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2023: RCCG Pastor Calls For Sack Of Colleague Who Campaigned For Osinbajo

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Youth Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG) Dr. Oche Otorkpa has called on the church to sack the Head of Politics and Governance of the church, pastor Timothy Olaniyan over a comment he made about the Vice-president, Yemi Osinbajo.

The statement currently making the rounds and credited to Pastor Olaniyan has equally irked many quarters, with some condemning it.
The pastor had, in the said statement, claimed that only Osinbajo can change the narrative of governance in Nigeria.

However, condemning what is a one-sided partisan stance by pastor Olaniyan, the youth pastor, alongside others, called for his sack.
In a statement to newsmen, pastor Otorkpa said the RCCG is a congregation of all parties and as such, cannot support a single party.

The statement reads thus:
I was saddened when my attention was drawn to the statement credited to the Head of Politics and Governance of the Redeemed Christian Church, RCCG, “Pastor” Timothy Olaniyan. This act reminds me of the tragedy promoted by many of my colleagues in the Redeemed Christian Church of God, who used the RCCG altar to promote Buhari as the only savior of Nigeria because Osinbajo also a Redeemed Pastor, was his running mate.

Against all admonition by our father the General Overseer, these “Goats” as Pastor Leke Adeboye call them chose to ignore an express order and promoted Buhari /Osinbajo using the RCCG pulpit in 2015 and the results are what we see today.

While I have nothing personal against Osinbajo and those campaigning for him, our father, the General Overseer has made it clear to everyone that the church is a congregation of all parties and all are his children.

If truly the said “Pastor” Timothy Olaniyan voiced such a one-sided opinion, then he should be ashamed of himself, and the many people who insulted Leke for calling such people goats should apologize to him because this man’s action has not only ridiculed the mission but also the reputation of our father in the Lord.

As one of those who fiercely defended the RCCG when concerned Nigerians labeled the newly created Politics and Governance directorate as an Osinbajo campaign arm of the church, I felt I owe it a duty as an ordained minister and someone who has spent close to 3 decades working to help achieve the church’s missionary objectives, to speak out.

How can a Redeemed Pastor saddled with the responsibility of promoting all insist on a public forum that one person is the only child of God that could change the narrative of governance in Nigeria?

This is someone who says he wants to consolidate Buhari’s legacies, a legacy characterized by banditry, kidnappings, massive killings, corruption, stealing and diversion of crude oil, unfulfilled promises, and borrowings that are about to throw us into a state of bankruptcy as a nation.

Pastor Olaniyan claimed that politicians will promise heaven and earth, and at the end of the day, you see them giving N1000, and N2000 to eligible voters. That was similar to what Osibanjo did the last time with Trader money before the elections, jumping from one market to the other.

When it comes to failed promises, nobody beats Osinbajo and Buhari. They promised three million jobs per year, it is almost 8 years, and those who have jobs before they came to power are now jobless.

Osinbajo and Buhari promised 20,000 MW of electricity within four years, but today, grid collapse and darkness are what Nigerians are battling.

When Osinbajo and Buhari came to power on the 29th of May 2015, the naira was exchanged at N199 to the dollar. Today, the naira is exchanging at almost N600 when they promised to make it equal to the dollar.

As I write this response, our youths and children are at home due to the ongoing ASUU strike, Osinbajo and Buhari had promised to give up to 20 percent of the national budget for the educational sector, and they have never exceeded 6% since they took power. Even the foreign scholarship created by Jonathan for First Class students has been canceled by them.

They promised to clean our electoral system but ended up creating devilish inventions such as the inconclusive elections and the “remote control” in the words of Buhari which they used on the people of Osun state to deny Adeleke his last mandate and Nigerians in the last general elections.

They promised to reduce the fuel pump price to N40 per liter, this year, the price ranges from 165 to infinity depending on where you are buying. Very available diesel has now disappeared, thanks to the change championed by some of our Pastors.

Proverbs 12:22 says the LORD detests lying lips, but he delights in trustworthy people. When a pastor begins to brand deceptive people as the only ones being capable of changing the narrative of governance in the country, then you know there is a problem.

While Pastor Olaniyan has the constitutional right to hold a political opinion, he clearly does not understand the sensitive nature of the office he occupies and the diversity of the interest and the people he is meant to manage.

We therefore humbly call on the church leadership as a matter of urgency to remove “Pastor” Timothy Olaniyan as the Head of Politics and Governance, to enable the unit to discharge its mandate without shamefully taking sides and dancing naked in the market square.

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Two Brothers In Police Net For Alleged Gang-Rape In Ogun

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Olamijuwon Noibi and Lukman Olatunbosun, two brothers, have been taken into custody by the Ogun State Police Command on charges of gang rape at Oke Eri, Atan Ijebu Area, Ogun.

A trustworthy law enforcement source, on Thursday, revealed that Noibi had tricked Aminat Yakub into coming to his flat, where he then allegedly sexually abused her while plotting with Olatunbosun, his younger sibling.

Yakub was allegedly invited by Noibi to visit his mother on Saturday, but when she got to his residence, she didn’t get to see her.

After making her consume an alcoholic beverage called “Bullet,” he allegedly physically attacked her before raping her.

According to The Punch, Noibi was also coerced his younger brother, Olatunbosun, with a knife so he could join him in the act, and filmed both of them while they were having sex.

When contacted, the spokesperson for the Ogun Police Command, Omolola Odutola, confirmed the incident and said that the suspects had been arrested and would be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for a discreet investigation.

“On the 24/4/2024, at about 13:00hrs, one Aminat Yakub ‘F’, Aged 21 years, of Main Estate Oke Eri Area, came to the station and reported that on the 21/4/2024, at about 12:30hrs, she went to the house of one Olamijuwon Noibi ‘M’ at Oke Eri on invitation to come and greet his mother. When she got there, she discovered that his mother was not at home.

“Juwon forcefully pushed her into his room, then forced her to drink Black Bullet and forcefully had sex with her twice after a serious beating. He later invited his younger brother, Lukman, to come and have sex with her but when his younger brother refused, he took a knife threatening to kill both of them. In the end, his younger brother ended up having sex with her after a serious beating and equally took a video of them.

“Upon the receipt of the complaint, the team of patrol led by Asp Ayoola Alidu at the station and went to the scene of incident. The two alleged suspect was arrested one Olamijuwon Noibi, ‘M’, Age 27 Yrs and one Lukman Olatunbosun, ‘M’, Age 20 yrs,” a police statement.

The PPRO noted that both brothers confessed to the alleged crime, and the victim was taken to the General Hospital Ijebu-Ode for examination, saying that the suspects would soon be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for “discreet investigation and further development will be communicated.”

Earlier report had it that the operatives of the Rivers State Police Command had arrested a 30-year-old man identified as Jeffrey for allegedly defiling the teenage daughter of his landlady in an estate in Abuloma, Port Harcourt Local government Area of the state.

It was learnt that the suspect, who had a tailoring shop at the estate, lured the 13-year-old girl to his business place one evening under the guise of showing her clothes.

But Jeffrey ended up locking the shop, overpowered the girl, and allegedly had his way with her.

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Lagos Government Pays N1.5bn WASSCE Fees For 58,000 Students

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58,000 pupils will be registered for the 2024 West African Senior School Certificate Examination this year, with the state government spending N1.5 billion, according to Tolani Alli-Balogun, Commissioner of the Lagos State Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education.

In announcing the ministry’s efforts to mark the first year of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s second term in office, the commissioner made this statement on Thursday.

On May 29, 2023, Sanwo-Olu took the oath of office for a second term as governor, vowing in his inauguration speech to disappoint the people of Lagos.

The commissioner, who spoke at the state secretariat, said, “The administration of Babajide Sanwo-Olu has never defaulted on the payment of WASCCE fees of all public school SS3 students in the four years of Governor Sanwo-Olus’s first term in office. The state government paid over N4.2bn between 2020 and 2023 to keep our promise of full payment of the West African Senior School Certificate Examination fees.

“In the current school year (2024), the governor has approved the sum of N1,571,076,000 as registration fees and other cost for 58,188 SS3 students writing the West African Senior School Certificate Examination.”

Last year, the West African Examination Council, which conducts WASSCE, noted that it had concluded plans to begin computer-based examinations in 2024.

It released the results of the first-ever CBT exam, 2024–First Series, in March this year.

The analysis of candidates’ performance showed that out of the 8,139 candidates that sat the examination, 3,424 candidates representing 42.07 percent obtained credit and above in a minimum of five subjects (with or without English Language and/or Mathematics).

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Dana Air Has Been Flying With Unhealthy Status, We’ll Audit All Local Airlines — Aviation Minister Keyamo

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Festus Keyamo, minister of aviation and aerospace development, says Dana Airline has been flying with an unhealthy status for a while now.

In an interview on Channels television on Thursday, Keyamo said that an audit report completed by his predecessor verified the airline’s unhealthy status and that internal reports from two years ago demonstrated that Dana Air was unfit to operate.

He also stated that the airline’s repeated incidents prompted him to call for a suspension.

Replying to the criticisms that trailed the suspension, Keyamo said he never wrote to the airline but instructed the Nigeria Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA) to do so.

“Before I came into office, I am sure you have heard consistent incidents involving perhaps Dana Airline, to mention a few of them. I am sure you heard that, at a point, on approach to the runway, the door flew open,” the minister said.

“I am sure you know that popular incident. Who are the engineers that are supposed to look at this? Who are the engineers that are supposed to check for the safety of the aircraft and its parts?

“There are also incidents involving one or two of its aircraft at different times, consistent. Of course, after the fatal crash of Dana, the other time that killed Nigerians.

“There were internal reports before I came in under my predecessor about a series of infractions by Dana Airline and the conclusion was that they were not healthy enough to fly but they went into the skies after such a report. What they did, how they did it before they told them to start flying again, we don’t know.

“While we argue back and forth about who has power and who doesn’t have power, the point is that the flying public is at risk, and if any tragic incident happens, it is the minister that would be called to resign. Nigerians will not spare the minister.

“For me, the last thing I want to happen to me as minister of aviation is to have blood on my hands. I mean the blood of innocent Nigerians as a result of either the negligence, deep complicity or corruption of those who are supposed to be regulators of the aviation industry.

“As minister, my job is to supervise them and to ensure that they carry out their duties. My duty is not to regulate. For those quoting the law, they should know that I know the law more than them.”

Speaking on the irregularities in the aviation sector, Keyamo said “there is deep complicity within the system”, stressing that the cleansing process would start and continue until they are resolved.

The minister said if the aircraft in the country’s aviation sector are not properly checked, then there will be “flying coffins” in the air.

He said beyond the suspension of Dana Air, the NCAA would carry out a comprehensive audit of all local airlines in the country to guarantee the safety of passengers and the health of the civil aviation industry.

On April 24, Keyamo directed the NCAA to suspend the operations of Dana Air after one of its aircraft veered off the Lagos airport runway on April 23.

Reacting to the suspension, the Aviation Safety Roundtable Initiative (ART) said it was unlawful for the minister to direct the NCAA to suspend an airline, urging the minister to respect the autonomy of the regulator.

Describing the directive as “external interference”, the aviation group advised the minister to focus his efforts on policy issues that positively impact the airline industry.

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