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Jegede Wins Ondo PDP Guber Primary
Eyitayo Jegede, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) from Ipele town, near Owo, has emerged the winner of the Peoples Democratic Party’s Ondo primary election concluded late Wednesday.
Mr Jegede defeated Deputy Governor Agboola Ajayi and six others in the election that held at Dome centre, Akure, the state capital.
He is a former Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the state.
Mr Jegede also won the PDP primary in 2016, and flew the flag of the party in that year’s governorship election, a contest he lost to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu of the All Progressives Congress.
PREMIUM TIMES earlier reported that there was an uproar at the venue due to the arrival of 17 new delegates.
The party initially had 2,000 delegates to vote in the election.
Many of the aspirants claimed not to know the 17 delegates.
The chairman of the primary election, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State, and other committee members had a closed-door meeting with aspirants to discuss whether to accept the list or not.
Eventually, they agreed that any of those 17 whose name is on the original delegates list would be allowed to vote.
Eight aspirants sought the party’s ticket at the primary.
They are Agboola Ajayi, Eyitayo Jegede, Boluwaji Kunlere, Eddy Olafeso, Ben Okunomo, Bode Ayorinde, Godday Erewa and Sola Ebiseeni.
With his emergence as PDP flag-bearer, Mr Jegede is again the main challenger to Governor Rotimi Akeredolu, who is the candidate of the governing party, the APC.
Mr Ajayi, the deputy governor, had rushed out of the APC and joined the PDP hoping to clinch the opposition party’s ticket.
His defeat now appears double jeorpardy for him as he will now have to fend off an aggressive plot to remove him from office.
Below is the full result indicating the votes won by candidates.
Olorogun Eddy Olafeso – 175 votes
Agboola Ajayi – 657 votes
Banji Okunomo – 90 votes
Bode Ayorinde – 95 votes
Boluwaji Kunlere – 33 votes
Olusola Ebiseni – 29 votes
Godday Erewa – 14 votes
Eyitayo Jegede – 888 votes
Premium Times
All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Samuel Ajose, has declared that the endorsement of Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat as the next governor by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) will not stand.
GAC, regarded as the highest decision-making body of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, endorsed Hamzat, as its consensus candidate for the 2027 governorship election.
The decision was reached during a closed-door meeting held at Lagos House, Marina, indicating an early alignment within the ruling party ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Speaking after the session, GAC leader, Tajudeen Olusi, said members unanimously agreed on Hamzat, expressing confidence in his ability to sustain and build on the state’s developmental progress.
Olusi explained that the meeting was convened to deliberate on the party’s forthcoming primaries and assess the governorship position ahead of the 2027 elections.
Speaking about the GAC adoption of Hamzat as Lagos APC consensus 2027 governorship candidate on Arise News on Tuesday, Ajose said that Sanwo-Olu and others are trying to force President Tinubu into making a decision.
“I don’t think our president, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is giving in to what they are doing.
“What they are just trying to do is to coerce him into taking a decision, and I don’t think that decision will stand.”
The House of Representatives has approved President Bola Tinubu’s request to borrow Five Hundred and Sixteen Million, Three Hundred and Thirty-three Thousand, seven ($516,333,007) US dollars in syndicated financing from Deutsche Bank AG.
The House approved it during the plenary on Tuesday in Abuja after the presentation of a report by the deputy chairman of the House Committee on Aids, Loans, and Debts Management, Abdullahi Rasheed.
The money is expected to fund the construction of sections of the Sokoto–Badagry Super Highway.
President Tinubu wrote to the lawmakers, seeking a $516.3 million loan from Deutsche Bank to support the construction of the road.
The president said the loan, to be sourced from a syndicated financing facility by Deutsche Bank, will fund sections 1, 1A, and 1B of the project, which covers about 120 kilometres.
Tinubu requested a resolution in line with Sections 16 and 21 of the Debt Management Office (Establishment) Act, 2011, to enable the federal government to secure the financing for Sections 1, Phase 1A, and Phase 1B of the project.
The project is a flagship initiative of Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda and is targeted at enhancing national connectivity, improving the movement of goods across key economic corridors, and drastically shrinking travel time.
The 1,000-kilometre project will link Sokoto, Kebbi, Niger, Kwara, Oyo, Ogun, and Lagos states, connecting Illela to Badagry.
According to him, the financing arrangement will be backed by a partial risk guarantee from the Islamic Corporation for the Insurance of Investment and Export Credit (ICIEC).
He said the Federal government will provide counterpart funding of over N265 billion for land acquisition, compensation, and related infrastructure.
The former Lagos governor said the loan is structured for nine years and includes a three-year grace period.
It has an interest rate pegged at the Chicago Mercantile Exchange SOFR plus 5.3 per cent per annum.
Already, the Federal Executive Council has approved the financing plan.
Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission have arrested a former chairman of defunct Skye Bank Plc, Tunde Ayeni, over alleged money laundering, misappropriation and diversion of funds amounting to N36.54bn and $30m.
Ayeni, a businessman, was arrested in Abuja on Thursday, and is currently being held at the commission’s facility.
The arrest followed an EFCC probe into alleged misappropriation and diversion of funds said to have been obtained from Polaris Bank through multiple entities linked to him.
“Operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, have arrested a former board chairman of defunct Skye Bank Plc and businessman, Tunde Ayeni, in connection with alleged money laundering, misappropriation and diversion of funds to the tune of N36,540,058,400.00 and $30m.
“Ayeni was arrested sequel to the investigation of the EFCC into alleged misappropriation and diversion of funds to the tune of N36,540,058,400.00 and $30m obtained from Polaris Bank Plc by different entities linked to him.
“The funds were loans obtained allegedly for specific investment projects but subsequently transferred to other entities’ accounts. Investigations showed that, though the loans were obtained for purposes such as finance of marine security activities, electricity distribution contract, estate development, they were diverted to the NITEL/MTEL asset acquisition through NATCOM account,” one of the sources said.
Another source said the commission is currently probing 12 companies allegedly linked to Ayeni, which it said were used to obtain the loans from Polaris Bank.
“Twelve different companies linked to Ayeni are being investigated by the EFCC. They are entities he allegedly used to obtain loans from Polaris Bank for his shady activities. The loans are depositors’ funds fraudulently obtained and frittered into diverse wasteful purposes. Ayeni will be arraigned in due course upon conclusion of investigations,” the source said.
When contacted, EFCC spokesman Dele Oyewale confirmed the arrest but declined to give further details.
The Punch
