By Adeyinka Aderibigbe & Olanrewaju Adesanya
The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Ifako-Ijaiye/Ojokoro on Friday held a joint campaign at the Ojokoro mini stadium, to drum support for its candidate in the forthcoming general election for Ifako-Ijaiye federal constituency, James Adisa Owolabi.
It was a show of force that saw party chieftains, and faithful storm the streets of Ifako-Ijaiye, and the Lagos-Abeokuta expressway from Able Egba, terminating the rally at Jankara.
Various party leaders, among them the APC Local Government Chairman Deacon Banjo Omole, the Ifako-Ijaiye Local Government Chairman Apostle Oloruntoba Oke, and his colleague in Ojokoro LCDA, Hameed I.D Tijani, urged party faithfuls “to massively work” for all the candidates of the APC in the forthcoming election.
Omole who led the campaign train of excited party faithfuls from the party secretariat at Idi-Agbon, in Ifako-Ijaiye, to the Jankara, Ojokoro area, where the stadium is located, urged every aggrieved members of the party to forgive and forget and work for the victory of those who have emerged as party candidates in the coming elections.
“We are appealing to everyone to work as one and in the interest of the party. We should not allow for any crack in our midst, but work as one for the purpose of ensuring victory for our party.
” I challenge you all to go to the nooks and crannies of our two local governments and mobilise voters, who have PVC. No polling booth should record anything less than majority votes if we must be taken serious.”
He said: “This time around, Ifako-Ijaiye is determined to register its name as the mumber one local government with the highest number of votes in the state ”
Oke said time has come for the people to show appreciation to a party that is doing so well in putting g in place life long infrastructure that would banish poverty in the country.
He pointed out that the Federal Government has cited a modern train station at Iju, which would serve all Nigerians particulary citizens of both local governments, among several other projects that has been undertaken in the last three and a half years.
He charged members to massively get out to mobilise voters and ensure that all the party’s candidates from President Muhammadu Buhari, the senatorial candidate, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, are returned, and James Adisa Owolabi is elected into the House of Representatives on February 16, this year.
He equally canvassed massive support and vote for the the party’s governorship candidate Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu, and the twp members of the House of Assembly Adedeji Temitope Adewale and Rasheed Makinde, representing Ifako-Ijaiye I and II respectively.
The Ojokoro LCDA chirman who spoke in the same vein, said only total victory at the polls would help the two councils advance the cause of demanding for its share of the spoils of victory, as only those who worked for the party’s victory have been promised any reward by the party leadership.
All the candidates, spoke glowingly of the party and urged party faithful to ensure the party emerge victorious at all levels at the polls.
Owolabi, Adewale and Makinde pledged to be totally devoted to upscaling legislative representations at the House of Representatives and the House of Assembly, if the people give them their mandate.
The newly announced member of the Governorship Advisory Council (GAC) in Lagos State from Ojokoro, Dr Waleel Ade Ipaye in his keynote address, noted that the National leader of the party Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu targets not less than 6,250,000 votes from the state and has distributed what votes is expected from each constituencies in the state.
According to Ipaye Ifako Ijaiye as a whole is to churn out 500,000 votes, with the two council areas having to deliver 250,000 votes each.
He also hinted that if they meet the target, favourable allotment in the executive cabinet of the state will be theirs.
“The 250,000 votes we are talking about makes it compulsory for our people to move out and campaign vigorously for votes.
“We are not saying we are going to rig the election but for our people to vote for APC and all our candidates from the President to our Governorship candidate Mr. Babajide Sanwoolu, Senatorial candidate Adeola Olamilekan Yayi, Hon.Owolabi James Adisa for House of Reps and Hon Rasheed Makinde for the state House of Assembly.
The APC local government chairman in Ojokoro, Evangelist Adewale Bello, revealed that in recent times the percentage of PVC collection in Ojokoro has increased to 70 percent due to a concerted effort of the party aided by INEC’s distribution of PVCS to collation centres closer to the people.
“Our gathering here is to help our party to win this coming election by campaigning door to door, house to house and room to room to achieve the target.
The youthful leader of the Legislative Leader of Ojokoro LCDA. Councillor Kolawole Osho appraised the impact of Hon.Rasheed Makinde who he noted has done much to improve the lots of the people and set a template for them to follow,adding the incumbent Governor of the state Mr.Akinwunmi Ambode has constructed in an unprecedented manner 37roads in the constituency,same goes for the federal government rail project.
Alhaji Hamzat Azeez the CDC Chair Ojokoro LCDA while speaking with newsmen said Makinde’s performance in the first term qualifies him for a second term.
“We are here to launch the campaign programme of Honourable Makinde, he
has been picked as our candidates for the second term because he has
performed, in terms of our children in the state civil service, skill
acquisition, facilitation of road construction, empowerment of youths and aged,some of it are been done in various form, buying of JAMB forms and more.
“The previous federal administration introduced green revolution which prides agriculture so high but was jettisoned and that created a lot of problems for us, we had Operation Feed The Nation which was also jettisoned, if we had been growing our agriculture in time past it would have boost the ability of creating more employment for our people within the country but we engage in importing of goods and services from abroad and this has killed our own opportunity of creating jobs for our own children here.
“This is what the present administration in this country is doing differently, they are creating and establishing everlasting programmes that will aid our children and those yet unborn.
“We are saying they should vote APC so that we can have continuity.
“This is the umbrella body for all the CDA’s,we have told our CDA
members to go out enmasse to vote in the coming election and they will do that because they know without it they cannot make input into the selection of our leaders.
Ali Meidabu the general secretary for Arewa community in Ojokoro LCDA, noted that,” Hon.Rasheed Makinde has done remarkably well in his first tenure in office that is why we are all here to support him and ensure he returns to the Lagos Assemblyman Ifako Ijaiye constituency II for his quality representation,humility, accommodating mien whenever we want to see him he is simply accessible and we will give him all the support.