…says pure blackmail
The All Progressives Congress stakeholders in Eti-Osa East Local Council Development Area (LCDA) on Monday staged a protest to declare the previous protest led by Mr. Segun Williams as pure blackmail, alleging it was targeted at stopping Mr. John Campos Ogundare’s bid for a second term in office.
Scores of placard and colourful banner wielding protesters stormed the Lagos Assembly, to allegedly clear the air about a wrong public perception which they claimed was peddled around by individuals who are not known to the community, which basically disparaged the person of the council boss.
Inscriptions boldly seen on the placards held by the protesters majorly points to the fact that the chairman has done well by all parameters, ensuring security, construction of markets, completion of the ongoing projects left by his predecessor and uplifting the state of development in the area.
It would be recalled that the Thursday protest was hinged on an allegation that the council boss allegedly embezzled a whooping sum of N1.9 billion in three months for which they demanded his removal to prevent the cited corrupt tendencies from festering any further.
Mr. Adekunle Odunuga the LGA APC Chairman in Eti Osa East LCDA, speaking with newsmen during the protest berated the previous protest as one purposely done to undermine the council boss.
“Last week Thursday some people came and blackmailed our council chairman, this surprised us because we don’t know these people, we ignored them, in Eti-Osa we are one in APC and you can see the crowd behind me.
“We don’t want this people to come and embarrass our Chairman again. we are the party people and we are behind our chairman, we fully supporting him.”
Asked if the allegations levelled against the chairman were true, the party chair maintained that the channel of communication were not well explored.
“It is better for him to come closer to Eti-Osa East LCDA or to come closer to the party so that they can explain to you than to come here and blackmail our council chairman.
“We are not saying they should stop the investigations but that nobody should come and embarrass our Chairman. we are behind him. The councillors told us everything has been settled amicably in Alausa here.”
A resident of the area Apostle Olusoji Fabuga who also corroborated the stance of Odunuga stressed that Ogundare (Chairman) is a symbol of true development in their area and that the initial claims by previous protesters were unfounded.
“We have tried to check the video of the protest and cannot even pinpoint one person or two who is a member of our party or a resident of Eti-Osa, this is why we are here.
“The Chairman has been doing a lot, out of the four LCDA in Eti-Osa, ours is the least and since his assumption of office the Chairman has been trying hard to ensure things are properly done and a lot of developments come to this LCDA.
“You can’t compare Eti-Osa with Victoria Island and Ikoyi. We can only compare Eti-Osa West in Igbo Efon but now we are measuring up.
“There has not been so much roads in our locality and Honourable John Campos Ogundare has really done great to bring us much much development.
“Residents are all here because before the advent of John Campos Ogundare the security situation in Eti- Osa is not palatable, there has been a lot of day-light robbery,cult clashes and since he came in it has reduced to the barest minimum.”
Hon. Desmond Elliot (Surulere 1) and Hon. Adebola Shabi (Lagos Mainland 2) were on hand to receive the letter written by the protesters and communicate same to the house.
Elliot urged the protesters to be rest assured that their issue will be tabled before the house and deliberated upon and amicably handled to the benefit of the community and residents.
The lawmaker said that :“Last week some protesters were here and my colleagues listened to them as we listened to you, at our next plenary it will be deliberated upon.”
The Media Aide of the Council boss Mr. Ola Mohammed who also had a chat with newsmen close to the end of the protest described the whole issue as unwarranted, adding that the document was a leaked one, with which the Chairman was allegedly summoned by the councillors of the LCDA to come and avail them some clarifications on projects sums they are not too clear about.
The said document, he claimed got into the hands of mischief makers, who are now throwing tantrums to tarnish the council chairman’s image. He also noted that the claim had been severally refuted by the Chairman since December 2023.