Politics
PDP Calls Osun Gov To Order
The Osun State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Governor Adegboyega Oyetola to desist from political gimmicks and deal with the alleged maladministration being perpetrated by his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
In a statement signed by Sunday Bisi, the Osun PDP Chairman and made available to newsmen, the party disclosed that the call became necessary due to the laborious- cum-dramatic integrity inspection being conducted on a few school building projects, most of which were completed less than six years ago but are now on the verge of total collapse.
While wondering why the inspection which the PDP described as ‘APC orchestrated emergency situation’ had to wait until the 11th hour to the Osun gubernatorial election before government would start informing the populace about the potentially fatal defects on the project which was executed at outrageous costs, it noted that the state was being made to make monthly refunds on loans obtained on the projects running into hundreds of billions of Naira.
The party tasked the state government to extend its integrity searchlight to the flyover at Olaiya before it would inflict fatal pains on innocent road users in the state.
It maintained that the integrity radar should also explain to the public why the flyover was compressed into a single carriage way as against what was tabled before the public prior to commencement of work on the project.
“Although, our party is not unmindful of Mr. Oyetola’s desperate bid to hide under pretentious actions as this 11th hour so called integrity tests on projects executed by their own government and as a matter of fact, when Mr. Oyetola was calling shots around as the chief of staff to his former boss, Rauf Aregbesola.”
The party wanted the governor and his party to purge themselves of the deception it was selling to unsuspecting members of the public whenever they were confronted with electoral humiliation.
They also accused the government of ineptitude, wickedness and lack of respect for human lives, especially innocent children who had been marching to the “death traps” almost on a daily basis.
They asked the state governor not to distance himself from a government in which he was a principal actor for eight years, adding that claiming ignorance of actions taken in the last administration was a mere waste of time.
“For all we care, Oyetola can stab his former boss in the back but the cost burden in terms of consequential liabilities on the state, which have been shrouded in uncanny secrecy should also be unraveled. That is where people can begin to take the governor’s integrity a bit serious.
“That the good people of our dear state are not availed the actual debt portfolio incurred to execute the failed mega schools and other abandoned projects scattered across the state, is a cracked integrity foundation on its own.”
Meanwhile, the Osun State Government through the Secretary to the State Government, Wole Oyebamiji, has reiterated its determination to keep its citizens and residents safe irrespective of mischief makers’ insinuations to the contrary.
Making this known in statement to debunk claims that the administration of Adegboyega Oyetola was out to witch-hunt its predecessor with the decision to carry out integrity tests on the state-owned model schools, the government said safety of students, teachers and all workers in the affected schools was the reason for the exercise.
Oyebamiji also said the governor would continue to do what was right for his people unlike the desperate elements trying to score cheap political points at the expense of human lives.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted on the conclusion of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise yesterday (Sunday) despite calls by some opposition political parties and civil society organisations for an extension over concerns that millions of citizens could be excluded from the 2027 general elections.
In a notice issued on its X (formerly Twitter) handle on Saturday, the commission reminded the public that the exercise would end on Sunday, July 26, with designated registration centres open from 9am to 3pm.
“Your future won’t wait. Neither should you. The Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise ends Sunday, 26 July 2026,” the Commission stated.
INEC also reminded prospective voters that they could complete the registration process online through its dedicated CVR portal or visit designated INEC offices and registration centres nationwide for physical assistance.
The new Electoral Act stipulates that INEC is required to stop voter registration, updating and revision of the voters’ register 90 days before an election to allow for data clean-up, the printing of Permanent Voter Cards and other logistical preparations.
The law also requires the Commission to display the voters’ register for claims and objections within the stipulated period to enable eligible Nigerians to challenge omissions and errors and help ensure the credibility of the final register for the polls.
The INEC National Commissioner on Information and Voter Education, Mr Mohammed Haruna, told The Tide source that the Commission would not extend the deadline, stressing that the registration exercise had to close to allow the electoral body to begin cleaning the data already collected.
“By midnight on Sunday, voter registration ends. There won’t be any extension. There are so many things that we need to do at the back end. We have to draw a line; otherwise, we won’t be able to produce a clean copy of what has been posted,” he said.
Mr Haruna explained that the commission’s Information Technology team and the Voter Registration Department would begin processing the data immediately after the closure of the registration window.
He said INEC would deploy its Automated Biometric Identification System to detect and remove multiple registrations before the provisional voters’ register is displayed for public scrutiny.
“We have this automatic biometric system that will check whether somebody has registered more than once. They will publish the register for claims and objections. That is, if anybody thinks a name shouldn’t be on the register, or if he has some claims, for instance, that his name has been omitted or some of his details are incorrect,” he said.
According to him, the final number of newly registered voters would only be known after the biometric verification and the claims and objections process.
“So, it’s after all that has been done that we will have a final figure, which we will now add to the existing 93 million or so. That will then become the voters’ register. We are mandated to give every political party a copy ahead of the election,” Mr Haruna added.
Responding to concerns over the number of Nigerians who may be excluded from the 2027 electoral process by the closure, the national commissioner said INEC could only account for eligible citizens who presented themselves for registration.
He added that the commission had recorded registrations through its online platform, physical registration centres and INEC offices across the 774 local government areas.
According to a public announcement signed by Mr Ariyo Rufus, Head of Department, Voter Education, Publicity, Gender and Inclusivity on behalf of Mr Oluwatoyin Babalola, the INEC Osun State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), the said exercise is aimed at assessing its operational readiness and testing the efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) ahead of the governorship poll.
INEC stated that the exercise would simulate Election Day accreditation procedures but clarified that no voting would take place during the exercise.
The commission explained that “the mock accreditation would be conducted in selected polling units spread across the three senatorial districts of Osun State, covering Osun Central, Osun East and Osun West.
“In Osun Central Senatorial District, the selected local government areas are Osogbo, Olorunda, Ifelodun and Boripe, with designated polling units identified for the exercise.
“For Osun East Senatorial District, the exercise will take place in selected polling units across Ilesa West, Ilesa East, Oriade and Obokun local government areas.”
INEC also listed Egbedore, Ede North, Ede South and Ejigbo local government areas as the selected councils for the mock accreditation exercise in Osun West Senatorial District.
The commission urged all registered voters whose polling units were selected to participate in the exercise, stressing that only holders of valid Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be accredited.
“This exercise is designed to test the functionality and efficiency of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) under conditions similar to Election Day. There shall be no voting during the exercise,” the Commission stated.
INEC reaffirmed its appreciation to residents of Osun State for their continued cooperation and support throughout the electoral process.
INEC also assured political parties, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders of the Commission’s commitment to conducting a free, fair, credible, transparent and inclusive governorship election in Osun State.
Mr Dare made the remark while criticizing Alhaji Abubakar for hiring a United States of America lobbyist with $1.2 million, in preparation for the 2027 elections.
In a statement he personally signed, Mr Dare said the former vice president can’t take Nigeria down the path of self-destruction.
The statement read in part: “Worse still, for a man who presumes to offer leadership to Africa’s most populous nation, his recent resort to grievance offshoring, outsourcing political warfare to Washington and reportedly paying $1.2 million to an American lobbying firm to peddle petitions against a sitting Nigerian President, stands as an affront to Nigeria’s sovereignty and a vote of no confidence in its democratic institutions.
“It is also a stinging slight, an implicit condescension directed at generations of Nigerian journalists, policy analysts, academics, and public intellectuals who have spent decades analysing, critiquing, and carrying the burden of the nation’s democratic evolution.
“The Atiku Abubakar of today cuts a pitiable figure, a grotesque portrait of what a politician becomes when ambition overwhelms judgment and every political faculty becomes programmed for self-destruction.
“No, Atiku cannot take Nigeria down that path with him. He must travel it alone. But first, Nigerians deserve Atiku Abubakar’s report card. Charity, they say, begins at home, not in Washington.
“Nigerians deserve to know whether the Atiku Abubakar who has long presented himself as a democrat is, in reality, a politician of many colours. He has erected for himself a throne built simultaneously on sand and bayonets. It is time to explode the bayonets.”