Public Enlightenment, Mr Kolapo Alimi, also condemned the attack.

Alimi, in a statement, said the incident involving the victim, now the Accord chairman in Osogbo local government area, must be thoroughly investigated.

He urged the police to leave no stone unturned in unmasking the perpetrators of the attack.

Ajibola was a member of the PDP in Osogbo local government area before defecting to the Accord Party, where he was appointed chairman.

Source: NAN

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The approval was announced on Monday in press statement issued by the governor’s spokesperson, Mr. Olawale Rasheed.

The deposition resulted from the conviction of the monarch in the United States of America on tax fraud and money laundering charges.

Rasheed said the decision to depose the monarch was taken after the governor received the Certified True Copy of the Ohio court judgment which convicted Oba Oloyede.

He stated that the judgement was got following the directive by the State Executive Council to the Ministry of Local Government to request the  Certified True Copy of the judgment from the Ohio court.

The statement reads in part: “The Council had justified the decision to contact the Ohio court on the ground that governmental decisions should not be based on social media reporting alone.

“In the Deposition Order signed by His Excellency on 7th May, 2026, the action was predicated on the need to maintain peace, order and good government as well as preserve the honour and integrity of the royal stool.

“The Deposition Order further stated that the fraudulent conduct of Oba Joseph Oloyede, as found by the US court and which he pleaded guilty to, and his public trial and conviction have brought the institution of Obaship and the stool of Apetumodu of Ipetumodu to disrepute and public odium, hence the resort to deposition.”

The spokesman announced that by the deposition of the monarch, the stool of Apetumodu of Ipetumodu had become vacant.

He said the necessary process would be put in place to appoint a new king.

He added that the governor had urged sons and daughters of Ipetumodu to remain peaceful and law-abiding.

Recall that Oloyede was, on August 26, 2025, sentenced to 56 months’ imprisonment for wire fraud, making false tax returns and engaging in monetary transactions in criminally derived property by the United States District Court for the Northern District of Ohio, United States of America.

The post Osun: Adeleke deposes monarch jailed for fraud in US appeared first on Frontpageng.

Yilwatda made this known in Abuja while speaking on key issues affecting the social, political and economic management of the country, insisting that in a period of national transition and democratic consolidation, Nigeria could not afford to gamble its future on confusion, instability, or politically disoriented alternatives.

According to a statement signed by Mr Abimbola Tooki, his special adviser on media and communications strategy, the national chairman said the APC had over time demonstrated the institutional maturity, national spread, political discipline, and administrative capacity required to manage the complex demands of a nation as large, diverse and strategically important as Nigeria.

He said the party was not merely preparing for the next election cycle, but actively working to deepen governance, strengthen democratic culture, improve public trust, and build a stronger foundation for national development.

“The All Progressives Congress is not an ad hoc coalition held together by convenience. It is a tested and enduring political machine, built on structure, spread, experience and the capacity to respond to the real needs of Nigerians. We are the only party with the institutional strength and national reach to carry the weight of both the present and the future of this country,” the national chairman stated.

Yilwatda maintained that while governance naturally comes with pressures, contestations and difficult decisions, the APC remained committed to supporting policies and reforms that would place Nigeria on the path of long-term stability, productivity and prosperity.

He noted that the task before the current administration was not a cosmetic one, but a serious nation-building responsibility that required courage, patience, sacrifice and political steadiness.

He added that the APC, as the governing party, fully understood the weight of the historic obligation and would continue to provide the political backbone required to sustain reforms and deliver democratic dividends to Nigerians.

Commenting on the internal crises currently ravaging some opposition parties, Professor Yilwatda said the situation was a clear and disturbing reflection of their lack of preparedness for national leadership.

He noted that any political platform that could not manage its own internal affairs, reconcile competing tendencies, enforce discipline, or build consensus within its ranks, could not be trusted with the delicate task of governing a complex federation like Nigeria.

According to him, the persistent implosions, factional wars, legal battles, ego clashes and ideological emptiness that defined many opposition parties were not just political setbacks, but warning signs of deeper structural weakness and managerial incompetence.

He stressed that it would be dangerous and politically irresponsible for Nigerians to hand over the future of the country to political actors who had repeatedly shown that they could not maintain order within their own house.

“A party that cannot govern itself cannot govern Nigeria. If a political platform is constantly trapped in self-inflicted crisis, consumed by internal sabotage, and weakened by poor management, it simply has no business asking Nigerians for the mandate to lead this country,” he said.

The APC national chairman said Nigerians must be discerning enough to separate noise from capacity, propaganda from preparation, and opportunism from genuine leadership.

He added that while the APC continued to evolve, reform and strengthen its internal processes, many opposition parties remained trapped in a cycle of instability that made them unfit for serious democratic competition.

Yilwatda further stated that a repositioned and confident APC was not afraid of political competition and did not seek victory through the technical disqualification of opponents.

He said the APC believed in democratic contest, popular legitimacy, and the power of persuasion, adding that the party derived greater strength and credibility when it won elections through the trust and support of the Nigerian people.

According to him, while political parties must comply with the law and electoral regulations, the APC’s preference is always to defeat its opponents at the ballot box and not in backroom arrangements, procedural traps or legal technicalities.

He emphasised that true democratic legitimacy came from earned victory, not engineered outcomes, and that history was kinder to leaders and parties whose mandates were clearly validated by the people.

“Victory is sweeter when it is earned. It is more legitimate when it is freely given by the people. As a party, we believe that the strongest mandate is one secured through persuasion, performance, organization and political engagement,” he said.

The national chairman added that the APC’s growing confidence across the country was rooted in its expanding structures, broad-based acceptance, renewed internal discipline and its capacity to speak to both local and national concerns.

He said the party was increasingly focused on rebuilding trust at the grassroots, improving message coordination, rewarding loyalty, and ensuring that every electoral contest was approached with seriousness, strategy and measurable objectives.

Speaking on the current security situation in the country, Yilwatda described the federal government’s fresh phase in the mass trial of over 500 terrorism-related suspects as a major demonstration of state seriousness, institutional resolve and respect for the rule of law.

He said the development marked an important shift in the national security architecture, from merely announcing arrests to ensuring judicial accountability and lawful consequences for acts of terror and violent criminality.

According to him, this is not just a security story; it is also a governance story, a rule-of-law story, and a public trust story.

He explained that for citizens to have confidence in the state, they must see that criminal acts were not only confronted militarily, but also prosecuted credibly and transparently within the framework of the law.

“What we are seeing is movement beyond arrests toward institutional accountability. That matters greatly. It shows that the Tinubu administration is not only fighting insecurity on the battlefield, but also in the courtroom, in the intelligence space, and within the wider framework of state institutions,” he stated.

Yilwatda said the development reinforced the idea that the administration of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu was pursuing a more comprehensive anti-insecurity strategy, one that combines military operations, intelligence coordination, legal enforcement, judicial process, and broader institutional strengthening.

He noted that sustainable security could not be built on force alone, but must rest on justice, deterrence, lawful prosecution, and visible consequences for those who threaten the peace and sovereignty of the country.

The APC national chairman therefore described the ongoing legal process as evidence of serious state action against terrorism, and called on Nigerians to continue supporting lawful efforts aimed at restoring peace, public confidence and national stability.

Turning to party affairs in Osun State, Yilwatda commended the APC chapter for what he described as its visible readiness, growing organisational capacity and renewed seriousness ahead of future political engagements.

He said the signs from Osun were encouraging, but quickly warned that electoral success would require more than enthusiasm, ceremonial mobilisation or symbolic activity.

The national chairman insisted that the Osun political operation must be built around discipline, structure, message clarity, conflict management, and grassroots precision.

He stressed the need for a single command structure within the campaign architecture, with clearly defined roles, measurable responsibilities and practical deliverables for every member of the campaign team.

According to him, confusion in authority lines, duplication of functions, ego-driven interference and competing centers of influence have historically weakened political operations and must not be allowed to undermine the APC’s efforts in Osun.

“Every successful political operation requires one clear command structure. There must be no ambiguity in authority, no overlap in responsibilities, and no room for avoidable internal disruption. Every member of the campaign team must know their assignment, their target, and their expected outcome,” he said.

Yilwatda also called for the establishment of a robust conflict resolution mechanism within the Osun campaign structure to proactively address grievances, misunderstandings and post-appointment tensions before they degenerate into factional bitterness or sabotage.

He warned that unmanaged resentment within campaign structures often did more damage than opposition attacks, stressing that political wounds ignored today could become electoral liabilities tomorrow.

The APC national chairman therefore directed that the Osun campaign must not be reduced to a ceremonial political exercise, but should instead be designed as a data-driven, ward-based and message-coordinated operation.

He said the campaign must be rooted in local realities, informed by voter behaviour, tailored to community concerns, and executed with measurable precision across all wards and constituencies.

According to him, the era of generic slogans and uncoordinated mobilization is over.

“What is required now is a modern political operation that understands the mood of the electorate, tracks persuasion patterns, coordinates messaging from the center to the grassroots, and ensures that every local structure is active and accountable,” he said.

Yilwatda further emphasised that the political significance of Osun extended beyond its immediate electoral boundaries.

He described the state as a strategic psychological battleground for the APC’s continued strength in the South-West, and a crucial rehearsal ground for 2027.

He noted that the outcome of political organisation in Osun would carry symbolic, strategic and momentum-building consequences not just for the state, but for the wider political direction of the APC in the region and nationally.

“Osun is not just another state election. It is a test of strength, a battle of perception, a measure of organisational discipline, and an important rehearsal ground for 2027. We must approach it with the seriousness it deserves,” he said.

The national chairman charged party leaders, stakeholders, mobilizers, youth groups, women’s wings, elected officials and grassroots coordinators in Osun to close ranks and work with a single purpose.

He urged all party faithful to place collective victory above personal ambition, emphasizing that the APC’s success will depend not only on strategy and structure, but also on unity, sacrifice, discipline and loyalty to the bigger cause.

Yilwatda reaffirmed the APC’s commitment to building a stronger party and a stronger nation, stating that the party will continue to support policies and political actions that promote security, democratic legitimacy, economic recovery, institutional stability and national progress.

He said the APC remains focused, prepared and determined to continue serving as the most viable political platform for responsible governance and national renewal.

“Nigeria needs steadiness, structure, courage and capacity. The APC represents that responsibility. We are not perfect, but we are prepared, we are tested, and we are committed to doing the hard work required to move this country forward,” he said.

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The 2026 Global Terrorism Index report (GTI), released last week by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP), shows that Nigeria experienced the largest year-on-year increase in terrorism-related deaths globally. The surge propelled Nigeria to fourth place on the index, trailing only Pakistan, Burkina Faso, and Niger. In 2025, Nigeria was ranked sixth, while in 2024, we were eighth in the world.

Nigeria’s ascent in the rankings comes amid decade-long security crisis characterised by an escalation in terrorism, banditry, and kidnappings. The violence and associated deaths have taken a heavy toll on the nation’s security apparatus, with several senior military officers among those killed in recent operations. Despite the fact that the United States of America recently bombed terrorists’ hideout in Sokoto State and has sent a sizeable number of its troops to the country to train Nigeria’s security operatives, the terrorists seem to be daring America’s President Donald Trump by stepping up their criminal enterprise.

There is no denying the fact that Sub-Saharan Africa remains the global epicentre of terrorism, hosting six of the 10 most affected nations. In contrast, Western nations experienced a paradoxical trend. While global incidents decreased, fatalities in the West rose by a sharp 280%. This spike was primarily driven by political terrorism, anti-Semitism, and Islamophobia.

Nigeria recorded the largest increase in terrorism deaths globally in 2025, with fatalities rising by 46 per cent, from 513 in 2024 to 750. Africa’s most populous nation is grappling with a multifaceted security crisis, as extremist groups such as Boko Haram and its offshoots attempt to carve out control of swathes of territory. Various ethnic militia and other criminal elements, including ‘bandit’ groups, are also active, mostly in North and Central Nigeria. Newer threats from emerging terrorist groups like the Lakurawa are also emerging.

In February this year, 162 people were massacred in Kwara state, near the border with the Benin Republic. This was one of the deadliest single attacks in the country’s recent history. On Wednesday last week, the army said troops, backed by air support, repelled a coordinated assault by Islamist insurgents on a military base in the north-eastern state of Borno, killing at least 80 fighters, including senior commanders. The assault comes after multiple suicide bombings last week Monday in Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, that killed at least 23 and left more than 100 wounded.

The report stated that the Islamic State West Africa Province (ISWAP) and Boko Haram were responsible for most of the terror attacks in the country in 2025. Civilians were the most targeted group in 2025, accounting for 67 per cent of victims of the attacks, while the military accounted for 19 per cent.

Boko Haram was responsible for Nigeria’s second most lethal terrorist attack of the year. In May, armed militants raided the neighbouring villages of Mallam Karamti and Kwatandashi in Kukawa Local Government Area of Borno State.

While Borno remains the epicentre of Nigeria’s terrorism crisis, accounting for more than two-thirds of all attacks and deaths in 2025, together, ISWAP and Boko Haram accounted for 80 per cent of all terrorism-related deaths in Nigeria in 2025. The report revealed that Lakurawa, a relatively new group that surfaced in 2024, recorded 10 attacks and 74 deaths in 2025. However, there has been a growing wave of insecurity across Nigeria’s South-West region, which has become a major source of concern for residents, community leaders, and security experts.

States such as Ondo, Oyo, Osun, and Ekiti, once considered relatively peaceful compared to other parts of the country, are now witnessing a disturbing rise in kidnappings, armed attacks, and killings.

In many rural communities and along major highways, residents now live in constant fear, as criminal gangs exploit forests and remote areas to carry out violent operations. The situation has heightened anxiety among farmers, travellers, and residents who increasingly feel unsafe in their own communities. Specifically, the region has seen a sharp rise in insecurity over the past two months, with 32 reported attacks across affected states.

In some communities, farmers have abandoned their farmlands, while travellers avoid certain roads for fear of falling victim to kidnappers. The violence has not spared community leaders and traditional institutions, as even traditional rulers have been targeted and murdered by armed attackers. Such incidents have further deepened the sense of insecurity across the region and raised serious concerns about the safety of lives and property.

Amid the growing crisis, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, Afenifere, has raised alarm over what it described as the increasing influx of terrorists and bandits into the South-West from the northern part of the country.

Few days ago, the group warned that the region is gradually coming under pressure as criminal groups move into forests and border communities to establish operational bases for kidnappings and violent attacks. According to the organisation, the rising incidents of abduction and attacks on communities indicate a dangerous escalation of insecurity in the region.

But state governors in the South west are still behaving as if nothing is amiss. They issue press statements after any major attack to condemn the act and it ends there. Their docility may end up endangering the lives of millions of Nigerians if they continue to slumber. Agreed that some of them met with former President Muhammadu Buhari before they could establish the regional security network, the Amotekun. The then President Buhari still went ahead to decline to issue licenses to State Governors to purchase sophisticated weapons for the outfit. Will Amotekun operatives, armed with only dane guns be expected to face terrorists with sophisticated weapons?

Even with President Bola Tinubu in power, State Governors in the South west have not met with the President to canvass for more fire power for the security outfit. While Tinubu may have his style of dealing with the security challenges facing the country, the Governors should, as a call to duty, ensure that high calibre arms and ammunitions are bought for the group.

If the State Police now being championed by President Tinubu eventually comes to fruition, security apparatus in the South western states would be strengthened, with Amotekun providing the much needed man power support, while the newly established forest guards would take care of the bushes, which is being gradually taken over by armed terrorists.

The worsening security situation in the region has also sparked public outrage in several communities, particularly in Ondo State, where residents have staged protests against the rising wave of kidnappings. In Akure-North Local Government Area, angry youths and community members recently blocked a major highway to protest repeated attacks and abductions in their area. The protesters expressed frustration over the continued threat posed by armed criminals and called on the authorities to take urgent steps to protect residents.

Ondo State is reeling from a wave of insecurity, with kidnapping, terror attacks, and killings leaving residents in fear. Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa has vowed to tackle the menace, announcing measures like night-time motorcycle ban. Security forces have arrested over 160 suspects, but concerns persist, as ransom payments continue to fuel the crisis.

Recent attacks have also led to the closure of schools, as anxious parents rush to withdraw their children from areas deemed unsafe. The impact on farming communities has been particularly severe, with many abandoning their lands for fear of being attacked or kidnapped.

Time for talk is over. What we desire is peace and the safety of all Nigerians where ever they may reside.

Gunmen also recently invaded the community near Akure Airport and fired gunshots, throwing the community into panic and leading to the hurried closure of schools in the area. The development led to anxious parents rushing to schools to withdraw their children, as rumours of insecurity spread quickly across the communities.

In Osun State, border communities, especially those around Osun/Kwara borders, are living in fear. The fallout of insecurity in Kwara State is responsible for the situation. Villages that were known to be peaceful are now being attacked by terrorists. For example, unknown gunmen invaded Ora-Igbomina community recently, kidnapping residents on two different occasions.

The gunmen, whose identities were unknown during the first attack in January, kidnapped a retired customs officer, Emmanuel Owolabi, in Ifedayo Local Government Area of the state. The kidnapped victim was released after three weeks and payment of ransom to his kidnappers. Another resident, a farmer, was not so lucky, as he was killed.

In February this year, the men of the underworld returned to the same Ora community, located on the Osun-Kwara boundary, and kidnapped two residents, Tayese Adeyeye, and Sunday Adewumi. In view of these happenings, the state government held several security meetings, where it was agreed that the border security should be strengthened.

Governor Ademola Adeleke, after a Security Council meeting, said that his administration would work with all security operatives to tighten security at border towns to curb the spreading insecurity in Kwara State from affecting Osun.

Rising cases of insecurity, particularly kidnapping, have become a growing concern across parts of Oyo State, with residents of several communities expressing fears over their safety.

Areas considered most vulnerable include Oke-Ogun, Ibarapa, and some parts of Ogbomoso. Suspected criminal elements have reportedly taken advantage of isolated routes and forested areas to carry out abductions.

Ogun State has also had its fair share of insecurity with reported cases of kidnapping and banditry in some local communities. In Lagos, many known kidnappers and bandits have been seen in the state, “cool off” after major operations in the North. Again, local criminal elements have also “cashed in” by staging several kidnappings-for-ransom, although many of them were caught.

The six South west Governors met early this year to collaborate on strategies to nip the crisis in the bud. They spoke about establishing a Joint Surveillance and Monitoring Team to coordinate security operations across the region, specifically to address kidnapping and activities of criminal groups. They also spoke on deploying advanced technology, including aerial surveillance systems (drones) to monitor forests, which serve as kidnappers’ hideouts, while plans are afoot to launch a live digital intelligence-sharing platform for real-time exchange of threat alerts.

To fund the initiatives, a South West Security Fund (SWSF) is to be set up, funded by the states, to ensure steady financial resources for security patrols, equipment, and training, overseen by Special Advisers on Security from all the six states. Amotekun is also to be empowered to intensify patrols along vulnerable routes and in forests. There is a renewed emphasis on deploying dedicated Forest Guards to reclaim areas used for kidnapper hideouts.

On the influx of large numbers of people into the region which could lead to criminal infiltration, the Governors said that they would be tightening border monitoring, and also collaborating with the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) for better identification. It is time for them to fast track the implementation of these plans for the safety of the region. Time for talk is over. What we desire is peace and the safety of all Nigerians where ever they may reside.

See you next week.

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The announcement was made in a statement issued by the spokesperson for the command, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi, on Sunday.

Ojelabi explained that the two officers of the NCS were arrested in connection with a shooting incident that occurred at Dada Estate Area, Osogbo, on Sunday.

“‎The suspects were reportedly chasing suspected tokunbo (foreign-used) vehicles when the incident occurred.

“Meanwhile, the driver of the said ash-coloured Toyota Corolla, one of the vehicles being chased by the Customs officers, was shot and confirmed dead by a medical doctor at the Osun State University Teaching Hospital,” he said.

The command’s spokesperson said that the corpse of the yet-to-be-identified victim had been deposited in a morgue.

Ojelabi said several items were recovered from the scene, including a Beretta pistol with breech number 125024, 11 rounds of 9mm live ammunition and one expanded 9mm shell.

Other items recovered were a white Toyota Corolla with Lagos registration number AAA 400 GQ, and an ash Toyota Corolla with registration number GFQ 0982.

He said that the Commissioner of Police, Ibrahim Gotan, had ordered a thorough investigation to ascertain the circumstances surrounding the incident.

‎He assured members of the public that anyone found culpable would face the full wrath of the law.

He urged residents to remain calm and continue to cooperate with security agencies by providing credible information that can aid the investigation.

Source: NAN

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The post Osun: Police arrest two Customs officers for allegedly killing driver appeared first on Frontpageng.

In 2012 or 2013, I had an experience similar to that of the journalist Alex Otti publicly put down. Mine was neither public nor withering. It did not trend. But it provoked outrage, of the personal kind.  It equally offered a revealing glimpse into how some political office holders view journalists and the work we do.

I was interviewing Rauf Aregbesola, who was persuaded that he was a once-in-an-age statesman, reformer and financial engineering maestro. His responses to questions about his policies, including the school mergers and the grand redesign, were generously sprinkled with the phrase “financial engineering.”

That phrase appeared as frequently as the cultural exclamation “fah,” for which Ilorin people are known. I did not believe he was financially engineering anything. He was talking tosh. Before long, the claim collapsed under reality when his government began paying “ilaji” (half) salaries, to civil servants. That is if it did not become “ilarin” (quarter) salaries because deductions were made before payment. Civil servants moaned and groaned.

But that was not what triggered the tension.

Toward the end of the interview, I raised a concern voiced by the opposition about his frequent foreign trips in search of investors. I asked, “The opposition has been very critical of your foreign trips in search of foreign investors. Can you, in specific terms, explain what these trips have brought to the state?”

I did not consider the question offensive. I assumed I was offering him an opportunity to justify the spending on those trips and silence his critics. He did not see it that way. He reacted as though I were an adversary. That was strange. TheNEWS had contributed to how he became governor and my Editor-in-Chief, Mr. Bayo Onanuga, was friends with him and had actually given me a personal message to deliver to him. In any case, to have been adversarial would have amounted to spitting at proprietorial interests.

Aregbesola went off like a grenade,  his wispy body shaking like a drilling machine. “You cannot judge me by their cynical standards,” he said. I have quoted him verbatim.

I was astonished. I explained that I was not judging him but giving him an opportunity to rebut the opposition’s claims. He became almost incoherent with rage. Over what? Most likely because the trips were mere junkets. They produced nothing. I kept trying to tease out a concrete answer. He refused. He told me to go and write whatever I wanted. The interview ended there.

Back in Lagos, I had someone transcribe the interview. On the day the edition carrying it was published, he saw it before my Editor-in-Chief did. That same day, both men met at the Bourdillon home of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. Aregbesola complained that I did not excise the portion where he said I could go and write whatever I wanted. He said it made him look bad.

He was not bad. He was awful. As events unfolded over time, he grew grotesque in public office.

When Mr. Onanuga returned to the office, he called me to say “Symbol,” the plainclothes clown’s nickname, had complained that I should have removed that portion. I replied that I had no such agreement with him and that even if he had requested it, I would not have honoured it. Oga told me to forget about him.

I did not forget. I hated him from that day. I do not pretend otherwise. He overrates himself. He likely imagines that he was present when the world was without form and void and darkness was upon the face of the deep. That is the kind of man he is.

On another occasion, I interviewed him at Bourdillon in the company of Adegbamigbe Ademola. Again, he was offensive, if not obnoxious. Even the placid Adegbamigbe fumed silently. His face showed it. Aregbesola appeared to think he was teaching English while answering a question about Opon Imo, that rubbish device on which government funds were wasted.

Every statement he made carried the word “angst,” and he assumed we were too dim to know it. Each time, he spelt it out for us: a n g s t. In the same interview, he pronounced “gadget,” in reference to Opon Imo, exactly as it is spelt. Gad get, not gajet. A linguistically incompetent chancer attempting to teach us English. It was an insult to Adegbamigbe, a graduate of English and Literary Studies and a highly competent user of the language. It was not an insult to me. I am an agbero by constitution. Aregbesola’s conduct was a performance of assumed superiority, not an intellectual one.

Back to Otti. His public insult of a journalist is troubling. It is not about hurt feelings. It is about temperament. The journalist’s question was harmless, even if wooly.  To respond by calling him stupid and irresponsible was to announce an imperial disposition. I doubt the governor would have been angry if the guy had adopted the sycophantic “Your Excellency, how have you been able to completely transform the state despite paucity of funds?”

Governors are not monarchs. They are elected officials sustained by public funds and deserve to be  scrutinised. When a governor treats a question as an affront and a journalist as a nuisance, he is not merely displaying irritation. He is advertising intolerance. Even if the journalist was from an opposition platform, as many are suggesting, Otti should have taken that up with his aides, who failed to comply with their boss’ preference for only sweetheart questions.

I do not want to guess what the experience of Otti’s personal staff and appointees is like. But one can infer.

If a governor can publicly belittle a journalist for asking a mild question, what happens behind closed doors? What is the atmosphere in the inner chambers? Power does not mutate in private into gentleness when it is abrasive in public. It is usually the other way round. Public rebuke is often the diluted version.

Personal staff in such environments learn quickly. They edit themselves before speaking. They preface statements with praise. They anticipate irritation and design their memos to avoid it. They become curators of mood rather than conveyors of truth. An appointee who knows that his principal has no patience for discomfort will either manufacture agreeable briefings or risk humiliation. Over time, competence retreats and compliance advances.

There is also the contagion effect. When the head demonstrates disdain for scrutiny, subordinates imitate it. Commissioners snap at civil servants. Special advisers bark at junior aides. The chain of command becomes a chain of intimidation.

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Both parties are throwing everything into their campaigns in an attempt to court the people. Since politics is a game of numbers, both are neck-deep in de-marketing and cancelling out each other to win the support of the people.

The battle front since Adeleke came to power in 2022, was in the control of the Local Government administration in the state. Both the APC and the PDP fought a bitter war that have left the third tier of government prostrate in the last three years.

However, in the last couple of weeks, the battle ground has shifted to an exercise that should never have been tainted with partisan politics. Few weeks after his assumption of office, Governor Adeleke felt that the wage bill of the state was on the high side. The amount of money that goes into the payment of salaries for public servants in the state as well as what is paid to pensioners monthly was mind boggling. He believed that the Gboyega Oyetola administration from which he took over deliberately created problems for him when he approved the employment of almost 10,000 fresh public servants, including 1,500 teachers few months to the expiration of his tenure.

Earlier in 2022, the Oyetola government had recruited 1,000 teachers, with his Commissioner for Information and Civic Orientation, Mrs. Funke Egbemode, saying that the new teachers would bridge the teacher/pupil ratio in the state.  However, the then incoming Adeleke government described the last-minute recruitment as a deliberate plot to expand the payroll and financially cripple his government.  Olawale Rasheed, the former Chairman, Media Sub-Committee of the Ademola Adeleke Transition Committee, condemned the recruitment, saying that it was an action disguised to complicate the state’s economy.

It was not only teachers that benefited from the last-minute recruitment by Oyetola’s administration. Employment into Ministries and Agencies such as O-YES, Ministry of Health, and several others were carried out between July, 2022, and November, when Oyetola formerly handed over the reins of government to Adeleke. As expected, one of the first decisions Adeleke took on assumption of office was to issue several Executive Orders, one of which was specifically to nullify all employment made by Oyetola after July 17, 2022. The Executive Order 3 affected all 1,500 teachers recruited in November, 2022, and several others.

The Adeleke government stated that more than 10,000 workers were illegally employed into the state public service and to rectify the situation, another Executive Order (2) was proclaimed by the Governor for an audit of the state’s workforce. Adeleke, in June, 2023, began the audit of the state’s workforce, where his Deputy and the Speaker of the House of Assembly had their biometric captured at the Governor’s office. After the exercise, he met with labour leaders in the state, assuring them that the exercise was not a witch-hunt, but to strengthen the capacity of the state government to satisfy the needs of the workers, members of the public, and the state leadership. ‘’The audit is to achieve several goals namely: cleaning up the payroll system, validating the actual number of the state’s workforce, and establishing areas of vacancies across various sectors of the public service’’, he told the labour leaders.

An internal audit had revealed that over 1000 ghost workers were on the payroll. Not satisfied with the report, the Adeleke administration hired a consultant to carry out a forensic audit.  Sally Tibbot Consulting was engaged by the State in May, 2023, to conduct a comprehensive verification and forensic audit of all workers and pensioners drawing salaries from the state. The exercise lasted 12 months, including six months of physical verification across ministries, departments, agencies, local governments, and state-owned institutions. Verification schedules were widely publicised and workers were given sufficient time to appear. At the end of the exercise, the firm said it identified 8,448 workers, while 6,713 pensioners failed to appear for verification and were classified as ghost beneficiaries. It said these names were linked to monthly payments of about N1.14 billion, and an annual loss of N13.7 billion.

The firm submitted its report to Adeleke on July 10, 2024, with the Governor vowing to pursue the public service reform to a logical conclusion. At a ceremony held at the Government House, the lead consultant, Mrs. Saadat Bakrin Ottun, said the staff audit was concluded after due diligence and critical analysis of the data gathered during the auditing exercise. She submitted both the soft and hard copies of the report to the State government, adding that best practices were applied to prepare the report, which contained actionable recommendations for further action by the state government.

Adeleke immediately set up an Action Committee chaired by his Chief of Staff, Kazeem Akinleye, to review and act on the recommendations. The terms of reference of the Committee were to: study the report and assess the recommendations; consider the implications of the recommendations on the public service; take action to implement the recommendations; interface with stakeholders to ensure effective implementation, and consider all other issues related to the subject.

It was at this stage that the smooth working relationship between the state government and the consultant ended, and the waiting game started. Nothing further was heard from the state government on the payment of its 15 per cent commission as well as the installation of the new automated payroll administration system which the consulting firm had developed for the state. Although the state government paid N79 million for the development of the system, it refused to install it after its completion. “After the building of the platform, which was duly and fully paid for, the Osun State Government was notified of readiness for installation and deployment, but the all-powerful Chief-of-Staff to the Governor rejected the APAS and the installation of same without giving any reason. The ostensible reason is the desire by the payroll-fraud cabal to continue with the perpetration of the fraud,” the consulting firm told the media.

Soon enough, both parties went public with the sordid details of the payroll fraud which provided an opportunity for the opposition party, APC, to explore the divide-and-rule politics with the staff audit fiasco. The State Government rejected the “high number of ghost workers’’ discovered by the consulting firm, describing it as a ploy to earn more revenue from the whole exercise, and further alleged that the firm declared the State Governor, the Deputy governor, the Secretary to the State Government, more than two-thirds of political appointees, and a large number of staff of the Osun State University, including most of its principal officers, as ghost workers. The Osun State Government also accused the audit firm of deliberately inflating the number of ghost workers because its payment was tied to the amount of savings generated from the exercise. Official workers alleged that the consultancy firm’s fee arrangement created an incentive to exaggerate figures in order to earn higher remuneration. According to the government, the unusually high number of ghost workers claimed by the firm raised red flags and made it necessary to review the audit report before any implementation. It said it could not accept or act on findings that, in its view, had the potential to further defraud and adding that was the reasons why the state government refused to implement the recommendations of the consulting firm. It later embarked on another re-validation exercise and came up with a new figure that only 1,316 personnel could not be confirmed.

But the consulting firm rejected the government’s revised figures, saying that the state lacked the technical capacity to independently conduct a proper forensic audit, which was why it engaged the consultancy in the first place. The consultant also said the audit uncovered cases where multiple salaries were paid into single bank accounts, and instances where several workers were linked to one bank verification number. It said these findings were clearly documented in the report submitted to the government.

And so it was, that an exercise that was meant to help the state clean up its payroll system became a smear campaign due to partisan politics. The consulting firm has also released to the media, a video recording of its report presentation being made to Dr. Deji Adeleke instead of the Governor and senior government officials. In essence, the firm is alluding to the view in some quarters that it is Dr. Adeleke that is effectively governing the state due, perhaps, to the low capacity of the State Governor to grasp complex matters.

The APC, having smelled blood, is going for the jugular of the state government. With the governorship election already six months away, the party is calling on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) as well as the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) to take a cursory look as the Osun Staff payroll for alleged fraud. The party has also called on Adeleke to resign. Adeleke, on his part, has formally written both organizations to investigate and authenticate if there is any padded payroll fraud in the state. Government officials in Osun State are now of the view that the Consulting firm is being sponsored by the APC.

As the August 15 gubernatorial election approaches, it is certain that both parties will throw more darts at each other in a bid to get voters to their side. What is also certain is that the state government needs to come clean on the number of staff on its payroll. The issue of ghost workers is not new in Nigeria, as most government establishments across the country are saddled with the fraudulent practice. Even at the federal level, where the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Information System (IPPIS) is the automated paying system of all federal government establishments, payroll fraud is still very much rampant within it. What both the federal and the Osun State government should do is to ensure that the number of ghost workers in its system is eradicated so that its negative impacts on the economy would be brought to a minimal extent.

See you next week.

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The development was disclosed in a statement issued on Friday in Osogbo by the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Abiodun Ojelabi.

Ojelabi said the suspects, on February 18, inscribed the words “BANDIT TODAY TODAY” on a resident’s wall in the Ajegunle area of Ila-Orangun.

He said the inscription triggered panic, prompting some residents to flee amid fears of an imminent banditry attack.

“Immediately the report was received, operatives of the State Intelligence Department swung into action.

“Through diligent intelligence analysis, the suspects, based in the Ila-Orangun axis, were arrested,” Ojelabi said.

He said preliminary investigations revealed that one of the suspects admitted writing the words on the wall.

“He confessed to committing the act and claimed he acted out of ignorance,” Ojelabi said.

According to him, the alleged offences border on conspiracy and conduct likely to cause a breach of the peace.

Ojelabi urged residents to shun acts capable of causing panic and advised them to go about their lawful activities.

He added that the police remained focused on sustaining the peace for which Osun had long been known.

Source: NAN

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