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Why We Removed Dayo As Ogun PDP Chairman – Kashamu
Senator Buruji Kashamu, the Ogun State’s Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate in the 2019 gubernatorial election, has said the former chairman, Chief Adebayo Dayo, was removed for trying to sell the party’s structure.
In a statement he personally signed, which was released in Lagos on Wednesday, Kashamu said Dayo met with Sir Kessington Adebutu at a hotel where he attempted to sell the structure of the party to the businessman.
According to him, “We have the evidence of the meeting at Equity Hotel, Ijebu Ode, where Dayo collected money to sell the Ogun State structures of the PDP to Sir Kessington Adebutu. What the purported buyers should realize is that they have been scammed, as Dayo has no power to transfer the structures of the party to anyone. How can anyone think that he can sell a political structure comprising many interests and major stakeholders for a mere N100 million?”
Chief Dayo has, however, denied the allegation saying it was Kashamu’s group that tried to bribe him with N10million to write the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) that the party’s delegate congress had been conducted.
But Kashamu denied offering the embattled former chairman any bribe, saying there was no reason for that since he had been financing the party in the state over the past 10 years.
Kashamu said, “No one is against the reconciliation of any aggrieved members but the question members of the party continue to ask is: How could Dayo claim that he was trying to reconcile anyone when he did not have any meeting with any stakeholder or any of the party executive committees at LGA or ward level and carried nobody in the State Executive Committee along before signing his contract with the purported buyers.
“What is more intriguing is: how would someone who calls himself PDP chairman want to sell the party to people who still have a binding and subsisting three-year agreement with the Allied People’s Movement (APM) in Ogun State? The agreement was publicly announced on the 7th of March, 2019. They have just done a year and the agreement will lapse in 2022. These elements have neither repudiated the agreement nor have they formally returned to the PDP.”
While stressing that the suspension of Dayo was in accordance with the party’s constitution, Kashamu said, “Constitutionally, the suspension of Adebayo Dayo was very much in order as prescribed by Article 57(3) of the PDP constitution.
“This provision empowers the Ogun State Working Committee (OGSWC) of the PDP to suspend any member of the party for a period not exceeding one month during which period such a member may be referred to the appropriate Disciplinary Committee.
“The OGSWC did not entertain any motion to discipline Adebayo Dayo. It only considered a motion to lodge a complaint against him at the National Executive Committee (NEC) of the PDP, for his activities against the Ogun State Executive Committee (OGSWC) and the party in Ogun State.
“Once it was resolved to lodge a complaint at the NEC against Dayo for the question of his discipline to be entertained by the NEC of the party, the members of the OGSWC further resolved that he should be suspended in the interim until the NEC decides whether or not to initiate the necessary disciplinary process against him.”
He added, “Contrary to Chief Adebayo Dayo’s argument, there is no encumbrance whatsoever on the capacity of the OGSWC to pass a motion to suspend him from his position as state chairman. This was not a meeting of the Ogun State Executive Committee of the PDP to determine whether to refer Dayo to a state disciplinary committee of the party as forbidden by Article 59(3) of the PDP Constitution.
“It was a duly convened extraordinary meeting of the OGSWC of the PDP to discuss the party’s activities and it was at that meeting that the decision was taken that the OGSWC be a complainant to the NEC of the party, against Dayo, which may then refer the matter to the appropriate disciplinary committee at the national level.”
Kashamu assured PDP members in Ogun State of the strength and virility of the party saying, “I wish to urge all members of the party in Ogun State to be peaceful and calm, as Dayo has no hope of victory in his dastardly endeavour. Members should be confident that the future of the party in Ogun State is bright and all will be well.”
Three Nigerian secondary schools are in the ring for the grand prize of N5m in the ongoing Glo Innov8 National STEM competition for girls in Senior Secondary Schools across the country.
The three top finalists were selected for their originality and innovation in the different entries for the competition. A total of 20 secondary schools were picked from over 200 schools which registered for the competition. After a series of considerations, 10 of them made it to the semifinal from which three; Ephraim High School, Isolo Campus, Lagos; Regina Pacis International School, Onitsha, Anambra State; and Peakfield Academy, Jos, Plateau State eventually coasted home to the finals.
Schools from Plateau, Kano, Lagos, Rivers, Edo, Borno, Kebbi, Nasarawa, Ondo, Oyo, Anambra, FCT, Delta, Kaduna and Adamawa states had signified intentions to participate following a call for entries by Glo Foundation, Globacom’s corporate social responsibility arm as part of its celebration of the 2025 International Day of the Girl Child.
Glo Innov8, a STEM-driven challenge, has scheduled prizes worth N5 million to the three schools in the finals. The competition “is geared at inspiring young girls to Compete, Innovate and Win, while also strengthening their confidence and expanding their knowledge in STEM subjects”, Glo Foundation explained.
The eventual overall winning school will go home with a cash prize of N2,000,000 while the 2 students representing the school will each get a laptop. The Teacher/Mentor/STEM Coordinator also gets N200,000.
The schools that come second and third places and their Teachers/Mentors/STEM Coordinators will also receive mouth-watering consolation prizes.
The three female judges of the virtual phase of selection of the top 20 schools said they were excited by the quality of presentations by the competing schools. One of them, Tosin Olabode said: “I was particularly impressed by the prototype presentations from some schools. They demonstrated that they had done their homework”.
In the same vein, Amina Gabriel disclosed that she was thrilled by the variety of ideas that the schools came up with. “The schools presented innovative solutions tackling issues in agriculture, security, waste management, and firefighting. The top 10 schools showcased outstanding prototypes, from apps to robots, making the judging process truly competitive. I’m grateful to Glo Foundation for the opportunity to serve and support young girls in STEM”, she said.
According to Sharon Ibejih, the third judge, “This competition has showcased a highly competitive next generation of women leaders in STEM. This was an excellent exercise and a means to encourage more students in STEM to develop problem-solving and innovative thinking skills”.
The overall winning school will emerge at an event set to hold later this year at the Mike Adenuga Centre (Alliance Française), Ikoyi, Lagos.
The leader of Indigenous People of Biafra (IPoB), Nnamdi Kanu, has filed a motion to stop the judgment of the Federal High Court, Abuja, in his trial for alleged terrorism.
Justice James Omotosho, on November 7, fixed November 20 for judgment on the case.
The judge fixed the date after Kanu’s defence was foreclosed following his insistence that he would not enter his defence under a repealed law.
However, in the motion on notice marked: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015, he personally filed, the IPoB leader sought seven reliefs.
In the application dated November 10 and filed same date, Kanu sought an order arresting the delivery of judgment in charge no: FHC/ABJ/CR/383/2015.
The document was made public on Tuesday.
In it, he alleged that the proceedings were conducted under a repealed and non-existent statute and in disobedience to the Supreme Court’s directive contrary to Section 287(1) CFRN 1999.”
He sought a declaration that by virtue of Section 287(1) CFRN, the trial court was constitutionally bound to give effect to the Supreme Court’s finding that count 15 (now count 7) “does not exist in law,” and its failure rendered all subsequent proceedings null and void.
He also sought a declaration that the court’s failure to take judicial notice of the repeal of the 2013 Terrorism Act, contrary to Section 122 Evidence Act 2011, vitiates all steps taken thereunder.
The IPOB leader equally sought a declaration that by virtue of Section 76(1)(d)(iii) of the Terrorism (Prevention and Prohibition) Act 2022, the Federal High Court lacked jurisdiction to try him in the absence of proof that the alleged conduct constituted an offence under Kenyan law or of any Kenyan judicial validation or extradition order.
Besides, Kanu sought “a declaration that the plea purportedly taken on March 29, under a repealed and non-existent statute and in violation of Section 220 ACJA 2015 is void and incapable of conferring jurisdiction.
President Bola Tinubu has dispatched a strong delegation to London to address the situation of Ike Ekweremadu, a former Deputy Senate President, who has been imprisoned in the UK since March 2023.
The delegation includes the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, and the Attorney General of the Federation and Minister of Justice, Prince Lateef Fagbemi.
The team arrived in London on Monday and held discussions with officials from the UK’s Ministry of Justice.
Alkasim Abdulkadir, spokesperson for Tuggar, said on Tuesday that the presidential delegation was in London to engage with UK authorities to consider the possibility of Ekweremadu serving the remainder of his prison sentence in Nigeria.
The London Metropolitan Police detained the Ekweremadus in June 2022 after a man was deceitfully presented to a private renal unit at Royal Free Hospital in London as a relative of their daughter Sonia, in what turned out to be a failed attempt to convince medical professionals to perform an £80,000 transplant.
The 21-year-old man, who had allegedly been promised employment in the UK, reported the incident to the police in May of that year, saying that he had been brought to the country for an organ transplant.
In March 2023, the former presiding officer of Nigeria’s Senate was convicted of organ trafficking by a UK court. Beatrice, his wife, and Obinna Obeta, a doctor connected to the case, were also found guilty.
This verdict marked the first of its kind under the UK Modern Slavery Act.
On May 5, 2023, Ekweremadu received a nine-year and eight-month prison sentence, while his wife was sentenced to four years and six months, and Obeta was given a ten-year prison sentence.
In his ruling, Judge Jeremy Johnson determined that Beatrice should serve half of her sentence in custody and be supervised for the remainder. However, she was released from prison in January and has since returned to Nigeria.
