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Ooni of Ife, Alaafin Of Oyo Move To Reconcile Aregbesola, Tinubu

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The two prominent Yoruba monarchs, Ooni of Ife, Oba Adeyeye Ogunwusi, and the Alaafin of Oyo, Oba Lamidi Adeyemi, today, met with Nigeria’s Minister of Interior and former governor of Osun State, Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola in one of the private residences of the Alaafin in Ibadan, to reconcile him with former Lagos State governor, Bola Ahmed Tinubu.

Sources close to the palace said the reconciliation attempt is producing results as both parties have shown interest in putting their differences behind them and moving ahead in the interest of Yorubaland.

The move by the traditional rulers is the latest of a series of efforts by prominent Yoruba leaders to broker peace between Aregbesola and Tinubu.

The rift between the duo became noticeable in May 2020, when Aregbesola revamped the Mandate Group, a core of Tinubu’s loyalists, and usurped the closely-knitted caucus for individuals he could trust.

The Minister sanctioned the relaunch without Tinubu’s approval, naming Abdullahi Enilolobo, his protege from Alimosho LGA, as the new leader, while he remained the grand patron of the group.

A subsequent communique signed by 27 party chieftains, who are members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), had disbanded and prohibited all factions like Justice Group and Mandate Group.

The rift was said to have been worsened by Oyetola’s actions as the governor of Osun.

Although Oyetola served as chief of staff to Aregbesola during his tenure as Osun governor, he is related to Tinubu and more loyal to the former Lagos state governor.

Upon assuming office, Oyetola reversed some of the decisions taken during the Aregbesola administration, which infuriated the minister.

Aregbesola backed Alhaji Moshood Adeoti, former secretary to the state government against Oyetola, Tinubu’s cousin, for the APC governorship ticket, and had berated the former Lagos governor for not supporting his bid to stop Oyetola the way Akinwunmi Ambode, immediate past governor of Lagos, was stopped from securing second term ticket in 2019.
The minister had said Tinubu was exalted “beyond his status, and he turned himself to a god over us.”

Aregbesola had added that Oyetola would be ousted from office for failing to stick to the plan that would make Osun prosperous.

But Oyetola eventually floored his candidate, Adeoti who came a distant second with 12,921 votes as the governor polled 222,169 to emerge as the APC flagbearer for the July 16 governorship election.

Following the defeat, Aregbesola is said to have backed down and is currently making effort to reconcile with Tinubu.

Yesterday, a group that identified itself as Friends of Aregbesola sponsored a full-page advertorial on The Nation Newspaper, apologizing to Tinubu over the minister’s scathing verbal attack on him in the lead up to the APC governorship primary election in the state fortnight ago.

It is understood that in the wake of Aregbesola’s peace overtures, both politicians have agreed to sheathe their swords and work together ahead of the Osun State governorship election and the 2023 presidential poll.

Tinubu has since expressed his interest in contesting for president in 2023 and has been campaigning for the APC presidential ticket.

BIG STORY

Peter Obi Did Well For Us In Labor Party, But I’ve Won Election Before In Abia Without Him —  Alex Otti

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Abia state governor-elect, Alex Otti said he had won governorship election in the state in the past without Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.

Otti stated this in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today on Thursday.

The Abia state governor-elect, however, acknowledged that Obi contributed to his election victory.

According to him, it’s on record that he won the 2015 governorship election in the state without Obi’s support.

Otti said, “In 2015 when I ran under APGA, there was no Peter Obi. And we have it on our record that I won that election. At the time we were joining Labour Party, Peter Obi had not joined.

“It took about a week before called me and said that he purchased the presidential nomination form and he was coming to Labour Party.

“We were prepared to fight the way we fought in 2015. The votes we garnered in Abia could have been had but maybe the margin could have been smaller. That is why it’s always good to acknowledge Peter Obi. He came to Abia about four times to campaign for us.

“I think he had done well for us. That is why even the first election out of the eight House of Representatives seats we took six and sent some people on permanent retirement.

“Peter Obi is a great addition to our campaign, but I can tell you that we won an election before in Abia without him.”

Recall that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Wednesday, declared Otti winner of the March 18 governorship poll in Abia state.

Otti polled a total of 175, 467 votes defeat his closest rival, Chief Okey Ahiwe of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party who scored 88,529 votes.

Enyinnaya Nwafor of the Young Peoples Party, YPP, came third with 28,972 votes.

Returning Officer and Vice Chancellor of the Federal University of Technology Owerri, FUTO, Professor Nnenna Oti, subsequently declared Otti the Governor-elect having polled the highest number of votes and satisfied all necessary conditions.

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Runaway Nigerian Nurse Arrested In Lagos, Extradited To US For Trial Over Fraud

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A convicted Nigerian fugitive, Florence Enwerim Onyegbu, was on Thursday, extradited to the United States of America, where she is wanted to answer to criminal charges bordering on the violation of the U.S. law involving the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.

Onyegbu‘s extradition was coordinated by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, following a request by the US Federal Bureau of Investigation, FBI,  seeking assistance for her apprehension.

The EFCC said its investigations revealed that she had changed her name from Florence E. Onyegbu to Janet Boi in an attempt to remain hidden.

But that she however ran out of luck when operatives of the EFCC swooped on her at her residence in the Ojodu area of Lagos on February 21, 2022.

The anti-graft agency said that upon her arrest, a national identity card with the name Janet Boi as well as a Texas driver’s license with the name Florence Enwerim Onyegbu were found on her.

The Commission, on March 22, 2023, handed over Onyegbu to the FBI, following an extradition order granted by Justice Z.B. Abubakar of the Federal High Court sitting in Abuja on December 2, 2022.

It will be recalled that Onyegbu’s travails began after she was arrested on February 12, 2011 in the U.S. and subsequently sentenced to 46 months imprisonment, following a guilty plea , over the violation of the U.S. law bordering on the offer and payment of illegal remuneration in a health care matter.

Although she was ordered to report for service of her sentence on April 4, 2011, she failed to surrender on that date.

Consequently, she was further charged with failure to surrender for service of sentence in violation of U.S. Law on March 4, 2013.

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JUST IN: CBN Directs Banks To Open On Saturday, Sunday

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The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has confirmed the evacuation of banknotes from its vaults to commercial banks across the country as part of a coordinated effort to ease the circulation of banknotes of various denominations.

The CBN has also directed all commercial banks to open for operation on Saturdays and Sundays.

The Acting Director, Corporate Communications Department of the CBN, Isa AbdulMumin, disclosed this in Abuja, on Friday, stating that a substantial amount of money, in various denominations, had been received by the commercial banks for onward circulation to their respective customers.

According to him, the CBN had directed all banks to load their Automated Teller Machines (ATMs) as well as conduct physical operations in the banking halls through the weekends.

“Branches of commercial banks will operate on Saturdays and Sundays to attend to customers’ cash needs,” he noted, adding that the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, would personally lead teams to monitor the level of compliance by the banks in various locations across the country.

He, therefore, urged Nigerians to be patient as the current situation would ease soon with the injection of more banknotes into circulation.

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