Kunle ADELABU
-Says election not a do-or-die affair
Prince Adeyemi Odofin, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) candidate for the Ikorodu Constituency I seat in the Lagos State House of Assembly in the 2019 General Elections, has joined other candidates in signing the NotTooYoungToRun Peace Accord.
The campaign against electoral violence, which was initiated by the Lagos State branch of the youth group and which is being replicated in all the 57 Local Councils in the state, was signed by the ADP candidate at his campaign office in Ikorodu, on Saturday, January 6, 2018.
While signing the document in the presence of the members of the NotTooYoungToRun movement, Prince Odofin stated that election should not be a do-or-die affair.
“I have no reason to be violent and that is why we have been going about our political engagements peacefully. I am a professional and to me, election is not a do-or-die affair.
“I never thought of going into politics because I have a lucrative job. So, it was never my intention to contest until when people came to me to represent them and I had to accept. Why should I engage people in violence and set my community on fire?”
He lauded the initiative of the movement in ensuring a violent-free election in 2019 and appealed to other candidates to act according to the spirit of the accord.
Speaking on his agenda for the people of Ikorodu if elected, Prince Odofin stated that he will help residents in achieving their dreams.
He mentioned qualitative education, sports development, youth empowerment and usage of the constituency allowance for developmental projects among others as his focus.
“Our plan is to provide benches and desks in all schools and ensure that classrooms in the constituency are not overcrowded as we have in most schools presently.
“We will ensure that there is qualitative education in the public schools which are still the best considering the quality teachers that we have in our schools.
On sports, he stated: “Our plan is to provide recreational facilities to engage youths. I plan to ensure that there are sporting facilities in all the wards under my constituency and also make available facilities like table tennis which used to be my best game.
“Through sports, we can empower many residents because raw talents are abound in Ikorodu but we lack facilities to help them develop”.
On empowerment, Prince Odofin stated: “We are going to identify artisans’ associations and make fund available to their members through the associations to assist their businesses. The loan is going to be interest-free loan which we are going to monitor to achieve results”.
He also spoke about his plans for infrastructural developments and youth empowerments.
The Coordinator of the NotTooYoungToRun in Ikorodu, Mr Samson Bisiriyu, who led other members of the movement to the event, had earlier informed the ADC candidate that the group is on a mission to prevent violence during election in Ikorodu.
He stated that the movement at the state level had succeeded in making some of the gubernatorial candidates commit themselves to peaceful conduct of the election.
According to him, “Our movement at the state level had succeeded in reaching out to some gubernatorial candidates who had not only signed the Youth Against Violence Accord (YAVA), but also are committed to ensuring that there will be no violence by sensitizing their supporters on the need to conduct their affairs peacefully.
“In Ikorodu, Hon. SOB Agunbiade (APC Assembly candidate in Ikorodu Constituency I) and Mr Mukaila Lamina (PDP’s Constituency I Assembly Seat candidate) have signed the accord and they have also committed themselves to peaceful engagement.
Seun Elesho, a chieftain of the movement, speaking on the proposed political debate, enjoined Prince Odofin to make himself available whenever the date is communicated.
“Aside the peace accord that we are embarking on, we are also planning to engage all the candidates in political debate. The date will be communicated soon and we plead that you make yourself available to present your agenda to the public.
“We are working on the modalities and we shall communicate to you as soon as we are set”, he added.
