·Why Dapo Abiodun deserves a second term

By Juliet Umeh

AS the battle for the Ogun West Senatorial seat thickens, the lawmaker currently representing Lagos West in the Senate, Senator Solomon Olamilekan, a chartered accountant, says he wants to offer quality representation to his people as a third term senator.

Olamilekan, who is popularly known as Yayi disclosed this at a media parley in Lagos and regretted that quality representation and governance have been at the lowest ebb in Ogun West in the past 16 years.

He said as a former member of the House of Representatives courtesy of Lagos and a two-time Senator representing Lagos West his representation will be a blessing to Ogun West

He said: “I am running as a third term ranking senator. In the National Assembly, we place much emphasis on ranking. So, if I go as a ranking member, it’s a lost to Lagos State and again to my senatorial district compared to when a new member is going.

“If a new member is just going, he has to learn through the rules and can learn for the next three or four years. But for me, I will continue where I stopped and it’s going to be a blessing in disguise to my new senatorial district.”

Speaking on his political journey so far, he said: “I brought this before you so that nobody will tell you a different version of the story. It’s not a journey that I started today. It is a journey that I commenced over 10 years ago, and I will go back to my roots and play politics rather than stay in Lagos.

“There has been a series of attempts to smear my name with stories that are not genuine about me and my agenda.

“There are a lot of talks that I am not from Yewa. Then I ask, is it possible for a man to sleep overnight and wake up and say, I am from this area? They are not driving me from Lagos either.

“The reason I am going back home is because of my people. Ogun State has been created for more than 40 years. Our part of Ogun State has been out of the scheme of things.

“They have not been able to produce governors, and the issue is not far-fetched.

So, putting myself forward, and going back home should not be an issue.”

He noted that he is well accepted by his people, saying: “In the community where I am going, I am well accepted. For those that are contesting with me in this election, I have said, let’s go to the primary, but they don’t want to go to the primary. They want a situation whereby they will be nominated and given the ticket. They are not prepared for primary.

“On May 14, the entire 57 Obas of the area will be giving me the Aremu Oba of Yewa land. And for all the Obas to come together, it means that I am the firstborn of the Obas in that area. Also, 374 Baales just endorsed me and the governor for both the Senate seat and governor for the second term.”

Why his going home was delayed

“I thank God who has given me the grace and I thank my political leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has also supported me. I am going back home to my roots. I have been on this for some years. It’s not just now that I took that decision.

“The first was when I made an attempt to represent Ogun West in the Senate between 2015 and 2019 but the then governor of the State, Ibikunle Amosun, had another agenda and since we belong to the same political class, the leaders then thought it wise that I should not cross to another political party that I should leave him. So I returned to Lagos and I was given the Senate seat. I ran on the platform of APC and I won.

“I returned to the state to contest for the governor of the state in 2019. I worked so hard. Then, the party was in a bit of a crisis, and Asiwaju Tinubu was appointed as the reconciliation chairman of the party.

“Then, the governor told Asiwaju that if he wanted the reconciliation to be genuine that he should please allow me to return to Lagos. Tinubu appealed to me to return to Lagos.

“Meanwhile, every poll they had taken on who would be the next governor favoured me. But as usual, I am a very loyal person. l decided to abide by their constitution and returned to the Senate for the second time. But this time around, I said enough is enough, I am not going to run in Lagos, I am going back home.

I thank God for Asiwaju and the current governor of Ogun State who I have cordial relationships. We have been working together as a senior brother to junior brother and I decided that I am going back home to run for the Senate seat of Ogun West.

“I am in total support of Dapo Abiodun for the second term and I am mobilising the entire Ogun West to support the governor for the second term because he is a gentleman to the core. I strongly believe that to a large extent, he has contributed his quota towards the development of the state in the last four years despite taking over from a very hostile predecessor. With the meagre resources of the state he still found his foot, and voice in terms of governance of Ogun State. So far so good, he has done so much and so well.

You can see that Ogun and Lagos States are very close, the proximity is helping the state but at the same time, if you are not smart about it, you might be close and achieve nothing. The present administration has taken full advantage of the closeness and proximity to developing the state.

Ogun State today is a construction site. There is no local government one construction or the other is not going on. So for such a man, I believe he deserves commendation because he has done well.

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