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THE NATION WEDNESDAY, MARCH 13, 2013
NEWS
Ladoja: Alao-Akala has apologised to me
Retrenchment at Ondo Varsity not political, says VC
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•Ex-governor advocates e-voting in 2015
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ORMER Oyo State Governor Rashidi Ladoja has said his deputy and successor, Otunba Adebayo Alao-Akala, has apologised to him for his “misdeeds”. He spoke during an exclusive interview with The Nation. Alao-Akala, who was his deputy from 2003 to 2007, succeeded him in 2006 after Ladoja was illegally impeached. AlaoAkala was elected governor in 2007. The impeachment pitched the two politicians against each other. They contested the 2011 governorship election on different platforms and lost. Ladoja told The Nation that Alao-Akala apologised to him and he has forgiven him. He said: “My relationship with Alao-Akala is very good.
From Bisi Oladele and Oseheye Okwuofu, Ibadan
He is my younger brother. My life in politics does not have anything to do with my personal relationship with other people. I can be your friend and we will not be in the same party. “I have forgotten about what Alao-Akala did to me because that is gone for good. He has asked for forgiveness and I have forgiven him. If I do not forgive easily, would I have allowed former President Olusegun Obasanjo to come to my house? “It is unfortunate that Baba Lamidi Adedibu did not ask for my forgiveness before he died. All the same, everybody that participated in my impeachment, including my brother, Bolaji Ayorinde, has
been forgiven. Ayorinde was in my house some days ago. He has been forgiven.” Ladoja said though he is no longer a member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), he enjoys a cordial relationship with Alao-Akala and members of other parties. He said a true leader forgives easily because one’s worst enemy today may become one’s best friend tomorrow. The Accord leader denied having any disagreement with Ibadan elders, saying: “I have no problem with the elders. I have a good relationship with them.” At a political summit in Ibadan yesterday, Ladoja advocated one-day e-voting for the 2015 general elections. He hailed the Prof. Attahiru
•Ladoja
Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the “good organisation” of the 2011 poll and stressed that Nigeria is ripe for e-voting. Ladoja suggested that all the elections should be conducted in one day via e-voting, noting that since INEC can conduct election for two positions in one day, it would not be difficult to conduct it for five positions. He said it would be costeffective and ensure easy collation of election results. Ladoja said colours should be used to differentiate the elective positions and advocated the enlightenment of the electorate.
HE Vice-Chancellor of the Adekunle Ajasin University (AAU), Akungba-Akoko in Ondo State, Prof. Femi Mimiko, yesterday said the recent sack of some lecturers and non-academic workers in the institution was not political. He said there was need to reorganise the university to meet the required standard, adding that the institution is not a social service centre. The VC said the reorganisation would be a continuous exercise to meet the standard set by the founding fathers. He spoke with reporters in Akure, the state capital, on the institution’s fourth convocation, slated for March 22. The VC said: “We do not want our university to fail. We are doing everything possible to turn AAU into the university of first choice
Police probe assault on Ondo NURTW official
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HE leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Ondo State has been summoned by the police following the attack on the union’s Deputy Chairman, Mr. Omobomi Ajisafe. Ajisafe was assaulted last weekend by hoodlums suspected to be sponsored by a
From Damisi Ojo, Akure
top official of the union. Police spokesman Wole Ogodo said the invitation became imperative to get to the root of the matter. He said the command would not tolerate any act of lawlessness. Ogodo said: “We have invited different factions in the
union to the command to guard against a repeat of such attack on members of the union.” The embattled NURTW Chairman, Mr. Oladutele Obayoriade, said the union is not factionalised as is being speculated. Obayoriade said the union remains an indivisible enti-
ty made up of law-abiding individuals. He said he had nothing to do with the attack on his deputy. However, Ajisafe insisted that Obayoriade was responsible for the attack. He alleged that Obayoriade instructed “his boys” to beat him up at a beer par-
lour beside the union’s state secretariat. Ajisafe said: “The chairman was just trying to be mischievous by denying what he personally supervised. He cooked up a story that I came to the secretariat with members of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) but it is a lie.”
From Damisi Ojo, Akure
in the country.” Indigenes and groups have condemned the sack of the institution’s workers. Many hinged the development on political factor and the protracted strike by the workers over the non-payment of their entitlements. Activist lawyer Morakinyo Ogele threatened to sue the university’s management, if it failed to recall the workers. The convocation ceremony is for the 2009/2010 and 2010/2011 sets. Mimiko said of the 4,874 graduating students, 10 made First Class; 843, Second Class (Upper Division); 3,294, Second Class (Lower Division); 693, Third Class and 34, Pass. Three eminent Nigerians - the retired Anglican Bishop of Akure Diocese, Rev. Bolanle Gbonigi; a Professor of History at the University of Texas, Austin,US, Toyin Falola and Maj.Gen.Olufemi Olutoye (rtd.) are to be conferred with honorary doctorate degrees. Other highlights of the occasion are sporting events; a play titled: Aikin mata; Parents’ Forum; the inauguration of five infrastructural projects and a convocation lecture to be delivered in Yoruba Language by Prof. Akinwumi Isola.