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By James Ogunnaike, Abeokuta

The Deputy Minority Whip of the House of Representatives, Adesegun Abdul-Majid Adekoya at the weekend warned Nigerians to steer clear of religion and ethic sentiments while voting to elect new president during the 2023 general election.

Adekoya who is currently representing Ijebu-North/Ijebu-East/Ogun Waterside Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, urged the electorates to vote for competence, rather than party, religion or ethnicity in the coming elections.

The lawmaker, who spoke at the N500 Million Naira Fund Raising for Community Development Projects, organised by the Ago-Iwoye Great Thinkers Trust Foundation (AIGTT), in Ago-Iwoye, Ijebu-North Local Government area of Ogun state, said religious and ethnic sentiment led the the country to the current economic and security challenges that the nation is facing.

“Therefore, in 2023, electorates should make it a matter of priority in electing competence in the general elections”.

He said, “in the coming elections, people should not look for APC, not Muslim or Christian or whatever. The level we are now and the extent APC has taken Nigeria, people should look for someone who can fix the country’s economy.

“People should not consider religion or ethnicity in the coming election. The Yoruba people don’t care about your religion or what you believe in. My wife is a Council Chairman in APC state. I am the only PDP in Ogun State and I am not persuaded to join APC.

“Our challenge is economy. The economy has been bastardised, so, what should our people look out for before voting a candidate. First, is economy followed by security. Government should do the needful like we passed a bill that I co-sponsored. It’s for the recognition of vigilante group. If the vigilante group bill had been singed into law, there will be no need for Amotekun in the South West.”

Speaking at the programme, the State Governor, Prince Dapo Abiodun commended the initiative, stating that the Ago-Iwoye indigenes have alluded to the fact that government alone cannot bring about the needed development in the state.

The governor was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Tokunbo Talabi
assured the Ago-Iwoye indigyens of his administration’s support in bringing more developmental projects to community.

He said “Ago Iwoye people have taken a giant step to take their destiny in their hands. You don’t leave everything to government and I believe that this initiative will be something that other neighborhoods will look into.

“When you have project like this, it doesn’t rob you of the fact that you are entitled to certain projects and when you are talking about development, development can come from both the government, the indigenes and even from outsiders. We are going to sit down and digest all our programmes we have in health, education agriculture and these are the three cardinal points for any administration to grow,” he added.

Welcoming guests to the ceremony, the AIGTT Chairman, Board of Trustees, Major General S. A. Awosanya (rtd), said the ceremony was a convergence of indigenes of Ago-Iwoye both at home and in diaspora to raise fund for the developmental projects in the city in the area of health, agriculture, education and youth empowerment.

He said, “since government alone cannot meet the needs, yearnings, and aspirations of the citizens, AIGTT seeks to complement the efforts of government and also bridge the gap by providing interventions in some identified critical sectors of the economy”.