Governor Makinde, who announced this in a statewide broadcast aired on the Broadcasting Corporation of Oyo State, BCOS, on Friday night, said that the state government was ready to do whatever it could to alleviate the suffering of the masses.

The governor, who frowned at the resort to violent protests by some residents of Ibadan earlier on Friday, said that while citizens were free to express their feelings peacefully, government would not condone any resort to violence.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor also put all the security agencies operating in the state on high alert to avert any breakdown of law and order.

The statement also quoted the governor as urging the people to ensure they used their Permanent Voters Cards to usher in a responsible government in the forthcoming general election, adding that resort to violence would only breed other problems.

According to him, the Omituntun Mass Transit Buses would be deployed to more routes within the state for free, in order to ameliorate the suffering of the people.

The governor also said that the state was also working with chairmen of local governments to provide   immediate palliatives  for the vulnerable people in order  to alleviate the hardships that the twin scarcity of naira and fuel had brought upon them.

He urged all law-abiding citizens and residents of the state to go about their lawful activities peacefully.

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The governor, who stated this during the 2023 Inter-faith Service, held at the Governor’s Office, Secretariat, Ibadan, said that he had remained faithful to his promise to uphold workers’ welfare.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to the governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor also ordered the immediate payment of two months salary deductions to the workers.

Makinde, who said that he had also ensured that no worker had been unjustly dismissed from work, added that his administration was built on fairness, equity and justice.

According to him, his administration had employed a good number of health workers as well as 5,000 teachers, adding that he would continue to prioritise the welfare of the workers in the state.

The governor, while speaking on the salary structure of Oyo State House of Assembly workers, said that his administration would find means of paying the Consolidated Legislative Salary Structure, CONLESS, within the resources available to the state.

READ ALSO: Parents lament increase in school fees in Ibadan

In their separate preachings, Islamic cleric, Alhaji Bello Rufai and Bishop Ademola Moradeyo, appreciated the governor for fulfilling his electoral promises to workers, adding that the governor had been embarking  on policies that would bring succour to the civil servants and people of the state in general.

Earlier, the Oyo State Head of Service,  Alhaja Amidat Agboola, pledged the continued support of the civil servants to the government and called for dedication from the workers.

Alhaja Agboola commended the entire Civil/Public Servants of Oyo State for their cooperation with the present administration since inception.

She hinted that despite the challenging experience of dwindling resources, Civil/Public Servants could proudly say that they had a better and stable life in the service of Oyo State.

Agboola also thanked Governor Makinde for the approval given in respect of the 2021 promotion exercises across board, which she said would be based on merit.

The Head of Service mentioned some key milestones of the Governor Makinde’s tenure to include  capacity building, approval of the renovation of the Simeon Adebo Staff Development Centre, structured training on ICT usage in the service, leadership enhancement and development programme organised for Accounting Officers, TESCOM training programme where over 20,000 teachers were trained.

Other milestones include the review of Performance Management System, Review of the Public Service Rules and Regulations as well as payment of 13th month salaries for four consecutive years; prompt payment of pensions to senior citizens on or before the 25th of every month; review of  cases of wrongful dismissal and retirement of Officers between 2011 & 2019; upward review of both car and housing loans to the tune of N750, 000.00 and N3, 000,000.00 respectively

She also mentioned the Merit Award Day Celebration aimed at motivating and rewarding Civil/Public Servants, which has been held for three consecutive years as one of Makinde’s achievements.

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The governor, during the handing over ceremony held at the Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, expressed happiness that the Corps had totally changed the security landscape of the state.

A statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Governor, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that Governor Makinde equally reiterated that his administration would continue to give zero tolerance to crimes, adding that adequate support would be given to all security outfits in the state.

The governor equally used the opportunity to announce that apart from the 1,500 personnel currently engaged by the outfit, more 500 persons would be recruited to further strengthen its capacity in the state.

Makinde said: “Today, we are here strengthening the Amotekun Corps. We will continue to listen to you. We will continue to fulfill the promises we made to you before you gave us the mandate. Let me also repeat that if you see something, say something and it will be sorted by Amotekun.

“To criminals and criminally-minded individuals, I was told that they usually import criminal elements into Oyo State. Well, we have the security vehicles but that is not the only thing we are doing. We are recruiting more Amotekun personnel and would be upgrading their communication structure. We are also equipping them so that they can respond to you adequately.

“So, my advice is, when you come to Oyo State with the intention to carry out any criminal activity, there is nowhere to hide. We will get you, deal with you and it will be your last operation.

“So, please, stay off Oyo State.”

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The Commissioner for Public Works, Infrastructure and Transport, Prof. Daud Sangodoyin, who made this announcement, while briefing journalists after the executive council meeting held at the Oyo State Secretariat, Agodi, Ibadan, said that the construction, which would be completed through direct funding would be completed in six months.

A statement by Mr. Taiwo Adisa, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor ‘Seyi Makinde,  indicated that the roads were awarded to assist the economic expansion agenda of the state, adding that they would impact on the ease of doing business as well as movement of goods, services and people around that axis.

The statement maintained that the scope of the project was about 10.8 kilometres, with a service link by the Iwo Road Bus Terminal, a 3.2 kilometre stretch of Ibadan Airport Road, a 194.5-metre access road in that axis and the 2.0 kilometres Oludare-Bishop Philips Road all included in the approval.

Also included is an extension of the road connecting the Iwo Road Interchange to Adegbayi Road by 400 metres.

The commissioner said: “This afternoon, we approved the awards of the dualisation of Ibadan Airport Road, which is 3.2km and the adjoining access road around that axis, which is about 194.5 metres including the road from Oludare to Bishop Philips, which is 2.0km.

“These roads will actually assist in the expansion of our economy and ease of doing business as well as movement of goods, services and people around that end.

“Before now, the Federal Government had awarded the Ibadan-Ife-Ilesha road to Messrs KOPEk. So, we used the opportunity to also award the same dualisation of Ibadan Airport Road to the same construction company at the value of N4.9 billion.

“In totality, the work scope for this is about 10.8 kilometres including the service link, which is by the Iwo Road bus terminal.

“Also, there will be an extension of the Ibadan Iwo Road interchange to Adegbayi road by 400 metres left and right of the 7.3 metres carriageway.

“So, this means that apart from the 10.3 metres for the standard federal road going from Iwo Road interchange, we will, also, at that end, where we have the bus terminals, have an extension of 400 metres to Ife with a scope of 7.3 metres. So, it is going to be a wide place for our vehicular movement.

“The duration of the project is six months and the funding is direct payment.

“Remember that we have had the opportunity to get a loan of N50 billion from the Central Bank of Nigeria. We are using part of that to upgrade the Airport and all other adjoining roads.”

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A statement issued on Wednesday in Ibadan by Mr Taiwo Adisa, the Chief Press Secretary to Gov. Seyi Makinde, said the discovery was made by the consultants engaged to verify its workforce.

According to the statement, the Implementation Committee of the Oyo State 2019/2020 Civil/Public Servants Audit and Payroll Re-engineering/Validation Exercise confirmed the ghost workers.

The consultants also indicted 602 officers and recommended them for removal from the payrolls but the Implementation Committee affirmed 41 ghost workers.

“The consultants cleared 40 others of any infraction; uncovered 10 deaths, 170 systematic retirements and affirmed the option of voluntary retirement by 341 others, with irregular records of service.”

The statement said that, “the Implementation Committee had examined the report submitted by the consultants and also interacted with the affected officers before finalising the implementation model.

“Messrs Sally Tilbot Consulting was in 2019 engaged by the Oyo State Government to undertake employees and pensioners’ verification/validation and payroll re-engineering tagged “2019/2020 Staff Audit.

“Following a series of reconciliations, the report of the consultants was received by the government on April 30 after which an Implementation Committee was put in place to fashion out the final implementation model.

“The committee recommended that an administrative investigation be undertaken by the government to determine where the salaries of the “No Show” officers had been going, the report said.”

The statement added that of the 341, who opted for voluntary retirement, 290 officers had turned in their voluntary retirement letters.

The Implementation Committee, however, recommended that the government should accept the retirement of the 341 officers following the discovery of irregular records of service in their files.

The affected officers, the committee recommended, were to be helped to port into the pension payroll not later than two months after their respective notices of retirement.

Source: NAN

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Mr Taiwo Adisa, the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde said in a statement on Saturday in Ibadan, that that was contrary to the widely circulated report that unknown gunmen had, again, attacked the areas.

Adisa said that the revelation was made known by Ibarapa Community leaders during a fact-finding meeting between a team of the state government and political/traditional leaders of the affected communities on Saturday.

According to him, the state government team was led by Mr Sunday Odukoya, the Executive Assistant on Security Matters to the governor.

“The political and traditional leaders of Ibarapa extraction at the meeting, described the Friday raid on Igangan, Igbo-Ora and other communities in the area by men of the NCS, as unnecessary and not well-thought-out.

“They called on the leadership of Custom Service to regulate operations of its personnel.

“It will be better if the authorities restrict them to border towns to end unwarranted attacks on innocent communities,” Adisa said.

The governor’s media aide said that Odukoya, who led the state government team to the meeting, had called for vigilance and calm among the people.

He said that police in the areas had confirmed the death of one Amotekun operative and two other persons, following the said raid.

The team, accompanied by the traditional rulers and community leaders, visited the scenes of the incident at Igangan, Ayete, Tapa, and Igbo-Ora.

The leaders, included the Olu of Igbo-Ora, Oba Jimoh Titiloye and the Chairman of Ibarapa North Local Government, Mr Adeoye Adedoyin.

Source: NAN

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The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governor said rather, the APC was only trying to lure him, having be impressed by the success recorded within the short period he took over the rein of power in the state.

The governor’s position was expressed by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, in a statement he issued.

The statement reads: “One is not surprised that some elements in the APC are busy debating the possibility of Governor Makinde’s defection to the party.

“The unprecedented achievements the governor has recorded in a very short time, especially despite the COVID-19 pandemic, has thoroughly beaten their imagination such that they have concluded it is impossible to raise a candidate to contest against him in 2023.

“As a close watcher of the GSM magic, so to say, one cannot be surprised that the APC in Oyo State is really envious of the great attainments of Governor Makinde.

“Every sector you turn to, he has something positive to show.

“Only last week, he launched the first modern landfill in the country. He is presently constructing the first concrete road in the state, the 12-kilometre Apete-Awotan-Akufo road. This is in addition to the massive road and infrastructure projects that dot the entire Oyo State landscape.

“However, rather than claim that Makinde wants to defect to the APC, the truth the APC elements should tell the world is that their party is attempting to lure the performing governor  in order to avert a woeful performance against him in 2023.

“Contrary to the claims of the APC members that the governor has been soft against criticisms by its members,  Governor Makinde has not bothered to respond to their baseless criticisms in recent times but has chosen to remain focused on service delivery.

“We also completely reject the claims that his desire to join the APC informed the “soft approach” to the farmers/herders’ crisis.

“Rather, the governor has remained on the side of the law and has always insisted that criminals, whichever tribe they belong, are our enemies and they must be fished out without undue ethnic profiling.

“So, the best thing the APC could come up with right now is to imagine a Makinde as a standard-bearer so he could serve as a surreptitious redemption for the years of locust the party had inflicted on the people of Oyo State.”

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A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Seyi Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the governor gave the order to forestall breakdown of law and order in the area.

Also, curfew has been imposed on Shasha and the market area.

The curfew is to run from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The statement warned residents of the affected area to go about their legitimate businesses peacefully, stating that anyone caught perpetrating violence would face the wrath of the law.

The statement reads: “His Excellency, Governor Seyi Makinde has directed the immediate closure of Shasha market indefinitely following reports of a breach of peace in the area.

“The governor has also approved the imposition of curfew on Shasha. It will run from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m.

“Residents of the affected area are enjoined to go about their legitimate businesses within the hours stipulated by the law.

“Anyone caught disrupting the peace of the community will be made to face the wrath of the law.”

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The governor performed the foundation laying ceremony at Oba Akinyele Street, Bodija Estate, Ibadan.

He said that one of the benefits of the project was that there would be an upsurge in the internally generated revenue of the state on land premium through statutory charges and improved taxes.

A statement by Mr. Taiwo Adisa, Chief Press Secretary to the governor, indicated that Governor Makinde, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government, Mrs. Olubamiwo Adeosun, stated that the project is situated on premium land spanning 12,209.45 square metres.

According to him: “Bodija Premium Estate was birthed when Project Scope Limited bid competitively for this state-owned moribund asset as advertised by the Oyo State Investment and Public Private Partnership Agency (OYSIPA).

“This is yet again, one of the clear evidences of a transparent political will backed by this administration to encourage and attract investments into Oyo State. This investment is valued at N1.5 Billion.”

He explained that the Bodija Premium Estate would comprise 45 housing units consisting of six (6) units of 2-bedroom flats in 4 blocks; twelve (12) units of 3-bedroom flats in 4 blocks; fifteen (15) units of 3-bedroom terraced houses; and twelve (12) units of 4-bedroom semi-detached duplexes.

Other features of the estate are to include Club House, Gym, Swimming Pool and Children’s play area, quality infrastructure drains, roads, security house/access control and alternative power supply, water, sanitation and waste disposal systems.

Earlier, the chairman, Housing Corporation of Oyo State, Barr. Bayo Lawal, hinted that when the project was fully developed in 18 months, it would be another day for the state to celebrate.

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This is as former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola, has been chosen to chair PDP reconciliation committee in the South West.

The leaders of the party also stated that the zone remained strategic to the PDP if it must win election at the national level.

The leaders, including the Oyo State governor, Engineer Seyi Makinde, former governors of Osun and Ekiti states, Oyinlola and Engr. Segun Oni, as well as members of the Board of Trustees of the party, and party chairmen from the states, among others, called on the national leadership of the party to bring all aggrieved factions in the party together.

A statement by the Chief Press Secretary to Governor Makinde, Mr. Taiwo Adisa, indicated that the party leaders met at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, on Thursday and released a communique endorsed by the Acting National Vice Chairman, South-West, Dayo Ogungbenro.

In the communique, the South-West PDP leaders appointed a five-man reconciliation committee headed by Oyinlola, which was charged with the responsibility to unite all factions in the geopolitical zone.

Other members of the committee, the statement noted, include: Chief Saka Balogun, Chief (Mrs.) Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Ambassador Omolade Oluwateru and Barr. Olayinka Kukoyi.

The statement further stated that the meeting also resolved that zonal executive positions of the party should be zoned to all states of the South-West, adding that it had become imperative for the party to unite ahead future elections across the zone.

The communique reads: “We the leaders of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the South-West geopolitical zone held a meeting at the Government House, Agodi, Ibadan, today, November 12, 2020.

“The meeting, which was presided over by the Governor of Oyo State, His Excellency, Engr. Seyi Makinde, FNSE, discussed the need for unity and cohesion in the Party in our geopolitical zone and across the country and the need to exercise caution on the proposed move to clampdown on social media by the All Progressives Congress (APC-led) Federal Government.

“After a careful appraisal of the political developments in the South-West, the urgent need to unite the PDP in the geopolitical zone and to ensure that all aggrieved members come together to build a great Party, we do hereby resolve as follow:

“That a 5-man Committee be set up to reconcile all aggrieved and warring factions in the South-West PDP in order to bring about peace and unity in the Party.

“The Committee is to be chaired by former Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola, with Chief Saka Balogun, Chief (Mrs.) Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, Ambassador Omolade Oluwateru and Barr. Olayinka Kukoyi as members.

“That the 10 Zonal Executive Posts be zoned to all states of the South-West as follow: Zonal Chairman (Oyo State), Zonal Secretary (Lagos State), Zonal Publicity Secretary (Ekiti State), Zonal Organising Secretary (Ondo State), Zonal Financial Secretary (Osun State), Zonal Youth Leader (Osun State), Zonal Legal Officer (Ogun State), Zonal Treasurer (Ogun State), Zonal Women Leader (Oyo State) and Zonal Auditor (Lagos State).

“The meeting also resolved that, in the spirit of fairness and equity, additional slots of ex-officio members be given to Ekiti and Ondo states in view of the fact that they would occupy only one office each in the zone.”

The PDP leaders also used the occasion to call on the Federal Government and the National Assembly not to go-ahead with the proposed clampdown on social media, saying the move will infringe on Nigerians’ freedom of expression.

They called on the Federal Government to strengthen existing laws to prevent the abuse of the freedom of expression.

In his remarks, Governor Makinde maintained that the meeting was convened to address the challenges facing the party in the South-West.

He said: “PDP South-West is the only place where if PDP wants to win nationally, it must get right. Once they fail to get the South-West right, they should forget the presidency.

“So, for us, we have to try to pull together and get things right. My observation is, in the past, some arrogated power to determine the fate of PDP in the South-West to a few individuals. And I am saying loud and clear here that being the only PDP governor in the South-West today, I don’t have such power.”

Earlier, the acting zonal chairman of the South-West PDP, Ogungbenro said it was high time the party reclaimed the Presidency, saying it had become important to unite all members of the party.

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