By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor

LAGOS – Lagos State Commissioner for Home Affairs and Culture, Mr. Tunde Balogun has dismissed insinuations that former First Lady of the State, Mrs. Oluremi Tinubu, was imposed as the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, candidate for the Lagos Central Senatorial District.

Speaking at an interactive session between the candidate and newsmen in Lagos, Balogun praised the virtues of Mrs. Tinubu, who he said earned her place in politics through the hard work and legacy she left behind while she was First Lady.

Mrs. Tinubu used the opportunity to affirm that her senatorial ambition was not being pushed by her husband and national ACN leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Tinubu,  as he noted that not only had she paid her dues in public service, but that at more than 50 years, she knew what she wanted.

Noting that opposition to her candidacy easily melted as she expressed her intention, Balogun who is a member of the senatorial district, said, “everywhere in the world even in developed democracies, you will find out that there are some cases when some respected members of society, on coming out for political offices, you will find some opponents stepping down for them.

Balogun, a member of Mrs. Tinubu’s campaign committee said, “from our records in the senatorial district, you can check, only one aspirant came out and without prompting, that aspirant on his own decided to give her respect and stepped down for her. He did not only step down, he decided to be a member of the Central Working Committee for her election.

“He is Mr. Oyelomo Damole. In fact, he is the Chairman of the Central Working Committee.”
Praising the virtues of the candidate, he said, ”This is a woman, who is passionate about education,  environment and off course, poverty alleviation in the society.

“When she was the first Lady of Lagos State, she took a lot of things pragmatically. A lot of things that had been abandoned in the state for so long were revived. One of these was the issue of some spaces that were left empty.

“She transformed some of them into admirable landmarks. One of them is the Campos Square playground now,” he added.