Ibikunle Amosun

Ibikunle Amosun (born 25 January 1958) is a Nigerian politician who was elected senator for the Ogun Central district of Ogun State, Nigeria in April 2003. In April 2007 he made an unsuccessful bid to be elected governor of Ogun State. He ran for governor again in 2011, and this time was elected on the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform.[1] He ran for office for a second term under the All Progressives Congress in 2015 and was re-elected and sworn into office May 29, 2015.

Senator Ibikunle Amosun
Senator for Ogun Central
In office
May 29, 2003 – May 29, 2007
Preceded byFemi Okurounmu
Succeeded byIyabo Obasanjo-Bello
Senator for Ogun Central
Assumed office
May 29, 2019
Preceded byLanre Tejuoso
Governor of Ogun State
In office
May 29, 2011 – May 29, 2019
Preceded byGbenga Daniel
Succeeded byDapo Abiodun
Personal details
Born (1958-01-25) 25 January 1958
Political partyAll Progressives Congress (APC)

Background

Amosun was born on 25 January, 1958 to a Muslim family. He attended primary school at African Church Primary school in Abeokuta (1965–1970), and then African Church Grammar school, Abeokuta (1971 – 1977). He then went to Ogun State Polytechnic, graduating with a Higher National Diploma (HND) in 1983.

Amosun gained an Associate membership of the Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) in 1990. He became a fellow of the Institute in 1996. He also became an Associate member of the Chartered Institute of Taxation of Nigeria (1998).[2]

Amosun began his career as an audit trainee with Lanre Aremu & Co. (Chartered Accountants) 1984. Later he joined XtraEdge Consulting as a managing consultant. From 1990, he was Principal partner of Ibikunle Amosun & Co. (Chartered Accountants) in Lagos.

Amosun went to the University of Westminster in London, United Kingdom, where he acquired a Master of Arts in International Finance in 2000.[2]

Political career

In April 2003, Amosun was elected to the senatorial seat of Ogun Central Senatorial district.[2] He was an unsuccessful candidate to become Governor of Ogun State in April 2007, running on the All Nigeria People's Party (ANPP) platform, but was defeated by Gbenga Daniel. He disputed the result, but in August 2009 the Ogun State Election Petitions Tribunal dismissed the petition.[3]

Amosun was the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) for April 2011 Ogun State gubernatorial election. A report in the Nigerian Tribune on 12 February, 2011 quoted his media aide as saying he had switched to the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), but this was denied by ACN officials.[4] Amosun won the 26 April election running on the ACN platform with 377,489 votes. Adetunji Olurin of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) polled 188,698 votes and Gboyega Isiaka of the PPN came third with 137,051 votes.[1]

In 2015, Amosun stood for a second term as governor. He chose, Yetunde Onanuga, as his running mate of the state governor. He had to find a new running mate as his previous deputy governor had defected to an opposition party. Amosun chose Onanuga who had been working in the Lagos State Ministry of Environment over three other possible candidates.[5] On the 29th of May, 2019, Amosun handed over to his successor, Dapo Abiodun after completing the constitutional maximum two terms of eight years as a governor. However, he was elected as the senator for the Ogun central senatorial district at the National Assembly.

Controversy

On June 24, 2019 Premium Times reported in an exclusive story that Ibikunle Amosun illegally purchased and imported four million rounds of ammunition, 1,000 units of AK47 assault rifles, 1,000 units of bulletproof vests and an armoured personnel carrier (APC) into Nigeria as the Governor of Ogun State without obtaining necessary approvals from the Office of the National Security Adviser and in violation of the Nigeria Firearms Act.[6][7] The report generated a strong reaction from Nigerians with civil society organisations, citizens across the country and Ogun State chapter of his political party calling for his immediate arrest.[8][9][10][11][12][13]

In a reaction to the report, Ibikunle Amosun stated that he got necessary approval for the arms and ammunitions he imported as well as the end-user certificate from the office of the National Security Adviser, stating that it is a common practice by Governors in Nigeria to have an armoury[14][15][16] In a swift response, twenty State Governors in Nigeria denied having an armoury in the Government Office or House[17]

In a reaction to the claim of Ibikunle Amosun, the Nigerian Government via the Budget Office of the Federation stated that Amosun only got approval for the importation of Armoured Personnel Carrier and not that of AK-47 rifles and ammunitions.[18] In another exclusive report by Premium Times showing documents from the offices of National Security Adviser, the Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Ministry of Finance and Ogun State Government, Premium Times reported that Ibikunle Amosun did not get approval for the ammunitions and weapons he brought into Nigeria.[19]

Awards and honours

His leadership qualities and outstanding achievements have earned him recognition nationally and internationally, some of these include:

  1. In October 2012, he was awarded as the Best Security Conscious State Governor in West Africa by Security Watch Africa in Accra, Ghana. The award was presented by the Chairperson, Board of Trustees, Security Watch Africa, Dr Theresa Oppory Beeko[20][21]
  2. In September 2013, he received the Investment Development Icon Award for 2013 from African Leadership magazine in New York.[22]
  3. In November 2013, Businessday Newspaper in Lagos honoured him with the Good Governor Award as the governor of the fastest growing state economy.[22]
  4. In September 2014, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan conferred on him the National Honour Award as the Commander of the Order of the Niger (C.O.N).[23]
  5. He bagged the Governor of the Year award for 2016 for his outstanding achievement in leadership and infrastructural development. The award was conferred on him by the Nigeria Union of Journalists (N.U.J) President, Abdulwaheed Odusile at the Award Night and Investiture of the Governor of the Year to mark N.U.J. at sixty-two.[24]

See also

References
  1. "Ibikunle Amosun of ACN wins Ogun State". InDepth Nigeria. April 27, 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
  2. "SIA's profile". Ibikunle Amosun. Archived from the original on 2011-08-04. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
  3. "Tribunal again upholds Gbenga Daniel's election". Business Day. 28 August 2009. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  4. Olayinka Olukoya (12 February 2011). "2011: Senator Ibikunle Amosun Dumps ACN, Joins CPC". Nigerian Tribune. Archived from the original on 16 February 2011. Retrieved 2011-04-29.
  5. How Amosun’s running mate emerged, 19 December 2014, VanguardNGR, Retrieved 17 February 2016
  6. Samuel Ogundipe (24 June 2019). "Amosun surrenders 1000 AK47 rifles, 4million bullets acquired before 2019 elections". Premium Times.
  7. Jude Egbas (25 June 2019). "Here's all you need to know about the killer weapons Amosun allegedly bought before 2019 elections". Pulse NG.
  8. Samuel Ogundipe (25 June 2019). "Nigerians unite in anger over Amosun's 1,000 AK47, 4 million bullets stockpile". Premium Times.
  9. "'Gun running: Group Ask Police to invite Amosun". TheCable.
  10. Samuel Ogundipe (25 June 2019). "Arms Scandal: APC demands immediate arrest of ex-Gov. Amosun". Premium Times.
  11. "Arms Recovery: Police Deny Receiving Guns From Ibikunle Amosun As APC Calls For His Arrest". Sahara Reporters.
  12. "Ogun APC spokesperson urges probe of ex-gov. Amosun 'gun-running scandal'". The News. 30 June 2019.
  13. Tunji Bosun (26 June 2019). "Arms collection: APC wants Amosun questioned". Punch News.
  14. Tunji Bosun (27 June 2019). "Amosun denies arms stockpiling allegations, says Abiodun supplied APCs, others". Punch News.
  15. Peter Moses. "Jonathan approved, Abiodun supplied ammunition – Amosun". Daily Trust.
  16. "Amosun: Procurement of 1000 AK-47 rifles was approved by Jonathan". TheCable. 26 June 2019.
  17. Josiah Oluwole, Cletus Ukpong, Nasir Ayitogo, Abdulkareem Haruna. "Armouries in Government Houses: Governors react over Amosun's claim". Premium Times.CS1 maint: uses authors parameter (link)
  18. Samuel Ogundipe (8 November 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: Govt. confirms Amosun illegally imported 1,000 AK-47 guns, two million bullets". Premium Times.
  19. Samuel Ogundipe (4 November 2019). "EXCLUSIVE: Documents show ex-Gov. Amosun illegally imported arms, ammunition". Premium Times.
  20. "Amosun: A honour well deserved". The Nation (Nigeria). 25 October 2012. Retrieved 2019-11-30.
  21. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2016/01/ibikunle-amosun-consumate-philanthropist.
  22. https://oouagoiwoye.edu.ng/the-visitor.
  23. http://www.imostateonline.com/releases/717-fg-releases-list-of-2013-2014-national-honours-award-recipients.
  24. http://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/04/nuj-honours-gov-amosun-others-outstanding-achievement-leadership.
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