An aspirant for the Ikorodu Constituency 1 House of Assembly seat in the 2019 elections and a former Senior Special Assistant to Lagos State Governor on Education Admin., Hon Saheed Oladapo Ibikunle has revealed that, he remains the best and the most qualified candidate to replace the incumbent, Hon SOB Agunbiade among several other aspirants contesting for the position.
Hon Ibikunle, popularly called Omoluabi among his army of followers stated this while making his presentation at LAHA Ikorodu Constituency 1 Let’s Talk programme, organised by The Factor Media Ltd on Friday, 17th August, 2018.
Otunba Ibikunle who traced his passion for community service to his youthful days as a fresh University graduate in 1992 stated that his love for human capacity and community development of Ikorodu made him reject an employment offer with the Lagos State Government for a thank-less job of conducting free tutorials for the younger ones in Ikorodu, due to the non-availability of tutorial centers around the community in the early 90s. The passion, according to the erudite scholar later metamorphosed into Ultimate Education Concept, which has helped in the educational development of thousands of Ikorodu youths.
He added that, his aspiration for the assembly seat was in response to the popular yearnings among residents and key stakeholders of Ikorodu Constituency 1for a fresh representative to represent their interest at the Lagos State House of Assembly.
‘The incumbent, Hon SOB Agunbiade has done very well but, since our people have unanimously said he should step aside for a fresh person, I am compelled to join the race, due to mounting pressures from well meaning Ikorodu indigenes and residents who kept asking me to go and represent their interest at the state assembly. This is the more reason why I took my time to consult widely before declaring my intention’, he said.
Hon Ibikunle added that, having gauged the mood of majority of Ikorodu constituents and stakeholders, who he said have unanimously rejected the 4th term agenda of the incumbent, it will be disrespectful of him not to yield the call of these well meaning Ikorodu stakeholders.
‘If our people had given their nod for the incumbent to continue, I would have supported him the way I did, in the past. Like I always tell those who care to listen, I am not in this for personal gains. I have built houses, sponsored my children education, up to tertiary level, so this, to me is a call to the service of my community’, he stressed.
Hon. Ibikunle, who blamed the current political situation of Ikorodu town where several brilliant indigenes are struggling for one assembly seat on the errors of past leaders traced the problems of Ikorodu division to selfish interest, mutual distrust among major towns as well as lack of unity among residents. In his view, the only way Ikorodu can regain its economic and political losses is to choose him, being the best and most qualified among the candidates to represent them in 2019.
In an apparent response to claims from certain quarters that, choosing a fresh person to represent Ikorodu Constituency 1 at the state assembly in 2019 will relegate the constituency from its current leadership position of the state assembly to ordinary floor membership, Ibikunle debunked such arguments as totally untenable, particularly when the right replacement is more than qualified for the position.
‘I want to assure you all that, by God’s grace, with my past political experiences as a former SLG, SSA, coupled with street credibility and academic qualifications, having studied up to PhD level, Ikorodu Constituency 1 cannot be relegated in the scheme of things at the state Assembly’.
Also making a brief remarks at the parley, a former Chairman of Ikorodu North LCDA and a major contender for the assembly seat, Hon Adeola Jokomba commended Hon. Ibikunle for his rich resume, educative presentation and intimidating political profile. He charged participants, particularly party members to shun sentiments and money politics but, must rally round the right candidate for the Assembly seat.
Hon Jokomba described a situation where Ikorodu Division lost its LAHASCOM seat, Commissioner slot and political relevance in the state, while having a Majority Leader in the state assembly as unacceptable, hence the need for a truly passionate person like Hon Saheed Ibikunle to represent the constituency. Jokomba further shocked many stakeholders at the event when he announced his readiness to jettison his ambition for the assembly race, once the people are ready to support candidate like Hon Ibikunle.
Chairman of the event, Dr Bolaji Harrison in his remarks charged participants to go out en-masse to register as card-carrying members of APC and ensure they also collect their PVC to guarantee that Ikorodu is rightly positioned in the politics of Lagos State.
The climax of the night was the unveiling of the Omoluabi 5-Point legislative agenda to the stakeholders. The agenda are, Fresh Innovative Legislations, Repositioning of Ikorodu for better political deals, Education, Empowerment and Employment creation, Security and Health Insurance among other progressive initiatives.
