In a rare display of gratitude and appreciation, the federal lawmaker representing the Ekiti North Federal constituency 11, Ido-Osi/llejemeje/Moba local governments, Hon. Davidson Akinlayo Kolawole, over the weekend massively empowered thousands of his constituents. The empowerment program was well attended. The State Deputy Governor, Chief Monisade Afuye, represented the Governor Oyebanji at the event.

APC state party Chairman, Commissioners, traditional rulers, party loyalists, and other political bigwigs were on ground to honour a worthy representative who has constantly given back to the people that sent him. The empowerment program was one of it kinds in Ekiti, as some party members posited that they have never witnessed such massive empowerment in the history of that constituency.

The Deputy Governor in her goodwill message applauded Governor Oyebanji for building a workable synergy with Ekiti NASS members saying, “You could attest to the fact that Governor Oyebanji has established a very strong and reliable partnership with the nine members of the National Assembly, from our dear state, and this accounts for the high level of federal presence that we’re witnessing in Ekiti today. Through this partnership, Ekiti has experienced an increase in road infrastructures, establishment of University in Ekiti State, conversion of Specialist Hospital to a Federal Medical Centre, and building of school hostels for medical students of the Ekiti State University. I plead with the beneficiaries, please, don’t sell off these materials. Try and make good use of them. There is nothing to profit when you sell them. But if you use them for the purpose meant for, then, you will enjoy the gains better.”

In his media engagement with the press, MHR Akinlayo spoke extensively about the effort of the President Tinubu led administration to assuage the suffering of the masses.

“As a member of the Tax Reform Bill, Hon. Akinlayo took his time to explain the inherent benefits of it by saying, “It’s been so rancour-free. I’m a member of the committee. House of Representatives sets up a 44 committee members to take on the Public hearing. I’m a member from Ekiti state. Im a statutory member of the Finance Committee, which gives me leverage to be in that committee.

“When people come with a memorandum, the recommendation, we look at it vis-à-vis what’s on ground in the bill already. There is an area we will amend about derivation. VAT, we told them that VAT is a consumption tax. What you consume is what you pay taxes on.

”Some people feel that some areas consume more than others. For example, Kano is big. The MTN calls made in Kano, they file the VAT in Lagos. Lagos benefits from it, but with the new tax bill before us, everywhere you make a call, for instance, if I make a call in Ikosun Ekiti, Ekiti state will be the beneficiary of that bill. That’s what the President has done.

”It is just to centralize that tax bill and distribution of VAT across board and also tax the rich to pay for the poor, because right now, any business below 50m are not going to pay taxes and if you earn certain amounts – from level 8 below, you are not paying taxes.”

As part of the empowerment program, the medical outreach section was handled by medical experts who carried out series of test, ranging from sugar level, cholesterol level, sight examination, blood pressure, and other medical tests with the provision of drugs for tested patients. Individuals with severe medical conditions were referred to standard hospitals with an assurance to footbill their medical expenses by Hon. Akinlayo.

Speaking on the importance of the empowerment materials, MHR Akinlayo said, “I know I have given back to the society that has done so much for me. This is just a stepping stone. I want them to put whatever we give them to use for their benefit and for the upliftment of their families.

”I have warned them that they should not sell it because the event has shown that items given to people are sold. We give to artisans. For instance, if you are a Tailor, we give you a sewing machine; some were given grinding machines.

“Okada riders were given motorcycles. We don’t give to people who will sell it because we don’t want them to sell it.

“What we are doing is to empower and uplift the beneficiaries.

“This will play a significant role in their lives. As it is, things are hard in the society. The little we can do is just to uplift and give them succour. That succour is what we have done.

“We gave out a lot of money to people – widows, elderly women. We selected 320 across my constituency. We give each N50.000 to start up something. We also clothe them, we gave them Ankara and Guinea Brocade.

“Tomorrow, we are giving bursary to students in Higher schools of Learning in my Federal constituency. Regardless of numbers as many as they are, we will give them something to relieve their parents of school burden,” the Rep. member said.

Amongst the empowerment materials that were given to constituents: 150 sewing machines; 500 bags of 50kg fertilizers; 32 motorcycles; 150 grinding machines; 100 bundles of roofing sheets; 100 Elepaq generators; 128 knap sack spraying machines; 150 hair dryers; hundreds bundle of guinea brocade; hundreds bundle of Ankara; N50,000 cash gift to all the 32 ward chairmen, youth leaders, women leaders, and secretaries across the constituency; N50,000 cash gift to 320 widows i.e 10 widows per ward; N25,000 cash gift to 320 chieftaincy holders i.e 10 chieftaincy holders per ward; N25,000 cash gift to 750 students; N75,000 cash gift awarded to 21 exceptionally brilliant students, with cash gift to 100 students from Ikosu Grammar School. According to Hon. Akinlayo, he chose to award the bursary so as to ease the financial burden of the students’ parents.

When asked about the 2026 governorship election of Ekiti and that of 2027, he said, “I’m not perturbed because we know we are working. The government is working. What people don’t understand is that this government inherited a decayed situation.

“For Nigeria not to collapse, that’s why the President removed subsidy and floated the exchange rate, because if they don’t do that, you allow naira to determine its value. Before, we used naira to back naira. It’s not done anywhere.

”As an economist, nobody will do that, but the President said no. It’s high time we faced reality and take the bull by the horns. That’s what we have done, and you see the economy is gradually picking.

“The prices of goods and services is reducing if you go to market now. I bought a bag of rice yesterday, I bought it for N72.000.

“During the December period, I bought N92.000. You can see the N20.000 price reduction. So, things will get better. By God’s grace, this year will be a better year”, Hon. Akinlayo said.