The political bid and permutations by current Lagos West Senator, Mr Olamilekan Adeola a k.a Yayi to relocate from Lagos to Ogun State to retain his seat in the Senate for the third run, may have met with brickwall as some All Progressives Congress (APC) bigwigs in the state have kicked against it.
To them, Adeola relocating to Ogun West (Yewa) purposely to contest the Ogun West Senatorial seat in the 2023 poll is not only condemnable but reprehensible.
A one-time Minister of State for Education, Senator Iyabo Anisulowo, and other party elders made their position known at a meeting of Ogun West stakeholders held at llaro, headquarters of Yewa South Local Government Area.
Other party chieftains from the area who are opposed to Adeola’s transfer from Lagos to Ogun are Senator Ayo Otegbola, Senator Akin Odunsi, Senator Kola Bajomo, Senator Gbolahan Dada, Reps. Jimoh Olaifa, Kola Lawal, Prince Gboyega Nasir Isiaka, Biodun Akinlade, as well as Chief Biyi Otegbeye.
Also resisting the Lagos senator are Hon. Salmon Adeleke and Mr Tope Kuyebi among others, who have vowed to resist any attempt to foist Adeola on Ogun West District.
The meeting tagged, “Preserving The Integrity of Ogun West Senatorial District,” had in attendance former commissioners, Local Government Chairmen and members of the State House of Assembly, from the Senatorial district.
Persecondnews recalls that Adeola, who has been having a running battle with some APC leaders in the area since he launched his political project tagged, “From West (Lagos) to West (Ogun), has been a lawmaker since 1999, about 23 years ago.
He served as Alimosho 11 constituency lawmaker in the Lagos State House of Assembly from 1999 to 2007, House of Representatives for the area from 2007 to 2015 and Senate from 2015 to date.
To actualize his ambition of clinching the APC ticket in Ogun Senatorial race, Adeola and his wife last week took the chieftaincy titles of Aremo and Eye Aremo of Yewaland conferred on them by the Olu of llaro, Oba Kehinde Olugbenle, at a carnival-like event at Ilaro.
But Anisulowo from Ilaro and others said they are incensed by the morality and legality of Adeola’s ambition after he has lived all his life in Lagos and served there.
According to them, the accountant- turned politician is not an indigene of Yewa or the state as claimed by him.
Describing Adeola’s ambition as an aberration and illegality, Anisulowo slammed alleged endorsement of Adeola as the flag bearer of APC by some leaders of Ogun West for the May Senatorial primary.
“Such a position does not represent collective interest of the area.
“The take home from this meeting is that we are not accepting a stranger to come and take our resources and our inheritance in this place.
“I’m not questioning his coming, wanting to live here, but I’m questioning his politics and that he wants to come and take what belongs to us,” Septuagenarian Anisulowo, a former Commissioner in Ogun, said.
Toeing Anisulowo’s line, an octogenarian, Mrs Mary Ogunjobi said: “What we are doing today is to counter the endorsement of a foreigner, by trying to destroy Ogun West. Our property (referring to Senate seat is not for sale.
“Anybody that sells our property will suffer for it.”
Like Anisulowo, Ogunjobi also challenged the youths to speak up against the plan to cede the Ogun West senatorial seat to the “stranger.”
A former Chairman of Yewa South Local Government, Hon Jimoh Akinlade, called on the leadership of the party to address the concern before it “leads to an embarrassment for the party.”
“They should try to review what is going on in Ogun West Senatorial District, if they fail to do this, there is a doom ahead somehow.
“We love the party, we love what the governor is doing, we don’t want any embarrassment for the governor, hence, they do the right thing,” he told the meeting.
Also in a communique after the meeting, the party elders resolved that leaders and party stakeholders in the area have neither endorsed nor ceded the APC senatorial ticket to Senator Adeola.
“We condemn in totality, the attempt by the serving Senator representing Lagos West Senatorial District, Olamilekan Solomon Adeola, known as ‘YAYI’, to jump ship and seek the mandate of Ogun West Senatorial district while still holding on the one he currently occupies; a blatant illegality of the most despicable order.
“We must reiterate that Ogun West is arrayed with patriotic and morally upright leaders who will not betray their fatherland by supporting illegality and assault on the land,” Persecondnews quotes from the communique.
“We therefore use this medium to reinforce the indisputable fact that the genuine Elders, Leaders and Stakeholders of Ogun West APC are not in support of the illegal move.
“Neither have we endorsed anyone for the Senate seat of of our senatorial district, talk more of Senator Olamilekan Adeola – who by clear provisions of the constitution and the electoral act is not qualified to contest elections in Ogun State; and anyone or group that who has done so, is speaking for themselves and not for Ogun West.
“Finally, we call on the National Working Committee (NWC) of our party, under the leadership of HE Senator Abdullahi Adamu and HE Prince Dapo Abiodun to intervene and halt the illegality being perpetrated in Ogun State.
“We like to also urge them to use their good offices to implement the admonition of the Leader of our Party, President Muhammadu Buhari, who said that the processes of the party and the tickets of offices must not be allocated to moneybags and the highest bidder,” the communique said.
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