10—Vanguard, MONDAY, APRIL 1, 2013
PDP cautions Aregbesola over ‘State of Osun'
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SUN State chapter of People Democratic Party, PDP, has cautioned Governor Rauf Aregbesola against the use of “State of Osun“ instead of Osun State, and advised corporate bodies, banks and individuals not to transact business with the current administration under the name “State of Osun.” The party was reacting to a recent judgment by a Lagos High Court sitting in Igbosere, which dismissed a charge against a 20-yearold man, David Monday, by The State of Lagos (prosecution), over what it described as non-existence of the prosecution owing to the name which ought to be Lagos State. Chairman of PDP in Osun State, Alhaji Ganiyu OlaOluwa in a statement by the Director of Media and Strategy for Osun PDP, Prince Diran Odeyemi, advised Aregbesola to drop the name “State of Osun” and stick to the constitutionally-recognised Osun State. According to the PDP statement, “we are aware of the pronouncement of Justice Ebenezer Adebajo in which he declared that Section 3 of the Constitution is headed States of the Federation."
... as Oke lauds S/Court judgment
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EOPLE Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in the October 20, 2012 election in Ondo State, Chief Olusola Oke, has hailed the judgment of the Federal Court of Appeal, sitting in Akure, which quashed the ruling of Ondo State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal. He described it as another signal that Nigerian judiciary has men of impeccable character, who are determined to ensure that justice is done at all times. Oke, in a statement by his Special Adviser, Media and Publicity, said the justices of the Federal Court of Appeal had shown that the judiciary was capable of regulating itself thereby saving the common man from arbitrary justice.
Alakenne stool: Court strikes out Ogun govt's application BY DAUD OLATUNJI
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BEOKUTA—MOVES by Ogun State government to dethrone the Alakenne of Ikenne, Oba Adeyinka Onakade, has suffered a setback as the State High Court sitting in Sagamu, has struck out an application by the government listing of the stool as vacant.
The equally court ruled that it has the jurisdiction to hear the suit against the state government by the Ikenne monarch, challenging the government’s action in listing his stool as vacant. Onakade, who was made the Oba in May 2011 at the twilight of the last administration, has dragged the state government to court for
declaring his stool vacant, urging the court to declare the state government's action null and void. He had prayed the court to, among other things, set aside the listing of his stool as vacant and an order seeking the non-usage of the listing of the Alakanne stool as vacant. Reacting to the suit filed by
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Opposition stage-managed guard's murder — Oyo ACN Suspecting that the murder which was obviously targeted BY OLA AJAYI
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BADAN—FOLLOWING last week’s murder of the night guard of a former Secretary to Oyo State Government, Mr. Ayodele Adigun, Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, in the state has alleged that the murder may have been stage-managed by opponents, who wanted to give a false impression that politics of violence has returned to the state.
may have been carried out to attract attention and win the sympathy of residents in the state ahead of 2015 elections, the party called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Abubakar Mohammed, to investigate and unearth the mystery surrounding the murder. Speaking through its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Dauda Kolawole, the party said: “Oyo State people are too civilised to be hoodwinked by this queer, seemingly stage-managed murder
at showing that we have returned to the old days under PDP and its turn-coat administrators. “Our people have discovered that the Ajimobi government’s peaceful reign is borne out of tolerance for the other person and nonaligned administration of justice. Is it not curious that the first statement made by a major dramatis personae of the murder was that Oyo had returned to the Hobbesian state of nature where life was nasty, brutish and short?”
the Oba, the defendants, who are Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and the Attorney-General of the State, had filed an application seeking an order of the court for the dismissal of the suit on the ground that it had become “statute barred.” They also argued that they were covered under the Public Officers Protection Act to take the action regarding the listing of the Alakenne stool as vacant. In her ruling on Friday, the Presiding Judge, Justice E. O. Osinuga, dismissed the application by the state government on the ground that the defendant/applicants were not recognised as public officers. She said that the defendants were not covered by Section 318 (1) of the 1999 Constitution and the Public Officers Protection Law, Volume 4 Laws of Ogun State. Justice Osinuga subsequently ruled that their action in listing the stool of the Alakenne of Ikenne as vacant could, therefore, be challenged in court by the claimant/respondent. The judge said: “There is no doubt that from the constitutional provision, the governor of a state is not a public officer. The first and second defendants from the provisions of Section 318 (1) are also not public officers. “Accordingly, even if they were acting in their capacity as Commissioner for Local Government and AttorneyGeneral under the instruction of their master, that is the state governor, the first and second defendants do not qualify as public officers as provided by Section 318 (1) of the constitution and as such cannot enjoy the protection under the Public Officers Protection Act herein.” The presiding judge gave the defendant/applicants 21 days to file their defence and adjourned till April 18.
Call for strike splits NLC, TUC in Osun BYGBENGA OLARINOYE
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SOGBO—FOUR affili ates of Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC, and Trade Union Congress of Nigeria, TUC, in Osun State, have dissociated themselves from the strike called by the state chapter of NLC and TUC, describing the leaders of the two organisations as incompetent to call the strike.
Among the unions that are against the strike are the Nigeria Union of Local Government Employees, NULGE; Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria, ASCSN, and Medical and Health Workers Union of Nigeria, M&HWUN. It would be recalled that the state chapter of NLC and TUC had directed public workers in the state to embark on a four-day warning
strike to press home their demand for full implementation of the new minimum wage. However, at a briefing in Osogbo, yesterday, Akinyemi Olatunji, State chairman of ASCSN gave a counter directive, directing “all members of the association to ignore the call to strike by the NLC and TUC.” He claimed the chairman of Joint Negotiating Council,
JNC, Mr. Bayo Adejumo, who chaired the meeting where the strike order was given, was not competent enough to preside over such meeting as he had retired from the service of the Federal Government. He said Adejumo lacked the competence to preside over any legitimate meeting of Osun workers as he retired as an employee of the Federal Government.