Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has said that the administration was on the right path in improving Nigerias business environment and diversifying the economy.

Osinbajo made the submission in an interview with the Financial Timess, where he also said that the federal governments investment in infrastructure would improve local manufacturing capacity, according to a script of the interview released by Mr. Laolu Akande, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity.

Osinbajo said that there had been a lot of damage to the environment in terms of business and others, but effecting the correction would take a while.

He said that the administration is barely three years old, but is focused on doing the right thing.

The moment you have the right people and you put the right structures in place, you can do a lot, and I think we have been blessed with an incredibly good team.

We wanted us to be much farther ahead in terms of manufacturing. But a lot of these things are also infrastructure constraints that cannot be developed overnight, which explains why we are investing heavily in infrastructure.

We focus a great deal on diversifying; agriculture, manufacturing; weve focused on trying to diversify as much as possible, and we think that that is the path to go. There is no other way of doing this.

And if you look at the figures, there has been tremendous improvement, even export of raw materials, agriculture produce, even manufacturing has improved. I think that we are on the right path. I am convinced that we are going to stay the course.

Akande reproduced the interview conducted by Mr David Pilling, the Africa Editor of Financial Times on Thursday, May 31 at Eko Hotels and Suites.

Below is the transcript

: First, the nature of the crisis, of course, even beyond low oil prices, we were also experiencing considerably reduced oil production. At some point, we were producing less than a million barrels of oil per day, that being the major source of revenue at the time. But I think that what we did during that period was also very important in bringing the strong outcome that we are seeing today.

In terms of corruption, I think that we were able to deal with grand corruption. By that, I mean the sort of corruption where you found huge sums of money missing from the treasury and all of that. And because we were able to control grand corruption, we were able to do more with far less. So, for example, we invested N1.3 trillion in 2016 on capital for the very first time in almost 10 years of the countrys economic history.

So, if we were able to invest more when oil prices at some point, were $50 or $60, than when oil prices were at $110, $114; especially on infrastructure and capital; Im sure anyone could say that there is something wrong with that. I think we managed to do far more with less.

: If you look at the different sectors, lets take agriculture, for example, we have recorded very significant growth in agriculture. We are looking to gain at least 3.6 per cent growth in agriculture. That is particularly important to us, because in thinking of diversification of our economy, agriculture is, of course, a fitting point, and we closed that gap. Take rice for example, we were importing rice in the order of about $1.6 billion a year, which is about $5 million every day. Today, we are down to importing just about two per cent of the rice that we consume. So we have at least, ramped up rice production, we are practically self-sufficient.

No, it is creating the right environment. For example, the Anchors Borrowers Programme was an important programme in getting people back to the farms, and also, which is one very part of this whole process, we supported the big millers in being able to increase a lot of the paddy rice that was being produced.

So there was a genuine effort to ensure that we are able to not just ramp up the production of rice, but also milling, and we found that the private sector responded to that, and we found the big millers, WACOT and others. Dangote is now investing about a million metric tonnes of milling capacity. I think that at this stage, agriculture has recorded significant improvement.

Also mining, because of the focus on mining, growth continued through the recession and growth has continued even now

: We are trying to create the right environment for manufacturing, and for business generally. And we took time to focus on the business environment with our Ease of Doing Business initiative, and we worked on various areas, including access to credit, access to registration of title, company registration, taxation and all of those things.

We looked at all of the different areas in our Ease of Doing Business, with a view to making life easier, to creating the right environment for manufacturing and for business generally. And weve recorded significant growth and this we are seeing in the growth that we are seeing today.

Im sure you are familiar with how our World Bank rating went up and we were also considered one of the best reforming countries in the world.
Of course, there has been a lot of damage to the environment in terms of business and all that, but correcting that would take a while, dont forget that we (this administration) are barely three years old. And we are focused on doing the right thing.

: I think the one thing we wanted was for us to be much farther ahead in terms of manufacturing. But a lot of these things are also infrastructure constraints that cannot be developed overnight; which explains why we are investing heavily in infrastructure; rail, road and power, especially rail. This is the significant part of the investment that we are doing; concessioning the Lagos-Kano to General Electric, the narrow gauge, developing the standard gauge is important in terms of just movement of goods and all that. A lot of these initiatives would be a great help in moving goods.

: Nigeria has one of the most vibrant private sectors. Manufacturers associations, in particular, and several others felt that we shouldnt go into this without further consultations, and we wanted to know exactly what specifically in terms of negotiations that will follow the signing of the framework. And it was the Presidents opinion that it would be much wiser for us to suspend the signing until all of those engagements had been done to the satisfaction of the private sector. We work very closely with the private sector in practically everything that we have done.

For us, it is important to sit back, take a look at those negotiations first before heading into the framework, which is really what we are doing at the moment. So, where we are is that we are looking at the nitty gritty and we are trying to be sure how it is going to play for our private sector people, for industry, for trade, etc. We are not saying we are going to renegotiate the framework; the framework is already there. Our greater concern is for the specifics. And we are at a point where before we go into that, we will certainly make sure that we are happy with the terms and conditions.

: First of all, let me say that the nature of the security threats is asymmetric coping with it. And this is the same with countries all over the world; coping with terrorism is the sort of thing that most countries are grappling with.

I think that we are dealing with that as well. And my take is that the way we are going about it is the right way, in other words, we are working with partners in the sub-region to ensure that we are able to stem the flow of small arms for example.

We are also working on developing our local capacity. One of the strong initiatives that we are pushing is community policing; because a lot of the terrorism that you see are the sorts of opportunistic attacks that require local policing. And one of the strong initiatives that we are pushing is the whole question of the state police; more local and community policing, and we are working on those initiatives with the governors, like in the National Economic Council, which I have the privilege of chairing. We are trying to see how we can do more in terms of local policing, intelligence gathering, in order to be able to respond much more quickly to some of the threats that we see.

For example, in Benue State, we have deployed Special Forces now to several of the places where we have the disturbances. So, it is an ongoing engagement, and, as I said, asymmetric threat of this nature means that we just have to keep planning ahead as much as we can.

: If you look at the herdsmen/farmers clashes, it is a different type of problem (to the issue of Boko Haram) and it has to be dealt with differently. Note that this crisis did not start with the Buhari government. These clashes have been going on for years. I think we are at a point that we believe that the right response; our response, has to be robust to ensuring that we are able to keep communities safe, which is what is going on. We are doing that in various parts of the North central.

: I think that what we are doing is that we are managing our finances far better. Today oil prices are about $80 a barrel. Our reserves are at $47 billion, which is the highest in about 10 years, comparable to 2013 when oil prices were higher. So beside the Sovereign Wealth Fund, we have invested far more; weve almost tripled our investment in the Sovereign Wealth Fund.

I think the question about whether you spend or you dont spend is really more a question of how you manage the resources in the first place. For us, I think that the management of resources has been a strong point. I think we have managed our resources well. Which explains why we focus a great deal on diversifying; agriculture, manufacturing. Weve focused on trying to diversify as much as possible, and we think that it is the path to go. There is no other way of doing this.

And if you look at the figures, there has been tremendous improvement, in the export of raw materials, agriculture produce, even manufacturing has improved. I think that we are on the right path. I am convinced that we are going to stay the course.

Source: NAN

By Shehu Danjuma

The Katsina State Government is to establish an orphans protection desk in the state Ministry of Justice to protect the rights of orphans, the Chief Judge, Justice Musa Danladi, says.

The desk will serve as a complaint point for orphans that their relations seize their wealth after the demise of their parents, he said in Katsina.

Danladi spoke during an orphans and needy endowment fund raising ceremony, organised by the Izalah Islamic Sect, Katsina Branch, on Sunday..

He said the unit would be called Orphans Care Desk for orphans and their mothers to lodge complaints against those who cheated them.

It has come to the knowledge of the state government and the Ministry of Justice that some people have formed the habit of cheating orphans of their wealth after the death of the parents.

The Ministry of Justice is ready to deal with such greedy relatives who had been cheating orphans in the state, Danladi said.

In his remark, The National Chairman of Muslims Orphans protection committee, Alhaji Abdullahi Aminchi, appealed to wealthy individuals and organisations to support orphans financially through donations to the fund.

Aminchi, a former Deputy Governor of Katsina State, said that the committee spent huge sums in providing succour for orphans during Ramadan in 2017.

He said the committee had established scholarship schemes to enable orphans to further their studies after the death of their parents.

In his contribution, the Chairman of Izalah Islamic Sect in Katsina State, Sheikh Yakubu Musa, advised Muslims to be their brothers keeper by assisting orphans and the needy.

Musa said that orphans deserved the support of well-meaning Muslims.

Source: NAN

The police said today they have invited Senate President, Bukola Saraki over 5 April multiple bank robbery in Offa Kwara state, during which 33 persons, including nine policemen, were killed.

Police spokesman, Jimoh Moshood also announced the arrest of Mr. Yusuf Abdulwahab, the chief of staff to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed and Alabi Olalekan, his Personal Assistant, Political, as investigations over the gruesome robbery deepened.

The police claimed five of the bandits arrested and who have made confessions during interrogations indicted the senate president.

The police therefore wanted to interrogate the senator, who is Number 3 person, in the order of protocol in the country. The police did not give a specific time they wanted Saraki to report.

The Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki is being invited by the Nigeria Police Force to report to the Force Intelligence Response Team office at Guzape, Abuja to answer to the allegations levelled against him from the confessions of the Five (5) Gang Leaders, namely; Ayoade Akinnibosun, Ibukunle Ogunleye, Adeola Abraham, Salawudeen Azeez, Niyi Ogundiran and some of the other Seventeen (17) suspects arrested for direct involvement and active participation in the Offa Bank Robbery and the gruesome killing of 33 innocent persons which include some pregnant women and nine Police personnel, Moshood said.

The police in the statement appeared to have dropped hints on what they wanted to ask Saraki about, as they claimed that the five men, who were the leaders of the bandits `admitted, confessed and volunteered statements that they were political thugs of the Senate President, Federal Republic of Nigeria, Sen. Bukola Saraki and the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed.

The other hints dropped were the recovery of one Toyota Prado Jeep with Reg. No. 19KWGH belonging to the Personal Assistant, Political to the Governor of Kwara State and a Sticker plate number with inscription SARAKI Kwara, State of Harmony.

According to the police, the Five gang leaders further confessed during investigation that they are political thugs under the name Youth Liberation Movement a.k.a Good Boys admitted and confessed to have been sponsored with firearms, money and operational vehicles by the Senate President, Sen. Bukola Saraki and the Governor of Kwara State, Alh. Abdulfatah Ahmed.

Police explained why the Chief of Staff and the Personal Assistant to Governor Abdulfatah Ahmed were also arrested:

A Lexus jeep GX-300 (Ash Colour) with a sticker plate number with inscription SARAKI Kwara, State of Harmony used by the gang leader (Ayoade Akinnibosun, during the bank robbery and the killing of the 33 innocent persons was taken to Government House, Ilorin on 16th May, 2018 where the sticker plate number with inscription SARAKI Kwara, State of Harmony was removed before another plate number (Reg. No. Kwara, KMA 143 RM) registered in the name of Ayoade AKinnibosun the Overall Commander of the Offa Bank Robbery was then attached to the vehicle to cover up the identity of the said vehicle.

The exhibit vehicle was subsequently recovered from the premises of the Min. of Environmental and Forestry in Ilorin, Kwara State. While the sticker plate number with inscription SARAKI Kwara, State of Harmony removed from the vehicle was recovered from one Adeola Omiyale who drove the said Lexus Jeep to Government House, Ilorin immediately after the Bank Robbery.

The Personal Assistant (Political) to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Alabi Olalekan, who is privy to information that the Police is looking for the Lexus Jeep as an exhibit used in the Offa Bank Robbery directed one Adeola Omiyale to relocate the Lexus Jeep to Government House, Ilorin. The PA (Political) is currently in Police custody and has made useful statement assisting the Police in further investigation into the case.

A revolver pistol and pump action gun were recovered by the Police Investigation Team from the Personal Assistant (Political) to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Alabi Olalekans Farm where he directed his brother to hide them after his arrest by the Police.

In order to conceal evidence, the Chief of Staff to the Executive Governor of Kwara State, Mr. Yusuf Abdulwahab who has been arrested and taken into Police custody, arranged the removal of the sticker plate number with inscription SARAKI Kwara, State of Harmony from the exhibit vehicle.

The police gave an assurance that they will continue to ensure that the rule of law prevails in every case under investigation and every offender is brought to justice.

*Ayoade Akinnibosun a.k.a AY M 37Yrs Gang Leader (Coordinated the Killings) From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.

• Ibikunle Ogunleye M 36Yrs Gang Leader, Killed Two (2) Persons. From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State

• Adeola Abraham M 35Yrs Gang Leader, Killed Five (5) Persons. From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.

*Salaudeen Azeez M 49Yrs Gang Leader, Killed Two (2) Persons. From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.

*Niyi Ogundiran M 37Yrs Gang Leader, Killed Two (2) Persons (Latest Confession). From Oro, Irepodun LGA, Kwara State.

• Michael Adikwu M 30Yrs Sectional Gang Leader, Killed Twenty Two (22) Persons, mostly at the Police Station.

• Kabiru Afolabi M 26Yrs Principal Suspect

• Omoseni Kassim M 28Yrs Principal Suspect

• Kayode Opadokun M 35Yrs Principal Suspect

• Kazeem Abdulrasheed M 36Yrs Principal Suspect

• Azeez Abdullahi M 27Yrs Principal Suspect

• Adewale Popoola M 22Yrs Principal Suspect

• Adetoyese Muftau M 23Yrs Principal Suspect

*Alexander Reuben M 39Yrs Principal Suspect

*Richard Buba Terry M 23Yrs Principal Suspect

*Peter Jasper Kuunfa M 23Yrs Principal Suspect

*Ikechukwu Ebuka Nnaji M 29Yrs Principal Suspect

• Moses Godwin M 28Yrs Principal Suspect

*Adeola omiyale M 38Yrs. From Isanlu Isin Town, Isin LGA, Kwara State.

*Femi Idowu M 34Yrs

*Alabi Olalekan M 49Yrs-PA Political to Executive Governor, Kwara State

• Yusuf Abdulwahab M 58Yrs Chief of Staff to Executive Governor, Kwara State

All the exhibits recovered

*Two (2) AK47 Rifles

• Two (2) Barrette Pistols

• One (1) Pump Action Rifle

  *One (1) Revolver Pistol In Police Custody in Ilorin

• Lexus RX300 Jeep with Reg. No. Kwara, KMA 143 RM belonging to Ayoade Akinnibosun (Gang Leader) Used for the Bank Robbery

• Mercedes Benz Compressor with Reg. No. Lagos LT496 KJA belonging to Ayoade Akinnibosun (Gang Leader) Used for the Bank Robbery

• One (1) Toyota Prado Jeep with Reg. No. 19KWGH belonging to the PA Political to the Executive Governor, Kwara State In Police Custody in Ilorin

*One (1) Toyota Camry Saloon Car with Reg. No. LRN 481 FE In Police Custody in Ilorin

*The Cash Sum of Six Hundred Thousand Naira (N600,000.00) In Police Custody in Ilorin

*Four (4) Phones of victims recovered

*One (1) Sticker plate number with inscription SARAKI Kwara, State of Harmony

First Bank Offa (ii) Guaranty Trust Bank Offa (iii) ECO Bank Offa (iv) Zenith Bank Offa (v) Union Bank Offa (vi) Ibolo Micro Finance Bank Offa and (vii) the Divisional Police Headquarters, Offa.

Source: NAN

By Bukola Adetoye

The Lagos State Pension Commission (LASPEC) said Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, has paid a total of N37, 546 billion to pensioners since 2015.

According to a statement signed by the Director-General of LASPEC, Mrs Folashade Onanuga, on Sunday in Lagos, the figure represented the total pension paid to 9,045 retirees of the state.

The LASPEC Director-General said the governor released N859, 059 million to offset the Accrued Pension Rights of 158 retirees under the Contributory Pension Scheme (CPS) in May.

She said earlier N859, 059 million was paid to 158 Public Service retirees, bringing the total pension paid by the governor since assumption of office to N37, 546 billion.

She explained the governor had been releasing funds every month to off-set the backlog of pension to Lagos retirees.

She said despite the high funding obligations of the current pension scheme, the government was committed to offsetting the backlog of pension, and would soon commence payment to 2016 retirees.

Onanuga said the government was fine-tuning the process of rolling out benefits that would make life easier for retirees.

I, however, implore the retirees to study leaflets distributed by the state government on Annuity and Programmed Withdrawal for receipt of monthly pension entitlements, before picking their choice, she said.

Source: NAN

The African Development Bank (AfDB) has called for a collective action against plastic pollution in Africa.

The Communication Officer, Climate Change and Green Growth Department, of the bank, Mrs Sonia Borrini, said on Sunday in Abuja, that plastic pollution is alarming and dangerous to the environment.
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Her call is coming on the heels of the 2018 World Environment Day slated for June 5, with the theme: Beat Plastic Pollution.

Every year, 500 billion plastic bags are used around the world, 13 million tonnes of plastic leak into the ocean and 17 million barrels of oil are used on plastic production.

About100,000 marine animals are killed by plastics and 83 per cent of tap water are found to contain plastic particles.

In particular, it is impacting the ocean, which is the lungs of our planet, providing most of the oxygen we breathe, major source of food and medicines and a critical part of the biosphere, AfDB said.

AfDB said it would join the rest of the world to celebrate the World Environment Day on June 5, as well as the World Ocean Day on June 8, with focus on Preventing Plastic Pollution and Encouraging Solutions for a Healthy Ocean.

It said through this initiative, the bank was reconfirming its commitment to playing a leadership role in ensuring environmental sustainability while supporting economic prosperity and social inclusion in Africa.

According to the Bank, World Environmental Day (WED) 2018, is a call to action for Africa to come together to combat plastic pollution, one of the greatest environmental challenges of our time.

It said the celebration would afford stakeholders the opportunity to consider how they could make changes in their everyday lives to reduce the heavy burden of plastic pollution on the natural and human environment.

The bank said that the use of plastic had severe environmental and health consequences.

Source: NAN

The United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) has declared tourism as the future of Nigeria as the nation hosts the 61st UNWTO Commission for Africa (CAF) conference.

The organisation has promised to support the country in developing the sector.

Mr Zurab Pololikashvili, UNWTO Secretary-General, made the declaration in Abuja at a pre-conference media briefing he jointly addressed with the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports Pololikashvili and other executives of the organisation arrived in Nigeria early Sunday morning for the 61st UNWTO Commission for Africa (CAF) conference holding from June 4 to June 6 in Abuja.

Nigeria, last year, won the right to host UNWTO-CAF conference, which is the gathering of all African Ministers of Tourism, principal executives of the global tourism body and other stakeholders in the tourism sector.

Pololikashvili said Nigeria has lots of tourism potential to show to the world and the meeting would serve as a platform to showcase the country as continental tourism hub.

He commended the President Muhammadu Buharis administration for identifying tourism as one of the sectors for economic diversification.

He said that tourism is gaining weight as a development opportunity for the whole continent, with its vast diversity of nature, culture and its greatest vehicle for development.

Pololikashvili said that tourism has huge potential to generate lasting development opportunities in Africa and Nigeria in particular, if managed in the right ways.

He said that Africa is UNWTOs top priority in the area of tourism and investment promotion.

He mentioned some of the UNWTOs agenda for Africa to include; poverty alleviation, climate change, education and skills development and financing.

There are broad impact of tourism for the benefit of societies and its people, and promoting tourism as a priority in national agendas, he said.

The secretary-general said that UNWTO is planning to restore the training of journalists across African continent for better reportage.

The minister welcomed Pololikashvili and his team to the country, noting that Nigeria is the first the secretary-general would be attending his first UNWTO-CAF meeting since assumption of office in January 2018.

Mohammed said Nigeria is all set to host the best UNWTO-CAF Meeting ever, adding that all necessary preparations had been made to ensure a successful meeting.

We also expect an impressive attendance. As at today, we have confirmation from 166 foreign delegates, 26 Ministers and 332 Nigerian delegates, excluding the gentlemen of the press.

Several delegates have arrived and many more are expected in today, he said.

The minister said that the theme of the meeting Tourism Statistics: A Catalyst for Development fitted very well into our quest to improve on the nations tourism statistics for planning purposes and the ultimate development of tourism sector. (NAN)

Source: NAN

England's World Cup build-up continued with a friendly win over Nigeria at Wembley.

Chelsea defender Gary Cahill celebrated his return to England's squad and stepped up his claims for a starting place against Tunisia in Volgograd on 18 June by opening the scoring with a powerful header after only seven minutes.

England's total first-half domination was emphasised when captain Harry Kane scored his eighth goal in his last seven appearances six minutes before the interval when Nigeria keeper Francis Uzoho allowed his 18-yard shot to slip in.

Arsenal's Alex Iwobi gave Nigeria's thousands of fans inside Wembley hope two minutes after the break with a crisp finish but England - who had Raheem Sterling booked for diving - closed out the victory in relatively untroubled fashion.

England's preparations continue with another friendly against Costa Rica at Elland Road on Thursday.

Sterling has dominated the headlines and the build-up to this friendly after he was pictured sporting a tattoo of a gun on his leg and revelations about his late arrival for England's pre-World Cup training camp when they assembled earlier this month.

And he was a central figure again here at Wembley as manager Gareth Southgate puts the finishing touches to his plans for the World Cup in Russia.

Sterling, whose name was warmly greeted by England's fans when it was announced, formed a lively partnership with captain Kane - but it was also a day of frustration for the Manchester City attacker.

Southgate, who admitted he briefly considered dropping Sterling after that late arrival to join up with England, will have relished some aspects and the signs of promise in that link with Kane but will demand much greater end product.

Sterling never stopped running and probing but was too wasteful, chipping a good chance wide of the far post in the first half and failing to find the final delivery on occasions.

He was also rightly booked for diving in the second half as he tumbled theatrically when confronted by Nigeria keeper Francis Uzoho as he raced into the area.

Sterling's energy and application, however, could not be doubted and he will play a key role in Southgate's line-up when their World Cup campaign opens against Tunisia in Volgograd on 18 June.

Source: BBC

The Hindu newspaper has reported the death of three Nigerians in a rented accommodation in Uttam Nagar area of New Delhi.

The Nigerians were found dead on Friday, with the police recovering bottles of alcohol and soft drinks from the spot. The Times of India said all the three men were found frothing in the mouth.

Deputy Commissioner of Police (Dwarka) Shibesh Singh said the deceased have been identified as David Christopher, Greece Ben, and David (I), all in their 30s.

While Greece used to live on the third floor of the rented accommodation, David used to reside on the second. David (I) had rented a house nearby but used to visit the two often.

The bodies were found on the third floor of the rented accommodation.

“Greece and David were here on a business visa. Greece had come in March and David had come in April,” Mr. Singh said.

The police received a PCR call around 12.30 p.m. from the landlord of the deceased stating that a foul smell was emanating from the house.

“The whole building is inhabited by people from African countries. There is a common kitchen near floor three. A resident of the building passed by and knocked on the door because of the smell, but no one opened. He then called the landlord, who called the police,” the DCP said.

When the police broke open the door, they found the bodies of David and Greece in one room and David (I)’s body in another room.

“One of the three bodies was in a state of decomposition. There were no strangulation marks or any other external injuries on the bodies,” Mr. Singh said.

The police have shifted the bodies to Deen Dayal Upadhyay Hospital for post-mortem to ascertain the cause of death.

Source: NAN

Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has said that he will not be re-contesting the national chairmanship position in the forthcoming National Convention slated for June 23, in the partys interest.

He stated this on Friday night in Abuja while speaking with newsmen, adding that his decision was taken after wide consultation with close political associates and family members and not because of intimidation.

However, he said that the tenure extension that was hitherto agreed by the partys National Executive Committee (NEC) suffered a set-back following President Muhammadu Buharis opposition.

According to him, the tenure extension would have helped to stabilise the party in the face of some of its challenges and may have prevented the crisis that followed its recent congresses in some states of the federation.

He said that some of the party leaders ought to have considered the tenure extension to be in the best interest of the party.

This, he said, would have ensured that the party go into the 2019 elections as a united fighting force, rather than one that was potentially weakened by internal conflicts arising from competitive congresses and convention.

Odigie-Oyegun urged party leaders to close ranks and to make the party a strong fighting force ahead of the 2019 general elections.

Now that the Convention Committee has invited interested aspirants to obtain forms to contest various national positions in our party, it has become necessary for me to state my position.

I have consulted widely with my family, friends and associates, even though, I had the desire to re-contest as the national chairman of the party.

I have decided that it is ultimately in the best interest of the party for me to withdraw from the race, he said.

I believe that the party faces difficult days ahead, and all critical stakeholders in its leadership would be required to bind together for a common purpose.

He advised that a less-contentious convention would be better for the party adding that he had always sought to be part of solving the partys problems.

I do not intend to be part of the problem for APC to solve. It is for this reason that I hereby declare that I will not be seeking re-election as the national chairman.

However, I will continue to perform my functions as the national chairman of the party, till my tenure officially ends on Monday, June 25 when a new set of party executives will be inaugurated, Odigie-Oyegun said.

Source: NAN

NAN reporting

A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress(APC), Mr Opeyemi Bamidele, and an unidentified person were shot on Friday in Ado-Ekiti at a reception for the candidate of the party, Dr Kayode Fayemi.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the reception which held at the APC secretariat in the Ekiti capital had attracted a large crowd of party supporters.

Gov. Rotimi Akeredolu, Fayemi and a former Minister of Works, Dayo Adeyeye , were descending the stairs case at the secretariat when a policeman was said to have suddenly shot into the air to scare the surging crowd.

Bamidele was said to have been shot on the hand in the ensuing melee while the other victim was also hit.

The two victims were hurriedly conveyed to a hospital where they are said to be under treatment.

The APC spokesperson in the state, Taiwo Olatunbosun, in a statement described the incident as a clear case of assassination attempt.

He claimed that the gunman had aimed his gun at Fayemi and missed, with the bullet hitting Bamidele and the other victim.

He also claimed that the policeman was fake and an assassin.

But the police spokesman in the state, Caleb Chukwuemeka, said the command was still awaiting the report of the incident from its officers deployed to provide security at the reception.

Fayemi and his entourage had earlier been received in Ikere Ekiti by a long convoy of vehicles and large crowd of party supporters, resulting in a traffic snarl on the Ado-Ekiti Akure road.

Addressing the crowd, Akeredolu applauded the party members for putting behind them the post-primary crisis.

He said the huge crowd was indicative that the state had remained a stronghold of the APC.

Fayemi has returned with full force to reclaim the land. He needs your support and this task shall be achieved in the mighty name of God, he said.

Fayemi, in his response, said we are here to work for Ekiti and our party leaders and this we are going to do together because it is a collective responsibility.

We are going to work with everybody, including those who just decamped to our party, because we are one big family in APC.

We shall win by the grace of God. Our case was like the case of a ram who moved backwards to garner more strength. We are here to rescue Ekiti and it is a task we must achieve.

Adeyeye, who returned to the party on Tuesday after 12 years in the PDP, also said: I have returned home and my mission is to ensure that we kill (Gov. Ayo) Fayose politically by burying him.

We shall mobilise well to achieve this task and by the grace of God this is a must-win and must accomplished task for all of us.

NAN reports that Fayemis choice for deputy governor, Chief Bisi Egbeyemi, was also in the entourage.

*Olatunbosuns Statement:

Fayemi Survives Assassination, As Ex-Lawmaker, Others Sustain Gunshot Wounds
Bloody politicking returned to Ekiti State yesterday(Friday), as former Governor Kayode Fayemi survived assassination in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State capital.

Fayemi resigned his appointment on Wednesday as the Minister of Mines and Steel Development and was returning to Ekiti State on Friday in a welcome party planned by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).

It was a smooth ride from Akure Airport to Ikere-Ekiti where thousands of supporters came out to give him a rousing welcome.

Ikere-Ekiti journey to Ado-Ekiti, a distance of about nine kilometres, lasted two hours in a heavy traffic that was punctuated by four gunmen suspected to be agents of the state government who strategically positioned themselves at the partys secretariat in Ado-Ekiti for the attack.

One of the assailants dressed in mobile police uniform was apprehended and he is now helping the police in their investigation.

They fired gunshots aimed at Fayemi but hit a former lawmaker, Opeyemi Bamidele, after the former minister had taken a few steps forward before the bullets hit the target.

Bamidele and other victims were immediately rushed to the Ekiti State University Teaching Hospital, Ado-Ekiti, where doctors are responding to his treatment.

Bamidele was fatally wounded in the attack while others also sustained various degrees of injuries.

Other victims in the hospital included Olabode Joshua, Olanrewaju Gbenga, Adebayo Ogunjemilehin, Ogunmodede Oluwole and Alex Adeleye.

Taiwo Olatunbosun

Publicity Secretary

June 1, 2018

Source: NAN