PDP to sanction three members over Adeleke’s certificate matter

Three members of the Peoples Democratic Party have been put
under investigations for possible sanction on account of their
suing party’s gubernatorial candidate in Osun State election,
Senator Ademola Adeleke, over alleged fake certificate.

The members are Olalekan Awosiyan, Thomas Ojetade and Sina
Awodire, who will be recommended for sanctions in accordance with
the party’s constitution.

The zonal Secretary of the party, Rev. Bunmi Jenyo, who made
this known on Thursday, also told journalists in Ibadan that the
members had “employed blackmail to destabilise the party for
reasons best known to them.”

Jenyo, who said the zone would soon recommend the alleged
culprits for disciplinary action, used the occasion to dispel the
claim by Ojetade that he (Jenyo) threatened him to withdraw from
the suit they instituted against Adeleke.

The PDP scribe, in company of another witness to the peace
accord, a Senatorial Youth leader, Osun East, Mr. Kazeem Ogunsola,
claimed that Mr. Ojetade willingly agreed to withdraw the suit
following a peace meeting initiated by the zonal chairman, Dr. Eddy
Olafeso, and was never at any point pressured to so do.

According to Jenyo, “Having been instructed by the leadership of
our party in the South West under the chairmanship of Dr. Eddy
Olafeso, to investigate the matter and resolve it amicably, I went
to lle-Ife on Friday, November 16th to hold meeting(s) with the
petitioners.

“I could not locate all the three petitioners in the suit until
the intervention of Ife Federal Constituency candidate, Hon.
Abimbola Ajilesoro, who connected me with Osun East Senatorial
Youth Leader, Mr. Kazeem Ogunsola, who brought one of the
petitioners, Mr. Ojetade Thomas, to the house of Hon. Ajilesoro in
Parakin, Ile-Ife on Saturday 17th November, 2018 morning.

“I was invited to discuss with Mr. Thomas Ojetade and Mr. Kazeem
Ogunsola at the venue, but the meeting could not hold due to the
inconducive atmosphere as a result of the various political
activities at the house of the House of Representatives
candidate.

“So, Hon. Ajilesoro suggested that both persons follow me to my
house in Abere, Osogbo for a peaceful meeting.

“Mr. Thomas Ojetade, who happily agreed, also called another
plaintiff in the suit, Mr. Awodire Sina Peter, who also promised to
join us in the course of the meeting. The latter, however, did not
show up while the meeting lasted.

“After a lengthy discussion, he felt sober and apologised for
roles played in the case. As a result, he voluntarily agreed to
withdraw from the case with immediate effect, in the interest of
the party.

“It was at that juncture that he had to speak with the lawyer,
Mr. Temitope Elusogbon, who prepared the affidavit, on the
telephone.

“He signed the document in front of me and Mr. Kazeem Ogunsola
and promised to come alongside the Youth Leader to court on Monday,
November 19 for further processes to finally withdraw the case for
out-of-court settlement.

“He asked for financial compensation for his efforts and further
discussions were mutually agreed to be shifted till Monday, after
court sitting.

“Obviously, the meeting was peaceful, no interference
whatsoever, it was only three of us.

“I instructed my driver to drop him at the garage and offered
him N6,000 (six thousand naira) only for his transportation back to
Modakeke, his abode.

“I am particularly surprised to receive a phone call from one
Inspector Emmanuel who asked whether I threatened him to sign the
document.

“I, therefore explained to him (Inspector Emmanuel) that the
concocted story of a police pointing gun at his head never arose.
Indeed, no policeman or any other person attended the meeting but
the three of us only.

“Another surprise was a Press Conference he addressed in Osogbo
on Tuesday where he wrongfully accused my personality of
threatening him and his family.”

Also, Ogunsola confirmed that Ojetade signed the document
without any threat whatsoever, saying “No one threatened him. I can
say this anywhere and anytime. He himself knows the truth. He
should not allow himself to be used in Osun PDP.”

The three PDP members had, on 30 October, 2018, approached a
high court sitting in Osogbo, contending that the participation of
Senator Adeleke and his return as the winner of the party’s
governorship primary held on 21st July, 2018, “for the purposes of
electing the gubernatorial candidate of the party and his
subsequent participation in the governorship election of the 22nd
September, 2018 as the party’s candidate was null and void on the
account of false information and submission of false documents to
electoral commission.”

Related

Health: FG Unveils 2018 NNHS Report
The Federal Government through the Federal Ministry of Health has
unveiled and disseminated the 2018 National Nutrition and Health
Survey (NNHS)/SMART Survey report.

Speaking at the dissemination meeting recently in Abuja, the
Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, said that the Report
being the third after the first and second in 2014 and 2015
respectively was to further demonstrate the Federal Government’s
strong commitment towards strengthening data collection and
utilization which was an essential aspect of the ‘’Saving One
Million Lives Programme for Results’ (SOML-PforR).

The Minister informed that the NNHS was to provide up-to-date
information on the situation of Health and Nutrition as well as
measure the SOML-PforR key indicators and other health related
indicators with particular focus on six key priority indicators
that required immediate action: Skilled birth Attendance,
Immunization/Pent A3, Contraceptive Prevalence Rate, Vitamin A,
PMTCT, Insecticide-Treated Bed Nets (ITNS).

Consequently, Adewole noted that available reports from recent
assessment of the states showed some improvement from the previous
assessments though there were still few challenges which he said
could be resolved through continuous liaising with the National
Programme Management Unit of the SOML-PforR.

The Minister also informed that the Health Ministry had procured
some ‘Ready-to Use Therapeutic Foods’ (RUTF) in partnership with
UNICEF for the treatment of Severe Acute Malnutrition (SAM) in six
selected States. 12,000 cartons of the RUTF were handed over to
States with the highest burden of Acute Malnutrition. The States
included: Anambra, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Edo, Osun, as well as FCT who
got 5,000 cartons. The Six States were picked from 12 States with
the highest burden of malnutrition selected from the six
geopolitical zones of the country based on their readiness to
participate in the programme.

Commending the SOML-PforR for using statistics to monitor her
programme and decision making, the Statistician General of
Federation, National Bureau of Statistics, Dr. Yemi Kale, noted
that since inception of the survey, the data quality had improved
judging by the data quality score. This, he attributed to adequate
training and use of electronic data tools, which he said eliminated
error.

Speaking on behalf of the Health sector Development Partners,
the Representative of the Country Director, World Bank, Dr.
Benjamin, described the report as a great accomplishment by the
Nigerian Government, in that, every decision based on data ensured
sustainable development in every strata of an economy. He further
advised that the Survey should be conducted annually.

The Country Representative of UNICEF, Mohammed Malinfa, said
that Nutrition was the foundation of life. He therefore appealed to
Federal Ministry of Health to release more funds for the purchase
of the RUTF and other Nutrition commodities. This would go a long
way in building a sustainable human capital which according to him
was the greatest asset of any Nation.

The report was made possible by the successful collaboration of
the Federal Ministry of Health through the ‘Saving One Million
Lives Programme for Results (SOML-PforR), National Bureau of
Statistics (NBS), National Population Commission (NPopC) and
UNICEF.