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At Last, Bello Approves COVID-19 Vaccination In Kogi

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EFCC Withdraws Suit Against Kogi Govt Over N20b Bailout Funds In Sterling Bank

After weeks of resistance, the Kogi government has approved COVID-19 vaccination for the residents of the state.

Governor Yahaya Bello had insisted that he would not allow his people to be used as “guinea pigs by vaccine manufacturers”.

But the State Commissioner for Health, Saka Haruna, told journalists on Monday in a telephone interview that Kogi would receive doses of the vaccine on Tuesday ahead of the rollout.

He also said the residents would be given “unhindered access to receive the vaccine”.

Kogi is the only state yet to start administering the Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine to residents three weeks after Nigeria began its rollout.

The National Primary Health Care Development Agency had attributed the delay to two factors – the state’s “concerns around the contradictory information about the vaccines” and the non-repair of its cold-chain store.

READ ALSO: PDP Suspends Babangida Aliyu For Working Against Jonathan, Others In 2015

When the vaccine doses arrived in Nigeria, Bello who had repeatedly denied the existence of COVID-19 in Kogi, said the vaccination was among their least concerns.

“COVID-19 is just a minute aspect of what we’re treating in Kogi state. I’m not going to subject the people of Kogi State to vaccination, or I will not make them guinea pigs.” he had said.

But Haruna said on Monday that “everything” was set for the state to start the vaccination rollout.

“We have done the micro-planning and everything has been completed with the National Primary Health Care Development Agency,” the commissioner said.

“Anybody that is willing to receive the vaccine (will receive it); nobody is exempted. And nobody will be forced to receive the vaccine.”

The official also said the state would announce further plans, including the location of the vaccination launch after receiving the supplies.

He, however, failed to confirm if state government officials particularly the governor would receive the vaccine.

“The governor does not have to receive the vaccine before others will; I don’t think there is anything special about COVID that we have to bring the governor out to come and receive the vaccine,” he said.

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BREAKING: PDP Wins, Clears All 30 Councils In Osun Poll

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The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Saturday emerged the winner for  the election for all the chairmanship and councillorship seats in all the 30 local government areas of Osun State.

The election was held on Saturday.

The Chairman of the Osun State Independent Electoral Commission, Hashim Abioye, announced the results at a press conference in Osogbo, the state capital on Saturday evening.

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Bisi Akande Drags Obasanjo Into Bola Ige’s Murder

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By John Michael Ojo

Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun State, has alleged that the administration of  former President Olusegun Obasanjo was responsible for the brutal killing of erstwhile Attorney General of the Federation, Chief Bola Ige.

Akande stated this while appearing  on Edmund Obilo’s podcast, State Affairs, where he also claimed that a friend Oluwole Rotimi, had given a hint on the impending danger if the deceased resigned from President Obasanjo’s government.

When asked to speak on the incident, the former interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), said: “One evening, he (Ige) called me and said he was going to resign from this government tomorrow. It was sudden, and I said, ‘Please sir, I will come back to you.’ I called Oluwole Rotimi, and said this is what your friend told me: that he was going to resign from Obasanjo’s government tomorrow.

READ ALSO: South-West Governors, Tinubu, Akande, Akinrinade, Others To Meet Over State Of The Nation

“He asked me to advise him not to resign because if he does, he is likely going to die—he said that to me on the phone. I called Uncle (Ige) and begged him not to resign.

“He said he had talked to Wole Soyinka and Bola Tinubu, and both of them said he should resign. But I said, ‘Don’t. You can go to Obasanjo, tell him what you are angry about, and if he doesn’t want you anymore, here is your letter.’”

Akande who also claimed that Ige,  a Second Republic Governor of  Oyo State had issues bordering on trust with the then President said “Since he was resigning from his government, I think he stopped trusting him.”

However, Akande who was the governor of a neighbouring state when Ige was assassinated in Oyo State on the 23rd of December 2001, failed to provide names of those he felt were directly involved in the murder case.

“I don’t know. He was killed in Oyo State while I was ruling in Osun State. The government killed him (Bola Ige). It was a state murder.

“Lam Adesina, who was the Chief Security Officer of Oyo State then, went to court, and Ladoja withdrew the case from court. He might know more and be able to tell you.

READ ALSO: Adebanjo Wants EFCC To Probe  Sources Of Wealth Of Tinubu, Akande

“It was the government that killed him, and the government can kill anybody.

“Obasanjo wasn’t keen about Ige’s death; he was more interested in the stability of himself,” Akande maintained.

 

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LG Election: Opposition Parties On Holiday, APC Remains Party to Beat – Abiodun

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My Dad Asked Me To Prioritise Civil Servants, Pensioners, Teachers - Abiodun
Ogun State Governor Dapo Abiodun

Ogun State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun has declared that based on the performance of his administration in the last five years, opposition parties are clearly unpopular and invisible in the forthcoming local government election.

The governor added that the quality of candidates the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) is presenting in the election would make it the party to beat with landslide victory in all the 20 Local Government Areas of the State.

Speaking through his Special Adviser on Media and Communications, Hon. Kayode Akinmade, over the weekend, Prince Abiodun explained that his administration has changed the hitherto volatile political environment in the state and made it conducive for opposition parties to operate without hindrance or intimidation.

According to him, instead of the primordial machinery of intimidation, his administration has dwarfed the opposition parties in the state through sterling performance and creative ideas for development.

Governor Abiodun, therefore, urged members of APC in the state to show more commitment and work in harmony to sustain the feats already attained in the past years and ensure resounding victory during the November 16 local government poll.

“With the quality of candidates our party is presenting in the forthcoming local government election in the State, APC remains a part to beat; we have assiduously and consistently made remarkable impacts in the life of our people and this is indeed our selling point.

“Without going through the primordial route of physical intimidation of opposition parties, our administration has obviously silenced them by our intimidating projects, creative ideas and prudence, which have earned us a leading status among other federating units.

“It is now incumbent on every APC member across the 20 Local Government Areas to sustain the enviable feats our party has recorded in the last five years by showing more commitment and work in unison for the victory of our party come November 16,” Abiodun said.

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