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APC, Adeleke govt trade words over Osun Osogbo festival incident
The All Progressives Congress, APC, in Osun State has berated Governor Ademola Adeleke over his silence to the news of deaths recorded during this year’s Osun-Osogbo festival.
The Osun APC alleged that the State government had not deemed it fit to issue an official statement on the savoury development.
The party made this known in a statement signed by its chairman, Tajudeen Lawal on Saturday in Osogbo.
It was reported that three persons died and several others injured in a violent clash that erupted during the grand finale of the festival in Osogbo on Friday.
The party also condemned the militarisation of the festival by non-state actors which resulted in the casualties.
According to the statement, “A fact-check on the situation that led to the killing of the three persons who were suspected cultists loyal to the State Governor Ademola Adeleke-led administration indicated that it was a supremacy battle between two rival cultist groups on the entourage of the governor that brewed the ghastly violent attack.
“It was also discovered by a credible source close to the centre of the event that two other persons drowned during the celebration of the grand finale of the annual Osun Osogbo festival at the Osun River yesterday.
“It was, however, strange that 24 hours after the killing of the suspected cultists and the drowning of two other devotees in the Osun River, the Governor Adeleke-led administration has not deemed it fit to issue an official statement on the unsavoury development.
“I am not surprised that the Adeleke administration is sanguinary and violence-laden as the governor himself relishes in moving with armed notorious thugs across the State, mainly those who are on the Wanted List of the police.
“Adeleke could not condemn the brutal activities of the thugs as they were those who rigged the last series of elections for him and the other candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) where no fewer than 30 members of the APC were mowed down through the bullets of the PDP political hoodlums.”
While asking the police and other security agencies in the State to investigate the killings, the Osun APC chairman maintained that the Adeleke administration owed the people of the State an explanation on why the government had refused to make any pronouncement on the development.
Reacting, the state Commissioner for Culture and Tourism, Bankole Ojo advised the APC to shun petty politics while trying to warm themselves out of idleness.
Ojo also warned that playing politics with human life is the height of cruelty anyone could exhibit under whatever guise.
While asking the APC to get their facts right and stop playing politics with human life, he condemned what he described as a classless attempt by the opposition party to link pockets of confrontation among some cultural groups at the event to the Governor Ademola Adeleke-led PDP government.
“While His Excellency, Governor Ademola Adeleke did everything as acknowledged by several stakeholders in culture and tourism sector in the country and beyond, to make the annual festival exceptionally memorable, the tumultuous crowd that thronged this year’s event ensured a difficult time for security agencies to curtail the age long rivalry between some traditional groups resulting in some open confrontations.
“Preliminary reports available to the ministry which in turn will be forwarded to the His Excellency, the State Governor suggested that some groups of hunters and the Oodua Peoples Congress, most of whom are not residents in the State, took their traditional rivalry out of control just after successful completion of cultural rites at the festival groove. Both groups we would recall, usually form a significant number of devotees at the annual event.
“While the State government and security agencies are spreading proper nets of investigation into the matter, the blood spilling opposition elements are already in town with insane figures of casualties. This is instructive for all discerning minds as to what their intentions are and what they might have done to infiltrate the colourful festival which they stopped at nothing to destroy during their inglorious reign in the State,” he said.
The commissioner assured that the State government would continue to support and preserve the World Heritage Site as designated by UNESCO due to frantic effort put into the groove by the PDP government in 2005.
“This is a legacy the current government is committed to preserve, not just as a cultural heritage of the good people of Osogbo as an ancient city, but also as an enviable tourist site amongst its peers in Nigeria and across the globe,” he noted.
President Bola Tinubu has officially sworn in Professor Joash Amupitan as the new Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). The ceremony followed the Senate’s confirmation of Amupitan’s appointment last week after a rigorous screening session on October 16.
At the swearing-in, President Tinubu tasked Amupitan with safeguarding the integrity of Nigeria’s elections and strengthening INEC’s institutional capacity.
“As the chairman of INEC, your nomination and confirmation reflect the confidence reposed in you by both the executive and legislative arms of government. This marks the start of a challenging yet rewarding journey, and I trust you will approach your duties with integrity, dedication, and patriotism,” Tinubu said.
Highlighting Nigeria’s democratic progress over 25 years, the President emphasized the need for continuous innovation and reform to maintain free, fair, and credible elections. He urged Amupitan to ensure transparency and public trust throughout the entire electoral process—from voter registration and campaigning to voting and counting.
Amupitan, a professor of law and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), arrived at the State House on Thursday dressed in traditional white agbada and gold cap ahead of the formal ceremony. He was accompanied by presidential aides.
During his Senate screening, the 58-year-old nominee pledged to restore credibility to Nigeria’s electoral process by prioritizing reforms, including strengthening the Electoral Act to resolve inconsistencies in election timelines and enhance transparency.
“We must conduct elections where even the loser congratulates the winner fairly,” Amupitan told senators, emphasizing the need to rebuild voter confidence.
He also clarified his neutrality by denying any involvement in President Tinubu’s legal team during the 2023 Presidential Election Petitions Court, stating, “I never appeared before the Presidential Election Tribunal or the Supreme Court for any party.”
Amupitan succeeds Professor Mahmood Yakubu as the sixth substantive INEC chairman since the commission’s establishment. He is expected to immediately begin the transition process at INEC headquarters in Abuja following his swearing-in.
Profile
Born on April 25, 1967, the 58-year-old Amupitan hails from Ayetoro Gbede in Ijumu Local Government Area of Kogi State. He is a Professor of Law at the University of Jos, Plateau State. He is also an alumnus of the university.
He specialises in Company Law, Law of Evidence, Corporate Governance and Privatisation Law. He became a Senior Advocate of Nigeria in September 2014.
After completing primary and secondary education, he attended Kwara State Polytechnic, Ilorin, from 1982 to 1984, and the University of Jos from 1984 to 1987. He was called to the bar in 1988.
Amupitan earned an LLM at UNIJOS in 1993 and a PhD in 2007, amid an academic career that began in 1989, following his National Youth Service at the Bauchi State Publishing Corporation in Bauchi from 1988 to 1989.
He currently serves as the Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Administration) at the University of Jos, a position he holds in conjunction with being the Pro-Chancellor and Chairman of the Governing Council of Joseph Ayo Babalola University in Osun State.
Among the academic positions he has held at UNIJOS are: Chairman of the Committee of Deans and Directors (2012-2014); Dean of the Faculty of Law (2008-2014); and Head of Public Law (2006-2008).
Outside of academics, Amupitan serves as a board member of Integrated Dairies Limited in Vom, a member of the Nigerian Institute of Advanced Legal Studies Governing Council, and a member of the Council of Legal Education (2008-2014), among other roles. He was a board member of Riss Oil Limited, Abuja(1996-2004).
Amupitan is the author of many books on law, such as Corporate Governance: Models and Principles(2008); Documentary Evidence in Nigeria (2008); Evidence Law: Theory and Practice in Nigeria(2013), Principles of Company Law(2013) and an Introduction to the Law of Trust in Nigeria (2014).
He is married and has four children.
Dangote Group has denied owning the truck that crushed a pregnant woman, a child, and six others to death in an accident in Akungba-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
The company issued the clarification in a statement on its X account on Wednesday.
The statement followed reports that a cement-laden truck suffered brake failure and rammed into traders and other road users.
Reacting, Dangote Group said the truck involved in the tragic incident does not belong to the group or any of its subsidiaries.
It added that vehicle registration records confirm the truck is owned and operated by an independent logistics company with no affiliation to Dangote Group.
“Dangote Group has refuted reports circulating on social media and in some online platforms linking it to a truck involved in a road accident in Akungba-Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of Ondo State.
“The company wishes to make it categorically clear that the truck involved in the unfortunate incident does not belong to Dangote Group or any of its subsidiaries.
“Verified vehicle registration details confirm that the truck with Plate No. JJJ 365 XB is owned and operated by an independent logistics company with no affiliation to Dangote Group,” the statement reads.
News
VIDEO: Sowore Arrested at Federal High Court Premises, Abuja, After Meeting Nnamdi Kanu.
“The commissioner of police said we should bring you to the office,” the policeman said.
Police operatives have arrested former presidential candidate and human rights activist, Omoyele Sowore, in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Sowore was forcibly taken away by armed police officers from the Federal High Court premises in Abuja on Thursday, October 23, 2025, shortly after attending the court session of detained IPOB leader Nnamdi Kanu.
Sowore, who has been leading campaigns for Kanu’s release, was confronted by security operatives who insisted he accompany them to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Police Command.
Eyewitnesses disclosed that the officers surrounded him moments after he exited the courtroom, refusing to disclose specific details about his alleged offence.
When questioned by onlookers, one of the policemen stated that they were acting on the directive of the FCT Commissioner of Police.
“The commissioner of police said we should bring you to the office,” the policeman said.
As of the time of filing this report, the reason for Sowore’s arrest and his current whereabouts remain unclear.
Credit: Punch
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