EKITI 2018 EXCLUSIVE: War In Ekiti APC As Fayemi Plots Guber Come Back; Segun Oni, Ojudu, Bamidele Kick, All Spur For War

PerSecond News - Former governor of Ekiti state, Kayode Fayemi, struck a defiant tone in front of some selected factional leaders of the All Progressives Congress at an October meeting in the state — giving the air of a leader not just striving for an electoral comeback but also fighting for his political life.

Investigations carried out by Per Second News indicate that Fayemi, Segun Oni, who is also a former governor of the state, alongside 25 other candidates are warming up for the gubernatorial race come 2018.

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The Kayode Fayemi agenda is tearing the All Progressives Congress, APC, Ekiti State chapter apart.

According to a former speaker in the state, a candidate who is highly unpopular can hurt his or her party's brand and thus the chances of its down-ballot candidates.

The tension that has simmered in the Party for years – shutting down efforts to reconcile warring factions in the state – is now set to escalate into an outright political civil war. The conflict not only threatens the party's ability to make any realistic attempt at reclaiming the governorship position in 2018, but also previews the conflicts and divides that could consume the Ekiti APC for years to come.

Barely, two years after losing to the Fayose led Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Fayemi’s comeback bid comes amid recriminations and finger-pointing after the party’s defeats, which saw it lose not only the governorship position, but also saw its hold slip to just one seat in the state legislature.

The party in the state is divided and polarized into four parts with some faction being controlled by APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, the second and third faction is being controlled by mostly former House of Representative members, while former governor Niyi Adebayo, Segun Oni and Fayemi are all struggling for the other faction.

Coincidentally, both Fayemi and Oni remains miserably unpopular among the voters who know them best.

Swept from power, APC leaders in Ekiti are increasingly nervous that the best-case scenario fight for the gubernatorial election in 2018 will be a long, ugly redux of the Jimoh Ibrahim vs. Eyitayo Jegede primary in Ondo state.

But an even broader, more vicious factional scramble may be looming.

A group of high-profile ministers and establishment figures in the Buhari administration are moving swiftly to nip such a tussle in the bud by coalescing around former governor Kayode Fayemi — who has not formally announced his bid, but who appears prepared to and have been meeting secretly with party members in the state.

Per Second News in an October report revealed that he met with some factional leaders in a bid to curry their support. Attendees also revealed that he gave out cash gifts at the meeting.

Meanwhile others in the party, including former Governor Segun Oni, now Deputy national chairman (South West) of the APC, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Hon Bimbo Daramola, Hon Opeyemi Bamidele, Hon Bamidele Faparusi, Gbenga Aluko, Olufemi Bamishile are said to be open to bids of their own, fielding calls from party members and their supporters about their interest.

Battle to lead the APC in Ekiti begins as progressives and centrists throw names into the ring.

Ekiti elders forum called a meeting in September to resolve crisis in the State chapter of the party, and reconcile former governors of the state with Bola Tinubu, National Leader of the party ended with disruption.

Otunba Niyi Adebayo was said to have got up angrily and denounced Tinubu, insisting that he would neither reconcile with Tinubu and nor recognise him as leader because they were both governors at the same time.

Ex-governors Adebayo, Fayemi and Oni according to one of the sources at the meeting, came with the constitution of the party and said the party does not recognize Elders Forum, but that they were only at the meeting because of the respect they had for the elders.

Elders there, unsure of what to do it in a post-Fayose era, are split over who the next gubernatorial candidate should be and were stunned by the disruption. At the same time, prominent politicians are sprinting to step into the sudden vacuum as the party’s ideological or political — not mechanical — leader.

The crisis in the South west chapter of the party, took another turn last month after the Ekiti State chapter flayed Governor Rauf Aregbesola of Osun State over his visit and commendation of Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State.

The assertion of the Ekiti State chapter of the party was immediately rebuffed by the Osun State chapter which lampooned the Ekiti State chapter for not recognising the political maturity displayed by Ogbeni Aregbseola in his visit to Governor Fayose.

Aregbesola, a close ally of APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, according to sources, was perceived to have hurt the interests of some supporters of former Governor Kayode Fayemi,  at the Ekiti state chapter of the APC when he visited Fayose and praised the Ekiti State governor.

Fayose, a member of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was commended by Aregbesola for being an “omoluabi” and a hardworking governor, who had turned around the fortunes of Ekiti State in terms of infrastructure.

The war of words was not helped by claims that the two chapters were acting as proxies for a broader fight and larger interests in the Southwest chapters of the party.

The determination of Fayemi and some serving ministers, governors in the Buhari government to thwart national leader of the party, Bola Tinubu at every turn is now clear.

That goal got a significant boost when Tinubu’s candidate at both Kogi and Ondo state lost out in the battle to become governors of their respective states. The Fayemi group backed by a Southwest governor, Plateau state governor, a minister from the SouthSouth have all vowed to repeat same feat in Ekiti come 2018 with federal might.

Source: PersecondNews

Buhari Swears In 4 Special Advisers, See Photos

L-R; Permanent Secretary Ministry of Foreign Affairs,
Ambassador Sola Enikanolaiye, Special Adviser on Economic
Matters, Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu, S A on Planning, Alhaji Tijjani
Abdullahi, S A on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi
 Ojodu and S.A on Social Investment, Barrister Mrs.
Maryam Uwais as they were sworn-in by President
Muhammadu Buhari at the Council Chambers

President Buhari this morning before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting, swore in four new Special Advisers and one Permanent Secretary. The new appointees include the Special Adviser on Social Investment, Maryam Uwais, Special Adviser on Political Matter Senator Babafemi Ojudu, Special Adviser on Economic Matters Adeyemi Dipeolu, Special Adviser on Planning, Tijani Abdullahi, and the Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ambassador Rafiu Enikanolaye.

While Tijani Abdullahi was assigned to the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, the other three Special advisers, Uwais, Ojudu and Dipeolu were deployed to the Office of the Vice President.

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Court Officials Paste Saraki, Ekweremadu's CRIMINAL Summons On NASS Board, See Photo

The official court summons inviting the Senate President, Bukola Saraki, his Deputy, Ike Ekweremadu, the outgoing Clerk to the National Assembly, Alhaji Salisu Maikasuwa; and  the Deputy Clerk, Benedict Efeturi, to appear before the court for the alleged forgery of the Senate Standing Order 2015. was yesterday pasted on the Senate board by some people, suspected to be bailiffs from the FCT High Court, Abuja.

The Summon read;

“By oral application, dated June 21, 2016, moved by D. E. Kaswe, Principal State Counsel, Federal Ministry of Justice, in this case praying the court for:

“An order of this Honourable Court granting leave to the complainant/applicant to serve the criminal summons on the defendants by substituted means to wit by pasting it at the Notice Board of the National Assembly, Three Arms Zone, Abuja.

“And after hearing D. E. Kaswe with A. A. Kaltingo Esq, counsel for the complainant/applicant moved the court orally for the above relief.”

It was also observed that the handwritten statements of Maikasuwa and Efeturi as well as that of 13 other former senators, interrogated by the police, were also pasted along with the court summons, Punch Newspaper reports

In their own submissions to the police as contained in the document pasted to the board at the National Assembly, Maikasuwa and Efeturi denied being part of the alleged forgery of the document.

Maikashuwa said, “The Senate Standing Order used in Seventh Senate was not known to me. The Clerk of the Senate (Efeturi) is in position to know. I was not aware of the amendment that was made to the Standing rules.”

Efeturi said, “The Senate Leadership handled the 2015 Standing Rules as amended by their convention and practice. Standing Orders 2003, 2007 and 2011 followed similar practice.”

Our correspondent further noted that a Deputy Inspector-General of Police interrogated and obtained statements from 15 witnesses, including Senators Suleiman Hunkunyi, Solomon Enang, Solomon Ewuga, Ahmad Lawan, Abu Ibrahim and Babafemi Ojudu, on the issue.

Some Sergeant-at-Arms, however, besieged the notice board and removed all the court summons even when many people were still reading the documents.

N90b Bail Out For States: FG List 22 Stringent Conditions That Must Be Met

The President Muhammadu Buhari-led Federal Government in a bid to salvage states' inability to pay salaries to its workforce has decided to grant another N90 billion bailout fund. But has spelt out 22 stringent conditions that must be met by beneficiary states.

The majority of Nigerian states are unable to pay salaries of workers, fund key services or execute development projects due to the current economy downturn.

The states remained in financial hardship despite a July 2015 Central Bank of Nigeria-packaged special intervention fund that doled out between N250 to N300 billion in the form of soft loans to enable the states to pay the backlog of salaries.

The states also enjoyed a debt relief programme designed by the Debt Management Office (DMO) which helped them to restructure their commercial loans of over N660 bn, extending the life span of the loans while reducing the states’ debt-servicing expenditures.

That however, failed to pull the states out of distress and the federal government is now considering a fresh N90billion loan package for them

But to access the funds, according to Babafemi Ojudu, the special adviser to the president on political matters, states must fulfill 22 conditions.

Mr. Ojudu posted the conditions on his Facebook page on Wednesday.

They are listed below.

1. Publish audited annual financial statements within 9 months of financial year end.

2. Introduction and compliance with the International Public Sector Accounting Standards (IPSAS).

Publish State budget online annually.

3. Publish budget implementation performance report online quarterly.

4. Develop standard IPSAS compliant software to be offered to States for use by State and Local Governments.

5. Set realistic and achievable targets to improve independently generated revenue (from all revenue generating activities of the State in addition to tax collections) and ratio of capital to recurrent expenditure.

6. Implementation of targets Implement a centralized Treasury Single Account (TSA) in each State.

7. Quarterly financial reconciliation meetings between Federal and State Governments to cover VAT, PAYE remittances, refunds on Government projects, Paris Club and other accounts.

8. Share the database of companies within each State with the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS). The objective is to improve VAT and PAYE collection.

9. Introduce a system to allow for the immediate issue of VAT / WHT certificates on payment of invoices.

10. Review all revenue related laws and update of obsolete rates / tariffs.

Set limits on personnel expenditure as a share of total budgeted expenditure.

11. Biometric capture of all States’ Civil Servants will be carried out to eliminate payroll fraud.

12. Establishment of Efficiency Unit.

Federal Government online price guide to be made available for use by States.

13. Introduce a system of Continuous Audit (internal audit).

14. Create a fixed asset and liability register.

15. Consider privatization or concession of suitable State owned enterprises to improve efficiency and management.

16. Establish a Capital Development Fund to ring-fence capital receipts and adopt accounting policies to ensure that capital receipts are strictly applied to capital projects.

17. Domestication of the Fiscal Responsibility Act (FRA).

18. Attainment and maintenance of a credit rating by each State of the Federation.

19. Federal Government to encourage States to access funds from the capital markets for bankable projects through issuance of fast- track Municipal bond guidelines to support smaller issuances and shorter tenures.

20. Full compliance with the FRA and reporting obligations, including;

21. No commercial bank loans to be undertaken by States;

22. Routine submission of updated debt profile report to the DMO

Budget Padding Not New, A Normal Routine Crime Under Jonathan - Senator Ojudu

A former Senator from Ekiti State, Babafemi Ojudu has revealed that the budget padding which many Nigerians now see as new thing was not actually new at all, as the padding of budget was a routine crime perpetrated under former President Goodluck Jonathan without fear of been checked or exposed

Ojudu who reportedly spoke on Budget Padding Under Goodluck Jonathan said;

"In my state in 2013, they budgeted for the construction of five roads in Ekiti State and I picked up the budget, looked at the details. How could you say you are building a road in Kebbi, a town in Nasarawa State and you put it in Ekiti State? 

Apparently some groups were playing games in the ministry of works. And I shouted and cried out to the minister that, “This is wrong! This is theft!” 

They called me in and tried to pacify me but I said, “No. What you should do is, if there are roads to be constructed in Ekiti, construct them in Ekiti. If there are no roads to be constructed in Ekiti, remove these items from the budget.” 

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"Severally things like that happened under the previous administration and had been happening, at all levels of the preparation, presentation and approval of the budget. So, the President is saying this is not going to happen. People involved are not yet used to this new way. They are still fighting. They are still kicking and they have their plans. May be you want to tell somebody with building in Dubai that he wants to complete based on what he is going to make from this budget. Everybody who is involved is angry.

That is why you are seeing these. If they absorb this new system of doing things this year, seamlessly, the budget will be passed next year without any controversy because they would have been used to this new system. So, the fact that this controversy itself is coming out is to show that there is a change in place.

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"Under previous governments, the budget would go through the ministries and the budget office padded, then to the National Assembly and the National Assembly would also add its own padding. They would give the highlights of the budget to the president and he signed. As he was signing, they were adding more to it, and there were billions of naira free out there for people to share.

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"But this President is saying, “No way. Whatever leaves my ministry and passed to the budget office must be the one that gets to the National Assembly and must be the one that comes to me fully without any padding before I sign.” That is change for you.