From Tunde Oyekola, Osogbo.
An Osogbo Chief Magistrate Court has issued a warrant of arrest against the Chairman, Governing Board of Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun, Mr. Niyi Akande.
Though the police are yet to pick up Akande, but security sources told newsmen that operatives were already seeking relevant information that could lead to his arrest.
The arrest warrant WP Correspondent learnt followed a petition written by Oluseyi Oke through his counsel, K.B Odejide to Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG Zone VI, accusing Akande and one Surveyor Debo Adedeji of threat to life, forgery and fraudulent conversion.
According to the petition written to the police, Messrs Oluseyi Oke & Associates was recommended and duly appointed by Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun, Osun State through the Surveyor-General of Osun State to do the perimeter survey of the college.
The petition read: “The perimeter survey our client did in Osun State College of Education, Ila-Orangun is approximately 1402.956 hectares of land, and our client requested for 215 Beacon Numbers from the Surveyor-General of the state and this was approved by the Surveyor-General of the State and was used for the project.
“Our client knows that as a matter of fact and law that when Beacon Numbers have been approved for a particular project for one Surveyor by the only lawful approving authority for public Survey projects in the state, that is the Surveyor-General of the state, same can never be approved for another professional colleague as enshrined in Osun State body of laws.
“But, sometimes in 27th day of November, 2013 when the project was already at the 70% completion stage, our Client received a letter from the Osun State College of Education, terminating the appointment of our Client unlawfully without recourse to the Surveyor-General of the state, who has the sole prerogative to do so.
“The reason given for terminating the contract awarded to our client’s firm by the school was “excessive costing” of the perimeter survey even though the authorities of the school know fully well that it is only the Surveyor-General of the state that have prerogative of costing been a public survey.
“Based on the aforementioned notorious fact, our Client replied the said letter of termination stating that the costing that emanated from him was just a proposed costing which is subject to review by the Surveyor-General of the state been a public survey. A copy of the said letter is hereby attached as “ANNEXTURE KBO 4”
“The said letter of termination not withstanding and based on the fact that our Client had the Beacon Numbers approved for the project by the Surveyor-General of the state, our Client remained undeterred and went ahead and completed the job 100% because the Beacon Numbers approved to him can neither be used by nor transferred to any other professional colleague.”
The petitioner, further alleged that the Governing Council chairman of the college, Mr. Niyi Akande, who was yet to be appointed into that office, when the process for the award of that project to him began, was the master-mind of the termination of the appointment.
Akande was further accused of misuse of his position to get the contract re-awarded allegedly to his friend and kinsman, Surveyor Debo Adedeji without following due process and getting the required approval from the Surveyor-General of the state.
Upon realising that the Oke was taken action to seek redress, duo of Mr. Niyi Akande and Surveyor Debo Adedeji, it was alleged resulted to threat to the life of the petitioner, threatening to deal with him seriously.
“Perhaps, in order to actualize their threat, our client, in the recent time, has noticed suspicious movements of strange faces loitering around his offices, survey sites as well as his residence especially after he gave the College of Education, Ila-Orangun notice of his intention to seek the intervention of the court to order the College to pay him the money due to him for the job he executed for them,” the petitioner concluded.
