On Wednesday, the leadership of workers’ unions and Osun government signed an MoU, putting the hues and cries about salaries of workers in Osun to rest. I dont want to write on the aspect of the fact that the quagmire that orchestrated the salary issues is not limited to Osun. I also don’t want to write that that is why all the states in the country but a few took the bailout fund aimed at settling the salary issue.
This piece is targeted at ‘speaking at’ the clauses in the document that various representatives of workers in the state and government agreed to go by.
The document, titled MEMORANDUM OF UNDERSTANDING (MOU) BETWEEN THE STATE GOVERNMENT OF OSUN AND THE COMMITTEE INAUGURATED ON DISBURSEMENT OF BAILOUT LOAN has two main clauses; vis: . Disbursement of Bailout Loan and 2. Subsequent Payment of Salaries.
Basically what both parties agreed upon is that government should systematically disburse the bailout loan to cover the payment of outstanding salaries. See details below.
However, the most interesting aspect of the agreement kind of tries to answer the question- “what next after now?”. How would government be able to pay workers’ salaries after the bailout fund had been exhausted. This question is necessary particularly because everybody, including Government and Labour now recognize “that current national challenge resulting from dwindling Federation Revenue will continue to affect the payment of salaries, wages, pension, etc, and critical expenditures of Government”. This realisation comes within the precinct of the fact that Osun would be left will a net of less than a billion Naira every month after deductions- including the bailout related ones.
Consequently, Osun workers, according to the MoU, have agreed “to work with government to increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) so as to increase the available revenue to be apportioned towards salaries, wages, pensions and other critical expenditures of Government” like infrastructure development, security, general welfare among others.
Immediate in this regard is that every adult in the state must now critically and effectively get involved in the development of our state by paying the minimum tax of N4,500 every year. And this is where this foregoing gets interesting.
In recent times, it has gotten crystal clear that some elements have vowed to be tireless in their plots of destruction. While the salary/bailout negotiation was underway some days ago, the undermining of the PDP was cristal clear. They engaged their various hands including some unsuspecting citizens of the state. They overwhelmed the social media and a number of their supporting newspapers and Omisore’s radio station in Ife to spin ridiculous lies. When they saw that their devilish wish failed, they resorted to physical assault. They mingled with some labour on Tuesday in Abere, asking that the meeting that was to usher in the Labour/government MoU that was signed today be disrupted.
The meeting was going on in Abere on Tuesday when they mingled with some unsuspecting union representatives to disrupt the negotiation meeting in Abere. But their plot failed. The genuine workers realized their evil plot and ‘the chaff was winnowed from the wheat’. The PDP agents then got angry that they have been discovered, believing that the media gave them in. So they started beating up media guys around, destroying their equipment. The matter is currently being handled at the police headquarters in Osogbo. They could not disrupt the meeting yesterday. So agreements were reached and subsequently signed today.
As the matter is now, one can simply pre-empt these harm of a group called PDP in Osun. They would be mapping out another sort of platform to disrupt the state. The immediate one now is that government has introduced an unbearable tax regime.
Hence, it is important to let the public know that the minimum tax (N4,500 per annum) is not unbearable, looking at it from the minimum affordability standard of life of the people.
Virtually every household in Osun today has at least a telephone set. The least amount of call credit that such household purchases to make phonecalls in a month is not less than four hundred Naira (N400). So, such household would have spent four thousand, eight hundred Naira (N4,800) between January and December. Hence it would be mischievous that Omisore’s PDP now describe the minimum tax of three hundred and seventy-two Naira (N372 per month) that the patriotic Osun people would invariably be paying per month for further development of roads, schools, other infrastructure as well as general development of the state as “huge”.
Osun workers and the entire good people of the state have now come to realise that the cries of the Omisore/PDP wailers are only meant to cause chaos. Even their friends now know that they are worst than a honest enemy.
Their antecedents would always reveal their plots anytime in time. They have pretended to love the masses during last governorship election, so they roamed markets during electioneering campaigns. After election where are they? Now they cried more than the bereaved as though they loved Osun workers. In actual fact they wished they could get what they lost last year August 9 through chaos. Nay!
Have you heard the latest spins of their lies? They said the Osun deputy governor ‘WAS’ dead.
Excerpts of the MoU
Subsequent Payment of Salaries
(I) Government and Labour recognized that the current national challenge resulting from dwindling Federation Revenue will continue to affect the payment of salaries, wages, pension, etc, and critical expenditures of Government,
(II) The Government and Labour agreed that whatsoever is available as net revenues accruing from Federation Accounts and Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) will be apportioned in such a way as to take care of wages, salaries, pensions and other critical expenditures required to run the machinery of government;
(III) The Labour agreed to work with government to increase the Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) so as to increase the available revenue to be apportioned towards salaries ,wages, pensions and other critical expenditures of Government; and
(IV) That the agreement in B(I) above be experimented for a period of three (3) months in the first instance and be reviewed thereafter in line with financial reality on ground.
(V) That a standing Committee of Labour and Government representative be put in place immediately to ensure transparent implementation of B (II&III) above.

Adebayo Rasheed Mabayoje

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The Governor of Osun, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has named an Acting Chief Medical Director for the Ladoke Akintola University Teaching Hospital, LAUTECH, Osogbo. He is Prof Akeem Olawale Lasisi.

A statement by the Director, Bureau of Communication and Strategy in the Office of the Governor, Mr. Semiu Okanlawon, said the appointment takes effect immediately.

A 1990 graduate of the Obafemi Awolowo University Ile Ife, Prof Lasisi, after his mandatory national youth service at the Comprehensive Health Centre, Guma, Benue State between 1991 and 1992, worked at the General Hospital, Ilesha between 1992 and 1993.

He started residency training in Otorhinolaryngology, Head and Neck Surgery at the University College Hospital, Ibadan in December 1993 and became a Fellow of the West African College of Surgeons in Medical College of Nigeria in May 2002.

He joined the Department of Otorhinolaryngology, University of Ibadan as a Lecturer in December 2000 and was promoted to Senior Lecturer in July 2004 and Professor in October 2010.

He has received several travel and research grants including the Faculty of Clinical Science travel grant 2003 and 2005, MacArthur Travel Grant 2006, National Institute of Health Travel grant 2013 and the University of Ibadan MacArthur Foundation Multidisciplinary Team Research Grant in 2008 for the Immunological study of prenatal risk factors of ear infection in first year of life.

He is married to Dr. Mrs Jemilat Lasisi, a fellow of the same College and Lecturer in Physiology/Oral Pathology in the University of Ibadan with 4 children.

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Osun State Governor, Rauf Aregbesola and his counterpart in Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, have stressed the need for government at all levels to fashion out pragmatic programmes aimed at empowering women in the country. The duo spoke at the National Women Conference organised by the Committee of Wives of Lagos State Officials, COWLSO, held at the Eko Hotels and Towers, Victoria Island, Lagos, Southwest Nigeria on Friday.
Declaring the conference closed, Aregbesola made case for women to be empowered, stressing that, “women must be empowered; there is no society that shackles more than half of its population that can develop or progress. This must begin with compulsory education of the girl child. I have searched the two religions of Islam and Christianity and I am yet to see anything that stands in the way of women education and empowerment. As this conference comes to a close, one of the messages we will all take away from here is the renewed effort at educating the girl child in the north and women empowerment all over the country,” he said.
He appealed to government at all levels to invigorate efforts in educating the girl child in the North and women empowerment all over the country. The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Mrs Titi Laoye Tomori, said recent studies had shown that women, through their various businesses, had contributed immensely to the employment rate in the nation.
“In recent years, we have had a reversal of roles on the family front in some cases such that a significant number of women are now the breadwinners. Through empowerment, they have been able to sustain businesses and thereby providing for their families, educating their children and building sustainable homes and businesses,” he said.
Speaking, Ambode said his administration would adopt some of the recommendations of the conference which sought to empower women in all ramifications and see how they could be implemented to improve the lives of Lagosians. I am sure the communiqué that has emerged at this conference will encapsulate a blueprint for the economic engagement of our womenfolk, not just in Lagos State but across Nigeria,” Governor Ambode said.
“This conference marks a new beginning for COWLSO. We will remain partners in progress and also welcome your constructive criticisms to help us improve in our duty to deliver good governance to the people of Lagos State. This administration counts on your usual support and co-operation,” he said.
However, Ambode said the state government would consider the possibilities of collaborating with Kebbi State to explore the economic opportunities in the production and distribution of high yield quality rice and other ventures. He recalled that his Kebbi state counterpart, Alhaji Atiku Bagudu, had during the opening ceremony of the conference on Wednesday, sought the cooperation between women in Kebbi and Lagos States in the production of high quality yield rice, saying that it is one area the state will seek to explore.
Chairman of COWLSO, Mrs. Bolanle Ambode, said the three-day conference discussed series of issues among which was the devastating consequences of divorce on the health and wellbeing of women and children, adding that 80-90 per cent of primary care visits to doctors were due to preventable illnesses, while approximately 95 per cent of them were caused by stress. She urged all participants to keep the knowledge gained close to their hearts and deploy it appropriately in future, for maximum advantage.
The 10-point Communiqué of the Conference read by the wife of the Secretary to the Lagos State Government, Professor Ibiyemi Bello, among other things, tasked government at all levels to pay more attention to women empowerment, especially the girl-child.
The highpoint of the ceremony was the presentation of Certificate of Appreciation to four individuals and corporate organisations, including former House Committee Chairman on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa; Chairman of Dangote Group, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Mrs. Anutal Savara and Honeywell Group Nigeria Limited.
THE NEWS NIGERIA

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The people and workers in Osun State have been enjoined to cooperate with the governor, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola, in his effort to deliver on his electoral promises.
The Senator representing Osun East Senatorial District and Chairman Senate Committee on Rules and Business, Babajide Omoworare made the call yesterday.
In statement by his Media Assistant Tunde Dairo, Senator Omoworare said  the financial difficulty currently experienced in the state is an imposed national crisis which the APC led Federal Government is working round the clock to resolve.
While commending President MuhammaduBuhari for his fatherly gesture through the bailout plan,  Senator Omoworare said: “The  bailout is a short term measure to ameliorate the economic hardship imposed on the federating states by the previous PDP led administration. Hence, states must look inward to generate more resources with people friendly and acceptable policies if they intend to break even.
“Workers in Osun should be commended for their perseverance and understanding as shown during this trying period. A collective solution for a lasting result and economic repositioning of the state is a necessity which must not be trivialised or politicized.”
THE NATION

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*gives newspaper 15 days to retract publication

A member of the Nigeria Union of Pensioners in Osun has on Wednesday denied that it has urged the Central Bank of Nigeria to put an embargo on the N34.988bn bailout loan released to the state for workers salaries and pensions.

Mr. Tunde Oguniyi, who was quoted by Punch newspaper as the Chairman of Osun NUP made this denial while speaking with journalists shortly after the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Osun government signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the disbursement of bailout loan which commenced on Wednesday.

Oguniyi said at no time did he speak with the PUNCH correspondent while denying being the chairman of NUP or a member of the executives in the state.

Oguniyi held that he was the state Chairman of 2011/2012 retirees, a subset of the Nigerian Union of Pensioners (NUP) Osun Chapter‎.

‎He stated that he did not ‎address a press conference or signed a press statement let alone granting any interview in whatever form to the Punch newspaper or the correspondent in Osun.‎‎

Oguniyi stated that he was embarrassed by the publication of the Punch Newspaper‎ of September 16, 2015, where he was quoted to have called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the National Assembly to declare emergency rule in Osun because the state is gravitating towards anarchy because of non-payment of salaries and pensions.
The former NUP boss held that there was no time that he spoke with any media outfit in Osun or elsewhere in Nigeria that Governor Rauf Aregbesola has refused to use the bailout fund for what it was meant for.‎
‎He threatened to drag the Punch Newspaper to court within 15 days if the story is not retracted by the organisation. He described the report as false and that which could damage his reputation.

‎According to him, “I woke up this morning, reading in the Punch that I addressed a press conference calling on the CBN to stop Osun bailout. The report is a misrepresentation and completely false. It could have been sponsored by faceless people whose identity are not clear to me.‎

“The period that the Punch reported that I was addressing press conference, I was at the Government Secretariat negotiating on salary of pensioners as one of the 8-man negotiating committee of the NUP.
“I still find it disturbing on how it is possible for me to be negotiating in Abere on behalf of my colleagues and at the same time addressing a press conference even when I am not the chairman or secretary.

“I am not the chairman Osun NUP and at no time was an executive member of the union, Dr. Olunlade is the current Chairman but to my surprise, I was quoted as the Chairman who signed a purported statement that I have not even sighted as at the time of addressing you.

“The report is wicked, ridiculous and malicious and it is important for me to dissociate myself from such report because there was no time we discussed such press conference or anyone sought my consent to such press release.

“Before coming here this morning, I have contacted the Punch correspondent and I gave them 15 days ultimatum to retract the story or meet me in court.” Oguniyi stressed.

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After a stream of cheery developmental news, the Osun opposition, with both hands, grabbed the demon of unpaid salaries — and hard, it nailed the Osun government.
It thoroughly demonised Governor Rauf Aregbesola and his ambitious social and physical infrastructure programmes, donning the Ogbeni in an unflattering garb — a grand hypocrite in the progressive space, that should be condemned by all!
Which lover of the masses, they ask in triumph, cheeks bathed in subversive tears, would sit pretty and watch his people go hungry, months on end, without salaries?
It was all emotive blackmail, of course.  On the salary issue, the governor was not unfazed any more than he created the failure, though his finances were rather tight, with virtually every kobo over-leveraged, on ambitious — over-ambitious, many insist — capital projects, such that any shock, no matter how slight, was catastrophic.
The real culprit was, however, former President Goodluck Jonathan — his recklessness with the national till. This point Ripples made in “Osun’s politics of the belly” (July 7), when it argued that since the Jonathan Presidency caused the problem, the Muhammadu Buhari Presidency should fix it, instead of the media roasting of victim governors, which solved no problems.  The president did just that.
But the blackmail grandly resonated.  Those unconvinced by its logic were easily swept by its pathos; with not a few succumbing fast to plaintive kith-and-kin, going hungry and clearly angry, for not earning salary, for no less than six months.
Well, all is fair in war — and the Osun government, in the clouds most times, plummeted back to earth!
Now, with a Federal Government-secured loan to clear the salary backlog, is the demonization set to end?  Not a chance!
For one, play on emotions is the exclusive preserve of those who cannot build clinical arguments; or the mischievous, who have nary a case.
For another, the Osun opposition is not about dismantling its egbirin ote — what the Yoruba would call a complex web of intrigues — for in Aregbesola’s failure lies their own salvation!  When, after all, comes from the gods, another potent blackmail weapon, ala unpaid salaries, to torture a clear and present nemesis?
So, enter a fresh controversy: the reported verification, in the build-up to clearing the salary arrears.
The Osun opposition insists it is yet another example of the government’s coldness to the plight of the Osun workers — for why is the verification bobbing up “now”, on the virtual eve of settling what was owed?  Some especially creative minds even posit, swearing by all they hold dear, that the government had “fixed” the salary money to earn some “quick interest”, while workers continued starving!
To be sure, the government has not exactly done itself much favour by the verification’s timing, with its high blackmail value: its opponents’ penchant for eternal spinning; and a jaded workers’ near-zero resistance to emotional manipulation, masquerading as hot sympathy.
Still, the government insists that since Osun would continue re-paying the loan far into the future, it was an excellent time to vet the salary bill, lest the money ends in some ghost pockets.  That makes a lot of sense, though not a few would be too angry to see reason with it.
It could also well be that a few ghosts and their ambassadors are the most trenchant in the protest racket — for the more raucous the racket, the more the confusion; and the more the confusion, the better chances the ghosts continue to get paid!
Whatever is happening, the Ogbeni owes the Osun people clear explanations and full disclosure.  At the end, the government would do what it must do to protect public money and its own integrity.
So, with the opposition always buzzing with mischief, of the most fantastic hue, it may be morning yet on Osun’s day of eternal intrigue!
Still, the Osun government must be gratified it continues to point the way, for the rest of the country, to the welfare state; despite its lean resources.  Two policy news appear to reinforce this point.
Two weeks ago, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo announced the Federal Government was set to implement the All Progressives Congress (APC) campaign promise of a schools feeding programme, which, apart from boosting school attendance, would also boost investment in agriculture, catering and allied lines.
On September 9 in Osogbo, as the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) kicked off its nationwide distribution of plastic chairs to schools, a Federal Government official confirmed Osun’s leadership in this schools welfare programme.
“The home-grown school feeding programme, the O’Meal,” said UBEC’s Dr. Yakubu Gambo, “is one programme that has endeared the governor to us because he is the only governor doing it despite the capital intensive nature of the programme.”
Governor Aregbesola, present at the occasion, weighed in: “We are building state-of-the-art 100 elementary schools, 50 middle schools and 20 high schools.  This is a big project by any standard,” he gushed, “which has injected life into the construction industry; and has provided jobs for artisans and professionals.”
Prince Felix Awofisayo, the Osun SUBEB chief, was not left out of the developmental whoop: “Let me reiterate that the provision of functional education for the citizenry,” he declared, “as the administration is anchored on the implementation of a cohesive and an all-encompassing six-point integral plan.”
So much developmental news in a day — a far cry from rumbling tummies, plotting adversaries and scapegoating media, just as it was at the beginning, before the salary demon!
It is the final triumph, then?  Hardly!
‘Governor Aregbesola needs a cabinet now to finish as strongly as he started, before the salary catastrophe.  If he delays, he risks facing a crisis — an internal crisis — much more lethal than the hell-raising Osun opposition can ever muster’
And the battle next time would not be solely from the Osun opposition, even if its bad-tempered buzz would always vibrate; but more dangerously from inside Aregbesola’s own camp, which may well, not unfairly, declare itself starved of legitimate pork.
Thank God, the salary odyssey is coming to an end.  The Ogbeni should draw a closure as swiftly as he can, and bring smiles back to the cheeks of Osun workers.  He should also seek funds to complete his grand capital projects, among them crucial roads.  It is nice developmental news, from Osun, is hitting the wires again, after the horror tales of the past months.
But the come-back would not be complete without the governor constituting a cabinet. Nearing the end of the first year in a four-year second term, it is time to bring in as many bright and committed minds as possible — for it is a challenging juncture, demanding a brilliant and committed collective.  It could make the difference between success and failure.
Governor Aregbesola needs a cabinet now to finish as strongly as he started, before the interregnum of the salary catastrophe.  If he delays, he risks facing a crisis — an internal crisis — much more lethal than the hell-raising Osun opposition can ever muster.
THE NATION

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The concern of the Osun State government is how to sustain payment of salary after using the bailout to clear salary arrears, Chief Whip of the House of Assembly, Oladoyin Bamisayemi-Folorunso, has said.
Folorunso said the state will be back to square one because its monthly allocation of N1.6 billion falls short of the N3.6 billion monthly wages.
He spoke yesterday on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme.
He said Governor Rauf Aregbesola had been holding consultation with stakeholders, including labour unions, traditional rulers and opinion leaders, on the way forward. “This is the moment of clarity for the government and the workers. The present wage bill of N3.6 billion is unsustainable,” he said.
The lawmaker said payment of the salary arrears would start today. “I can assure you the workers will start receiving their pay in the next 24 hours. The rumour that the bailout had been diverted is not true; the money is intact.
“Our concern is that after the bailout, what next? That was why the state government had been brainstorming with the stakeholders. The state’s economy can’t sustain six tertiary institutions. That is why all of us should come together and face the reality. It is either we sacrifice or we continue to face the problem of salary arrears.”
On Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), Bamisayemi-Folorunso said the people are not ready to pay tax. The government introduced a flat rate of N1, 500 per adult, which sparked off protest. He said given the state of finance, government may have to rationalise its work force because, according to him, the state revenue could not sustain the current 35,000 workforce.
But tertiary institution workers said they will not accept a salary cut. They insisted that their full salary, including allowances, should be paid since the bailout was meant for that. They advised the government to stop pension deduction because the previous deduction was last remitted to the pension firms last September.
THE NATION

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Contrary to insinuations by the Osun Peoples Democratic Party PDP that the Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola has diverted the bailout loan to finance contracts, the National President, Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Comrade Aliyu Wabba ‎has said that the Osun bailout loan is intact.

Comrade Wabba made this disclosure while speaking with journalists shortly‎ after the union and other labour leaders met behind closed doors with the governor in his office in Osogbo.
‎
The NLC boss stated that NLC and other leaders who had come on a fact-finding mission have confirmed that Governor  Aregbesola has no intention to divert the bailout funds on any project in the state as speculated in by the opposition.
Wabba described the allegation as misleading and unfounded, stating that Osun government and labour leaders have come to a common ground on how the bailout funds would be disbursed for the payment of backlog of workers’ salary.

He said the union and the state government have agreed to set up a five-man committee to oversee and work on the improvement of the state Internally Generated Revenue in order to prevent the state from future economic problem.

Speaking on the progress made by the meeting, he noted that the state government has agreed to pay the backlog of salaries from the bailout loan it received.

He added the delay in payment of the bailout by Osun government was occasioned by concern on the sustainability of the state resources to continuously meet up with the payment of workers’ salary after the bailout loan had been expended for the purpose it was meant for.

The NLC boss stressed that the union has assured the governor of its support in boosting the state IGR so as to make the state to meet up with its recurrent and capital expenditure as well as other commitments.
According to him, “I want to make it clear to the whole world that Governor Aregbesola has no intention whatsoever to divert the bailout funds for the execution or completion of any project in the state as he is ready to use the money for the payment of workers’ salary arrears.
“We have reached a fruitful and workable ground with Mr. Governor on how the backlog salaries of our members would be paid.
“Our union has comprehensively discussed with Mr. Governor on  how the state IGR would be exponentially elevated so as for the state to meet with all its engagements as the governor envisaged largely on the sustainability of the state workforce in terms of salary payment”,
Comrade Wabba noted.

Speaking on the position of the state government towards the resolutions made at the meeting, he stressed that the governor was bordered by the state of the nation’s economy which he said has negatively affected the allocation received by the state.

Wabba said that Aregbesola was of the opinion that unless the state IGR is improved, the state would be incapable to settling the bills of her workforce. Comrade Wabba said the union has come to realize the position of  the state government on the need for all the stakeholders in the state to work collectively at blocking all leakages and as well increase the state IGR.

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•Aregbesola seeks cooperation with NSA
The Nigerian Statistical Association (NSA) has urged on the Federal Government to involve the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) in the monitoring of crude oil export and refined petroleum products importation with a view to ensuring reliable statistical data on the nation’s merchandise.
This is even as it also called for urgent review of the existing policies guiding the economic activities in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs) such that the export-import trade business in the zones could be accessible to agencies involved in data collation and production for national planning and development.
Setting this agenda for government at the just ended 39th Annual Conference of the Association in Oshogbo, Osun State, its National President, Dr Mohammed Tumala, said these policy measures were required to get accurate data on Nigeria’s merchandise trade trends on a broader scale and by implication, support statistics-based planning for development.
Tumala, who described the exclusion of statistics as a core subject in secondary school curriculum as undesirable for the country, said the involvement of the NCS in crude oil lifting and fuel import regime, given the agency’s capacity to do so, would go a long way in minimising the abuses that had characterised the oil and gas industry operations over the years.
On the current moves to build a credible identity database for Nigerians as well as the  anti-corruption crusade in the country, Tumala said such agenda would only succeed if the relevant agencies had the right data to work  with and also involve professional statisticians in the collation, analysing, production, and application of such statistical data on their investigations.
He therefore advised security agencies such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to see how they could begin to rely on and adopt proactive data mining approaches to fight financial and other crimes in the country.
While expressing the readiness of the NSA to partner with the various agencies including the EFCC, Independent Corrupt Practices Commission (CPC), Directorate of State Security Services (DSSS) and the National Identity Management Commission  (NIMC), Tumala said  the group was prepared to help state governments establish their Bureaux of Statistics to support their drive towards effective policy implementation.
In his opening speech at the Conference, Osun State Governor, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola, appealed to the association to rise to the challenge of helping the country develop a credible statistical database on key areas of education, health and the economy, among others, with a view to supporting the tiers of government in basing their developmental agenda on statistics-based planning.
THE NATION

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The suit filed by Justice Oloyede Olamide Folahanmi against the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, Najeem Salam, and 10 others has been re-assigned to another judge and further hearing of the case fixed for October 5, 2015.
The case was hitherto handled by Justice Adeyinka Aderibigbe, a vacation judge. Aderibigbe, while giving the order, said the process of adjournment was to allow counsel to the plaintiff, Kanmi Ajibola, serve the third to ninth respondents duly.
The defense counsel, Lawal Ibrahim and Idris Mikail, had tendered two applications before the court in the sitting.
The applications contained a counter-affidavit to show that the complainant was not truthful in fair hearing, despite her proxy and also an application seeking the court to dismiss the case on grounds of baseless facts and improper serving of the defense counsel.
Oloyede, a serving judge in the state, who was recently queried by National Judicial Council over her unethical and impropriety disposition, had sent a petition to the House of Assembly, calling for the impeachment of Governor Rauf Aregbesola for allegedly financial mismanagement.
The Assembly, however, dismissed the petition on August 4, 2015 following the recommendations of a seven-man ad hoc committee set up to investigate the allegations and recommended appropriate sanctions against her.
Ibrahim, while speaking with journalists, said that the application brought by the plaintiff was not meant for this court to entertain, because the decision of the House cannot be quashed by order of certified right.
He said, “No disciplinary action taken against her yet and her right to sue has not been crystalised.
“The application is just a waste of time; as you can see, there is no urgency in the case, hence their request for adjournment.”
DAILY INDPEPENDENT

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