EFCC Questions Ogun Accountant General, 4 Others Over Alleged LG Funds Diversion

 The Ibadan Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has invited several officials from the Ogun State government for questioning related to an ongoing investigation.

Dele Oyewale, Head of Media and Publicity at the EFCC, confirmed the development in a phone interview with newsmen on Wednesday.

Oyewale said, ”I just called our Ibadan Zonal office, and it was confirmed that some officials of the state government were invited for a chat in respect of an ongoing investigation, and they have since gone back to their state. Nobody was detained”.

Asked to confirm the status of those that were invited by the anti-graft agency, Oyewale said, “I can only tell you that they were officials of Ogun State government, and it was in connection of an ongoing investigation, it’s not more than that”.

Meanwhile, it was reliably gathered from a reliable source that those invited were the State Accountant General, Mr Tunde Aregbesola, and four other officials of the government.

The invitation was said to be in connection with a petition written by the former Chairman of Ijebu East Local Government, Wale Adedayo, last August alleging Governor Dapo Abiodun of diverting about N10.8 billion meant for the 20 local governments in the state.

The top government official said, “It is true that the Accountant General and some officials of the state government were invited by the EFCC on Tuesday. I learnt it was about the finances of the state government, but I don’t know which of them”.

Recall that Adedayo had written what was supposed to be a private letter to a former governor of the state, Chief Olusegun Osoba, last August, accusing Governor Abiodun of diverting about N10.8bn meant for the development of the council areas.

Adedayo had also forwarded a petition to the EFCC calling for investigation of the state government for this financial infraction.

The letter, however, found its way into the media, becoming a matter of public discourse.

The state government, however, denied the accusation, explaining that it rather augment the monthly federal government allocations sent to the local governments, or else many of them would have found it impossible to fulfil their financial obligations, like payment of salaries, among others.

Adedayo, after his reported allegations against the state government, was later impeached, and he is currently standing trial before an Abeokuta Magistrate Court for raising false allegations and character defamation against Governor Abiodun.

Speaking with our correspondent on Wednesday, Adedayo said, “Yes, I heard about it on Tuesday. I am sure it is about the petition I sent to the EFCC. Lie can travel a thousand miles, but truth will catch up with it within a few seconds.

“A friend told me that the Accountant General was granted administrative bail so he could return with some documents, which he claimed would exonerate him. But others are still there. That’s all I know”.

How 20-year-old boy killed father for ritual

 

AgegePulse Magazine

How 20-year-old killed father for ritual 

A 20-year-old man identified simply as Ridwan has allegedly killed his father, Ishau, for the purpose of ritual in Oshoku Village in Ijebu North Local Government Area of Ogun State.

This was contained in a statement issued by the Commander of the Ogun State Community, Social Orientation and Safety Corps, Soji Ganzallo, through the Director of Information and Public Relations, Moruf Yusuf, on Friday.

According to the statement, the suspect was arrested during a routine patrol of men of the So-Safe Corps at about 12 a.m. on Thursday when they heard a strange noise in a building which prompted them to verify what was happening which led to the discovery of the lifeless body of the victim.

The statement read, “At about 12:00hrs on Thursday, August 31, 2023, officers of the Corps on routine patrol heard a strange noise in a building while at Oshoku Village in Ijebu North Local Government Area.

“The Officers entered the building to confirm what was happening, but to the officers’ dismay, they found a man’s body lying lifeless in a pool of his own blood and the alleged killer fled the scene.”

With the commander’s instruction, the corps launched a manhunt on the alleged killer and he was nabbed in a bush where he was hiding.

The suspect confessed to killing his father for the purpose of the ritual.

Ganzallo instructed the Zonal Commander, Ijebu Zonal Command, ACC Marcus Ayankoya, to get the suspected killer Ridwan arrested under 24hrs. The suspected killer was nabbed where he was hiding in a bush.

“He confessed to having killed his father, Ishau, with a rope tied to his neck and a knife used to remove the needed parts of his body for ritual purposes.

“The alleged killer told the officers of the corps that he only removed the private part, larynx, and just four teeth of his father as requested by a ritualist he identified as Baba Kekere.

However, efforts made by the corps to get the details of the ritualist who instructed the suspect to get the body parts for rituals proved abortive as the suspect did not disclose the location of the ritualist.

He was therefore handed over to the police for further investigation and prosecution.

“Ganzallo further revealed that when he was asked about the whereabouts of the ritualist, he refused to give details.

“The alleged killer had been transferred to the Nigeria Police Force, Ogbere Divisional Headquarters for further investigation and likely prosecution,” the statement concluded.

Angry mum stabs daughter to death for spending night outside home | AgegePulse Magazine

Angry mum stabs daughter to death for spending night outside home | AgegePulse Magazine 

By Ayodele Ifasakin 

Kafayat Lawal

The Ogun State Police Command has arrested a 45-year-old woman, Kafayat Lawal, for allegedly stabbing her 17-year-old daughter Ayomide Adekoya with a broken bottle to death.

The woman also stabbed another of her children with a broken bottle in the hand which led to the victim’s hospitalisation.

The spokesperson for the police in the state, DSP Abimbola Oyeyemi disclosed this in a statement on Friday. Oyeyemi stated that the suspect was arrested following information received by the Divisional Police Officer, Ogijo Divisional headquarters, CSP Mohammed Baba, at about 2;30 pm.

Oyeyemi said the suspect locked her two daughters in a room where she beat and injured them with a broken bottle.

He said “Upon information, the DPO mobilised his men and moved to the scene where the two victims were rescued and taken to hospital for treatment before one of them gave up the ghost.

“The suspect was then arrested and taken to custody. On interrogation, the suspect who claimed to have separated from her husband nine years ago informed the police that her two daughters left home during the Sallah and didn’t return till the following day.

“This infuriated her, and when she wanted to beat them, people around pleaded on their behalf and she left them, only for them to go out again the following day and passed the night outside. It was the annoyance that made her lock them inside and injured them both with a broken bottle.

“The older one Blessing Adekoya 19 was injured in the hand, while her younger sister Ayomide was stabbed in the chest and unfortunately gave up the ghost while receiving treatment.”

Oyeyemi however said the Commissioner of Police, Edward Ajogun, has ordered the immediate transfer of the suspect to the homicide section of the state Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department for further investigation and diligent prosecution.

Abiyamo 

Human skeleton found in pastor’s house in Ogun

AgegePulse Magazine

Peace Land Estate, Akute, Ogun State was a scene of horror yesterday, as a human skeleton, believed to be that of a woman, was found in a pastor’s house.

According to eyewitnesses, the shocking discovery was made when the owner of the pastor’s house tried to evict him from his flat over late payment of rent.

“The pastor did not pay his rent for a year. The landlady, who was angry with the situation of things, stormed his home with some people in-order to evict him, but were shocked when they discovered a human skeleton inside,” one of the sources revealed.

People in the neighbourhood were attracted to the scene while the matter was quickly reported to the police.

However the suspect, who owns a church, was said to have made some revelations about the skeleton. He alleged that it belonged to his sister. According to him, his parents had just three children – himself and two sisters. He said he lived with them in the flat.

However, for sometime now, one of the sisters named Funmi has not been seen again.

When people asked about her, “he would say she went to the mountain,” said the source.

She, however, allegedly died since 2010 and her body was abandoned in the house.

From the position of the skeleton, it appeared the deceased was kneeling on the ground.

The Police have since arrested the suspect.
In recent times many suspects have been arrested with skulls and other human parts in different parts of Ogun State including Abeokuta and Sango Ota.
Courtesy of Triple A Real

#Covid19: Ogun To Begin Distribution of Palliatives To 20,000 Youths, Says Gov. Dapo Abiodun

...Commends Ooni of Ife

AgegePulse Magazine

The Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has disclosed the plans of his administration to provide palliatives to twenty thousand youths across the twenty Local Government Areas of the State.

Prince Dapo Abiodun, who made this known at the Arcade Ground, Governor's Office, Oke-Mosan, when he received the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, who came to present two motorised modular fumigators - an initiative of the House of Oduduwa Machine Tools - to the State Government, said that the initiative to give palliatives to youths across the twenty LGAs is meant for the poor and vulnerable youths across the State.

"Our promise is that we will continue to provide for as many people as possible. We have decided that our next target is going to our youths because they are also vulnerable. They are not elderly, but many of them are poor and vulnerable, so we have decided that we are going to identify about a thousand youths per Local Government Area across the twenty LGAs, making it twenty thousand youths and we are going to provide palliatives  to them," he said.

Prince Abiodun, while describing the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi as a 21st century Monarch who is passionate about his people, noted that he was glad that the Monarch was able to empower the local economy through the motorised modular fumigator, which was locally manufactured.

Abiodun also disclosed that his administration had been able to flatten the curve of the spread of the virus through the setting up of its emergency operation procedure, incident action plan and its about 300-bed capacity isolation centers.

He added that the State has a high number of ventilators, while adding that his administration was able to purchase 11 ventilators, receive 2 from the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) and meet 10 from the facility built by the immediate past administration.

In his remarks, the Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi disclosed that the virus was indeed real, calling on the people of the State and Country to protect themselves against the spread of the virus.

The Ooni, who noted that the motorised modular fumigators which were locally made would be given to all 36 States, added that he is ready to deliver the fumigators to states across the Federation, but might be forced to ask for help if he meets with any form of obstacle.

Lockdown nightmare: How 200 armed gangsters invaded, robbed Ogun, Lagos communities

AgegePulse Magazine

Residents of some communities in Ogun and Lagos have lost sleep over robberies in the neighbourhoods by a gang of roaming hoodlums seizing the coronavirus lockdown to unleash terror on the two states.

There have been overwhelming complaints by residents of Owode, Ilepa, Ifo, Arigbajo, Itori, Dalemo, Ijoko, Ogba Ayo, Mosa, Joju, Sango, Ota, Oniyale among other communities in Ifo and Ado-Odo Ota local government areas of Ogun State over how hoodlums have been dispossessing them of their valuables day and night.

There was also unrest in FESTAC Town, Jankara and Ifako-Ijaiye areas of Lagos State on Saturday afternoon as hoodlums besieged the populated areas to rob residents and loot shops.


The incidents have marred the 14-day lockdown order of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), to contain the spread of COVID-19 in the two states.

Sunday PUNCH had reported that a gang led by an ex-convict identified simply as Felix aka Confidence, sacked a police checkpoint in Dalemo, Ogun State on Tuesday and robbed residents.

Although a reinforcement team later dispersed the robbers, it was gathered that they struck again around 10pm on Friday at Agbado Crossing and Randle in the Ifo Local Government Area of Ogun State.

Many residents said they had resorted to keeping vigils and making bonfires to secure their communities from the hoodlums which they said numbered about 200.

“We need help in Ogun State. People are being robbed not only at night but in the afternoon too. Ijoko, Ifo, Sango and the likes have been under robbery attack since this (last) week. We can’t sleep; residents take turn to do vigilantes,” a youth, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said.

Outcries of residents within the troubled communities have also flooded the social media, calling out police authorities with the hashtag, ‘#Ogununrest.’

“The people of Sango Ota, Owode, Ilepa, Ifo, Arigbajo, Itori, Dalemo, Ijoko, Ogba Ayo, Mosa can no longer sleep or be at peace because of incessant armed robbery every day even (in) broad daylight. They are ransacking house to house. I am a victim this afternoon. Help,” one Prince Afolarin twitted on Saturday.

PunchNewspaper

EFCC Rolls Out 42 Names of Suspected Internet Fraudsters Arrested in Ogun

AgegePulse Magazine

The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibadan zonal office on March 6, 2020, arrested 42 youngsters for their alleged involvement in internet-related fraud.
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The suspects, whose ages range between 18 and 33 years, were apprehended at different locations in Ilaro, Ogun State, following actionable intelligence earlier received on their alleged illegal activities.
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The suspects are: Peter Fasuhan, Kareem Oladimeji, Adeleke Sodiq, Akinlolu Quadri, Popoola Lukeman, Faniyi Jamiu, Joseph Elijah, Idowu Afolabi, Laleye Olaoluwa, Olabode Olasunkanmi, Shoyola Joseph, Baura David, Janta Oluwafolabomi, Akintunde Wariz, Olukotun Abiodun, Kazeem Popoola and Olaoye Akinyemi.
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Others are: Adebanjo Olamide, Esiegbe Dare, Job Emmanuel, Idris Olarewaju, Bakare Sodiq, Popoola Waliu, Popoola Ibrahim, Balogun Daniel, Adegbite Richard, Owolabi Aderibigbe, Oniyide Benjamin, Sheye Oluwaseun, Enitan Babajide, Oguntayo Samud, Daramola Damilola, Adeniji Azeez, Shobola Adeolu, Odunbaku Tunde, Olamilekan Adedeji, Maja Toheeb, Giwa Olajide, Tolu Yusuf, Ashoregbabo Ayo, Akanbi Olamide and Adeosun Temitope.
For details of this and other stories, visit our website at www.efccnigeria.org
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#InternetFraudsters #YahooBoys #YahooYahoo #Crime #Fraud #Corruption #EFCC #TheFightAgainstCorruption #FightingForYou

Man beats, stabs wife to death in Ogun

AgegePulse Magazine

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According to the PPRO, Ayomide stated that his father used a big stick to beat his wife to a state of unconsciousness, after which he used a screwdriver to stab her in the head, resulting in her death.

Punch
READ MORE>>>>>https://bit.ly/2RE8w8y

Oshodi-Abule Egba BRT Corridor ready in May - Sanwo-Olu

…Lagos Gov: ‘Second Phase Of The Project To Start Immediately’

...Corridor To Open With 200 Buses
AgegePulse Magazine

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has beamed a special focus on the ongoing construction BRT corridor from Oshodi to Abule Egba. The 13.68 kilometre-long route will be completed in May, this year, Sanwo-Olu disclosed while inspecting the project on Sunday.

Construction work has resumed on the project, which was started under the last administration. The project is being handled and supervised by the Lagos Metropolitan Area Transport Authority (LAMATA).

Upon completion, Sanwo-Olu said the project was expected to bring relief to residents, as it is expected to ease transportation challenges along the route.

The Governor said over 200 mass transit buses would be deployed to the corridor for immediate operations, pointing out that additional buses would be delivered based on assessment of traffic situation and utilisation.

He said: “This BRT corridor was conceived with the intention to address congestion and transportation challenges along the Oshodi-Abule Egba corridor. We are fully back on this project and we are pushing the contractor to step up the pace of work on it. Once it starts operation, this will significantly bring relief and reduce traffic congestion and transportation problems along this route.

“We are hoping that by the end of May, we should complete the entire Phase 1 of the BRT infrastructure along this route. The work has been pushed up and there entire project is about 75 per cent to completion. The rest of the construction activities to be done include completion of bus shelters, rigid pavements and terminals.”

Sanwo-Olu said the Government had started to address some impediments slowing down the construction work on the path, which, he said, included blocked drainage network along the route. The Governor said desilting of the identified drain channels at Katangowa market would be done to pave the way for completion work on the BRT lane.

The ongoing Phase 1 of the project will have 14 bus stations between Abule Egba and Oshodi. Five of the stations are bilateral, facing both sides of Expressway; nine medium stations. Also, streetlight facilities will be installed on the route in addition to pedestrian bridges being built along the path.

The Governor also said the Government would be acquiring land to build mega bus depots for the BRT vehicles to be deployed to the area.

After the completion of the first phase, Sanwo-Olu disclosed that work would commence on the Phase II of the project, which will stretch from Abule Egba to Sango, later this year.

“The extension of the BRT corridor to Ogun State border is part of the solutions we are bringing to address traffic congestion along Lagos-Abeokuta Expressway and reduce it to the barest minimum. This will create a robust transportation model for our residents living in border towns.”

The Governor warned against indiscriminate dumping of refuse on the BRT corridor, stressing that the Government would not condone one-way driving along the route.

12 Persons Die in Ogun Road Accident

AgegePulse Magazine

Twelve persons, including two drivers and a child, died yesterday in a road accident on Abeokuta-Kobape-Sagamu road.

The accident reportedly occurred when a speeding Kia Cerato car veered off its lane, crossed the median and rammed into a commercial bus on the opposite direction.

All occupants of both vehicles were said to have died on the scene.

The accident occurred around 1 p.m at the Siun stretch of the road.

The remains of the 12 victims were reportedly deposited at the morgue of the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital (OOUTH) in Sagamu.

The Kia Cerato car, which was said to be speeding, had a burst tyre.

In panic, the driver was said to have applied the break and lost control of the wheel.

This led to the collision with the Toyota bus travelling in the opposite direction.

The state’s Public Education Officer of the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC), Mrs Florence Okpe, announced this yesterday.

In a statement on behalf of the Sector Commander of the FRSC, Clement Oladele, the education officer urged the people whose family members travelled within the period of the accident to contact the FRSC Command in Abeokuta, the state capital, or the Olabisi Onabanjo University Teaching Hospital in Sagamu for identification of the victims.

The statement reads: “A black KIA Cerato car on high speed suffered a tyre burst and the driver was suspected to have applied break suddenly, which led to him losing control of the speeding car that left its lane, climbing the road divider and racing to the opposite direction where the car collided with a passenger bus, a grey Toyota sports space bus.

“The bus was traveling from Abeokuta towards Sagamu. The unfortunate crash killed all the occupants of the two ill-fated vehicles. The suspected cause of the crash is tyre burst and speeding.

“The details of the two vehicles are: LSR 334 FF for the Toyota sports space van (ash) and the second vehicle is marked (Lagos) KJA 806 BT, KIA Cerato, black colour.

The Nationonline

FG spends N49bn to feed pupils in two years -Presidency

Olalekan Adetayo, Abuja

The Presidency on Thursday said the Federal Government has spent N49bn on the feeding of primary school pupils under the National Home-Grown School Feeding Programme, a component of the government’s Social Investment Programme, in the last two years.
The Special Adviser to the President on NSIP, Mrs. Mariam Uwais, disclosed this to journalists in Abuja.

Uwais said 8, 596,340 pupils were currently being fed in 46,247 public primary schools in 24 states.
The 24 states, according to her, include Abia, Adamawa, Akwa-Ibom, Anambra, Bauchi, Benue, Borno, Cross River, Delta, Ebonyi, Enugu, Gombe, Imo, Jigawa, Kaduna, Kano, Niger, Ogun, Osun, Oyo, Plateau, Sokoto, Taraba, and Zamfara.

The presidential aide said through the programme, 90,670 Nigerians had been engaged and empowered as cooks while over 100,000 local farmers had also been linked with the programme to supply locally sourced farm produce.
She said, “We have created a value chain with significant economic benefits to the microeconomic development of the states.

“The value chain offers additional benefits of job creation and increased livelihood outcomes for both cooks and small holder-farmers, hence improving livelihood and the local economies.”
Uwais noted that government was having challenges with the implementation of the school feeding programme in Niger and Benue states.

She said already some officials in the programme in the two states have been handed over to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission for the investigation and prosecution.

“The National Social Investment Office is ably empowered to suspend the programme in any state where the prescribed standard is reported to have fallen below expectation until a redesigned and realignment is achieved,” the presidential aide noted.

Uwais said the government has achieved 30 percent improvement in school enrollment in the country since the commencement of the programme.

She said while the Federal Government budgeted and appropriated N500bn for the 2016 fiscal year and the same amount in 2017, only about N140bn was released in 2017 while N80bn was accessed in 2016.


Other components of the SIP are N-Power, National Cash Transfer Project, and Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme.

Punch

Oyedepo To Buhari, Resign, Get Out Of Office

Jesusegun Alagbe

The founder and presiding bishop of the Living Faith Church Worldwide, aka Winners’ Chapel, David Oyedepo, has asked President Muhammadu Buhari to resign over persistent Fulani militant herdsmen killings.

In a YouTube video posted by the church’s official page, the cleric made this call on Sunday at its headquarters in Ota, Ogun State.

With this development, Oyedepo has joined other notable clerics – including the Archbishop of the Roman Catholic Church, Abuja, John Cardinal Onaiyekan; and a former Archbishop of the Catholic Church in Lagos, Cardinal Anthony Olubunmi Okogie – who have asked Buhari to quit his position over failure to secure the lives of Nigerians.

The cleric told his congregation that although he was not partisan, he would not be alive and not talk about the massacre of Nigerians, especially in the Middle Belt, by suspected Fulani herdsmen.

Speaking on the theme, “Enough is enough,” he said, “When I was talking in 2015, people were saying my own was too much, now everybody can see what’s happening. What has moved forward in anybody’s life? You don’t know it’s war. Why are they attacking the Christian communities? Why has nobody been arrested? I can tell you this, the authorities and the powers that be are behind them.

“I will never be partisan; Jesus got me out of it in 1984. But I will not be alive to see innocent people massacred.

“We must wake up and push this evil back. Not one of those so-called herdsmen – they are jihadists – has been brought to book till date. Herdsmen don’t shoot; they have been here all along. They are just taking cover under the herdsmen to assault innocent citizens. They wake up in the night and slice innocent children to pieces. Yet, you have a government in place. What!

“The most honourable thing for any non-performing leader to do is to resign. The most honourable thing is to resign. That’s my own for Mr President. Resign! Get out of office! Even our Islamic friends in the North are calling on him (Buhari) to resign. Because that’s the noblest thing to do. Or are we going to look at one system destroy a whole nation?”

Oyedepo also warned Nigerians against the ceding of land to the Fulani herdsmen for ranching, as proposed by the Federal Government.

He said, “I’m going to say this and I’m not going to be tired. This (Nigeria) will never be a Fulani republic. That is not our terms of agreement. It will remain a secular nation till Jesus returns. It’s not just (about) land, it’s (about) heritage.

“Forever, I stand on the fact that no government has the authority to collect land from those who own it and transfer it to another person because on the other side (presumably the north), it never happens"

Punch

Macron's Visit: France Based Agency, Ogun, Others Partner on Restoration of 108,000 Hectares of Degraded Lands

The Ogun State Government, France based In-Vivo Foundation and the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority, have signed a Letter of Intent, officialising the kick off of the "Ile Dotun" project implementation.

Aimed towards land revival, it is expected to restore the 108,000 hectares of degraded lands, belonging to the forest and game reserves of Imeko and Aworo in Ogun State.

The signing of the Letter of Intent, at the State House, Abuja, was part of highlights of the state visit of Mr. Emmanuel Macron, president of France, to Nigeria, yesterday.

Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, on behalf of the state, signed the letter for the partnership, the first structured initiative in Nigeria, towards concretising its engagement to achieve the Land Degradation Neutrality as an integral part of its Sustainable Development Goals 2015-2030 and in compliance with its engagement, contracted under the United Nations Convention to Combat Desertification.

It is the first site among 13 identified as priorities to convert degraded lands into havens for nature, while producing food in a sustainable manner and creating attractive jobs and green economic growth.

Under the project, land will be allocated to restore natural forest ecosystems in order to protect water catchments and establish biological corridors as well as secured grazing areas for transhumant shepherds alongside all rivers.

Land will also be allocated to local communities, comprising 3000 small farms that will receive assistance for long-term land lease as well as financial and technical support to establish climate smart intensive agriculture and agroforestry systems, from the state government.

Private farmers groups and enterprises, seeking means to develop agroforestry and forestry activities, are also to benefit.

It is expected that more partnerships will follow in the coming months, to secure the financial and technical inputs, needed for the successful implementation of Ile Dotun, as a new agricultural development paradigm.

French entities are said to be involved in the project, while more are expected to join this important innovative initiative, paving the way to reconcile production, job creation and nature restoration.

Gov. Ambode appointed as Chairman of Southern Governors Forum (SGF) in Lagos

.Southern Governors unite on true federalism, devolution of powers

…To collaborate on security, infrastructure, economy

For the first time in 12 years, Governors of the Southern States of Nigeria on Monday met in Lagos, where they unanimously reiterated the call for true federalism and devolution of powers to States.

The Governors, in a communique at the end of the meeting read by the host Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State, also resolved to collaborate with one another for the growth and development of their economies.

Aside Governor Ambode, the meeting was attended by Governors of Ogun, Senator Ibikunle Amosun; Oyo, Seantor Abiola Ajimobi; Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, Ebonyi, David Umahi; Edo, Mr. Godwin Obaseki; Ondo, Arakunrin Oluwarotimi Akeredolu; Abia, Mr. Okezie Ikpeazu; Enugu, Mr. Henry Ugwuanyi; Bayelsa, Mr. Seriaki Dickson and Ekiti State, Mr. Ayodele Fayose.

Governors of Cross River, Anambra and Delta were represented by their Deputies - Mr. Evara Esu; Dr. Ikem Okeke and Mr. Kingsley Otuaru respectively.

Continuing with the communique, Governor Ambode said the Governors after extensive deliberations, also emphasized priority on security and lives and property of citizens of the regions, while also resolving to work on effective linkage on good infrastructure across the 17 States in the region.

At the meeting, Governor Ambode was unanimously appointed as the Chairman of the Southern Governors Forum (SGF) while Governors Seriaki Dickson of Bayelsa and David Umahi of Ebonyi States were appointed as Co- Chairmen of the Forum.
The Forum also scheduled the next meeting for Port Harcourt in a yet to be announced date.

Earlier, Governor Ambode, while welcoming his colleagues to the meeting, reflected on the clamour for true federalism and devolution of powers, saying that states will benefit from the envisaged restructuring.

He said the goals of true federalism, which included the strengthening of autonomy and the enhancement of fiscal viability will enable the states to develop at their own pace and based on their peculiarities.

He said the forum had achieved an increased awareness on the sustenance of the national question germane to peaceful co-existence in the country.

However, he said there is a lot to be done and achieved, stressing that true federalism required urgent, meticulous and proactive attention by the forum.

Ambode frowned at what he described as the non-periodic review of the revenue formula as provided by the constitution to reflect evolving realities.

He said the review is crucial to enhance the viability of states and local government and their capacity to fulfil their developmental roles in the polity.

The governor added: “States are disparaged for always carrying begging bowls to Abuja in quest of hand-outs from the Federal Government. This is a function of our present national constitution that burdens the Federal Government with activities and responsibilities that rightly fall within the province of states.

“The productivity and revenue-generating capacities of most states are thus stifled, thus turning them into no better than street beggar states incapable of even meeting routine obligations of paying workers’ salaries and pensions without federal support.”

Ambode recalled that Lagos State had fought and won several legal battles since 1999 that have systematically strengthened her autonomy and enhanced her fiscal viability.

He noted that the state had won the legal control over the management of its environment, the control of urban and physical planning, the regulation of overhead masts, the registration and regulation of hotels and restaurants, and the control of inland waterways.

Ambode said these victories belonged, not only to Lagos, but also to other states, adding that, if Lagos could achieve so much by fighting alone, the Southern Governors’ Forum will accomplish more through collective planning and strategy.
The governor said the forum has been reactivated at the time the National Assembly is harmonising its differences over the 1999 Constitution amendment, which will soon be transmitted to the Houses of Assembly for approval

He said: “It is important for this forum to comprehensively look at the proposed amendments with a view to working with our respective Houses of Assembly to ensure a coordinated response on our part that will strengthen the practice of democracy, federalism, constitutionalism and the rule of law.
Ambode clarified that, while pushing for greater devolution of powers, responsibilities and resources from the centre to the states, the goal of the forum is neither to a weak centre and strong states and vice versa.

The governor paid tribute to former Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu for his initiave, recalling that he hosted the first meeting of the forum in Akodo Beach Resort, Ibeju-Lekki, whe he was at the helm of affairs.

He said while the initiative was received with mixed feelings at the time, Tinubu was vindicated later because of its achievements as the forum became a vocal voice on maters of critical importance, not only to the Southern Nigeria, but to the country as a whole.

Ambode hailed the forum for advocating for a special allocation to oil-producing states in the Federation Account, adding that its agitation led to the current 13 per cent revenue derivation and allocation from the Federation Account.

He said: “Another major victory won towards strengthening the country’s practice of true federalism was the declaration by the Supreme Court in 2002 that the then prevalent practice of the Federal Government deducting monies from the Federation Account as a first charge for the funding of Joint Venture Contracts, the NNPC priority projects, servicing of Federal Government’s external debt, the judiciary and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and other federal obligations were illegal and unconstitutional.

“The Supreme Court in that case abolished the special funds created by the Federal Government to enable it draw funds from the Federation Account to pay for matters that fell within its exclusive responsibility before sharing whatever was left with states and local governments.”