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APC swallows influences of Fayose, Oni as Oyebanji emphatically wins gov election

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Lassa fever: Ondo records 106 cases, 8 deaths Prof. Francis Faduyile, Special Adviser to Ondo State governor on Health Lassa Fever By Segun Giwa Akure, Jan. 29, 2023(NAN) Ondo State government has said 106 cases of Lassa Fever and eight deaths have been recorded in the state this year. Prof. Francis Faduyile, Special Adviser to the governor on Health, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Akure. Faduyile said the confirmed cases were in six local governments of Owo, Akure North, Akure South, Ose, Akoko South-West and Idanre. According to him, Owo has the highest cases of 68, Akure North (13), Akure South (11), Ose(9), Akoko South-West(5) and Idanre (1). “Between Jan. 1 and Jan. 23, we have had 268 suspected cases of Lassa Fever, 106 confirmed cases and unfortunately eight deaths,” Faduyile said. He explained that the prevalent period of the disease was during the dry season and part of the rainy season when farmers were cultivating lands for farming. “The farmers during this period will do a lot of bush burning and when they burn the bush, the rats will move from their natural habitat to a place safer and a lot of them tends to come towards homes in that surrounding. “The first way to prevent Lassa is to stop bush burning, and we have sensitised against this,” he said. Faduyile advised people not put their foods where rats can have access. “We have observed that some of our cultural activities like spreading cassava on the road to dry are harmful because rats can come around eat out of the cassava and drop faeces or urine on it. “Besides, we have observed that our level of hygiene, if it is not well improved, it can attract rats, because rats are scavengers and when there is uneaten food, that is not covered, they tend to come,” he said. Faduyile noted that the government has embarked on advocacy through the local governments and traditional rulers as well as other preventive means to stem the disease. “Every year there is ‘deratification’, that is to kill all the rats, and we have started it this year which has been largely successful. “Also, there have been a lot of advocacy to medical personnel for them to have high index of suspicion for any fever,” he said. Faduyile said the government has improved the state Infectious Disease Hospital, Akure, to a standard that can take care of Lassa fever.
Ekiti State Governor, Abiodun Oyebanji

Lasun Alagbe

The All Progressives Congress has recorded a comprehensive victory in the Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.
Its candidate, Abiodun Oyebanji, won in 17 of the 18 local government areas, thrashing other contenders, especially those of the Social Democratic Party, Segun Oni; and Peoples Democratic Party’s Bisi Kolawole.

Oyebanji amassed 187,057 votes while his closest challenger, Mr Segun Oni, of the Social Democratic Party, got 82,211.

The Peoples Democratic Party’s candidate, Bisi Kolawole, scored 67,457 votes, winning his LGA, Efon, where he scored 6,303 to beat APC’s 4,012 and SDP’s 339 votes.

With the emphatic victory, the APC changed the electoral mathematics of the state as it drowned the influences of other power bases.

It neutralised the influences of the likes of former governors Ayodele Fayose and Segun Oni, as well as the memorable strong opposition by the PDP.

The election also means victory for the Independent Electoral Commission, which showed tremendous improvement in the way it handled all aspects of the process.

Well, there is the terrible question of vote-buying and vote-selling.

But for the people of Ekiti State too, the election is a plus for the people of the state too as they demonstrated zeal, trooping out to vote peacefully.

The APC also has cause to look into the future with a more robust hope especially as it marches into the upcoming Osun State governorship election, which, however, promises to be tougher than wat the Saturday’s own has proved to be.
The dynamics seem to be very different as, among other challenges, the APC has an internal quagmire to manage.

While the outgoing governor, Kayode Fayemi, can also join the people to dance, having boosted his political record, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and the entire leadership of the APC too will hope to use the Ekiti story to strengthen their resolve to win next year’s presidential election.

For their opponents like the PDP and the Labour Party, however, the story may have only provided an opportunity for them to restrategise.

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