Kunle Adelabu
The Chairmanship candidate of the Accord Party (AP) in Ikorodu North Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Hon. Adeosun Quadri Iyanda, has said that the July 24 local government election will be about testing the popularity of the party’s candidates.
He moved into AP after his former party, All Progressives Congress (APC) held a primary election which was marred by violence and other irregularities across the state.
After the primary election, it was gathered that the leadership of APC resolved that incumbent council chairmen who are seeking for a second term should be returned, a decision which jolted many aspirants.
Adeosun, who was a former Councilor, Majority Leader and APC Secretary in Ikorodu North LCDA, aspired for the Chairmanship position in the Council but moved to AP in protest against the party’s decision and also to test his popularity.
The politician, who has been a member of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Congress (AC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and All Progressives Congress (APC) for many years, said that the council election will be about personalities and not individuals.
While speaking with THE IMPACT in an interview during the week, the Chairmanship candidate said that he is a better candidate than the candidate that APC is presenting and that he will be executing his agenda for the development of the council if elected.
“I am aspiring for the Chairmanship seat of the Ikorodu North LCDA on the platform of the Accord Party”, he revealed.
“After consultations, I have moved into a great and accommodating party, Accord Party (AP). The leader of the party, His Excellency, Chief Ladoja, is a very notable person and in Lagos State, there is another notable politician, Kako Are, from Mushin Local Government .
“Same thing happened to him (Kako Are) when he felt cheated and told our party that he was going to test his popularity elsewhere. He went away and got the mandate and I also strongly believe that I can do the same thing.
“We are more or less in bondage in APC but as an individual, one has to be strong – minded, able to express yourself and prove your capability, but you cannot do this in the party (APC) and if someone is not mad, you should be able to move to another party where you will be able to express yourself”, the Chairmanship aspirant said.
Tracing his antecedents in his former party (APC), Hon. Adeosun said:
“I have been a member of the party since Alliance for Democracy days and under the ACN, I contested for the Councilorship in Ward A4 (Olorunda) and won and later re – contested and was re – elected and returned.
“I served three years each for my term as a Councilor. During my second term, I was elected as the Majority Leader of the Ikorodu North LCDA.
“When we moved into the APC, I was elected as the party's Secretary in Ikorodu North LCDA and in 2017, I aspired for the Chairmanship position of the council.
While speaking about his aspiration in 2017 and his former party’s decision to use consensus candidates then, Adeosun said that he believed that it wasn’t his time then and that he accepted his fate.
“The party then used its supremacy to pick a candidate. We were actually told that there would be a primary election and that we should mobilize our followers but unfortunately, the primary election did not hold but the party picked its candidates”, he said while recalling his experience in 2017.
“I took it as a fate then, believing that it was not yet my time and I agreed with the party. I believe that my own time would still come.
Speaking on his experience, regarding his aspiration this year,, Adeosun said that he expected a primary election but he was disappointed with the imposition of a particular candidate without any consultation despite paying huge amount of money to obtain nomination.
“This year also (2021), I also contested for the Chairmanship position of the council and we were told last few weeks that there would be a primary election and that we should go and obtain the nomination form”, he recalled.
“We obtained the form with a huge amount of money – N2, 000, 050 and a lot of expenses were also incurred (in campaigning).
“We are aware that the GAC (Governance Advisory Council) sat for about three times and resolved that we should go for a primary election and that we should mobilize our supporters, which we did. But to my greatest surprise, I can tell you that no election ( primary election) was held in 90% of Lagos State”, he said.
“Unfortunately and to our amazement, we heard that they resolved that the incumbent council chairmen should be returned. On what ground”, he asked rhetorically.
“We were not consulted and they made us all felt like we don’t know what we are doing. They played on our intelligence”, Adeosun protested.
“Their attitude is very disgusting and discouraging. They did not even consult us. They are the ones that told us that we should pick the form if we are interested and I just told you about the huge amount of money that we paid for nomination form.
“APC nomination form in other states was N200, 000 but we were made to collect the form for over 2 million naira here and they still want to pick a candidate over us without consulting us. They think that we are nonentities but we are not and that’s why we want to prove them wrong.
“We know what we are doing and that’s why we came out to obtain the form and campaigned across the council. There would have been no protests if we had lost in a free and fair election and we would have accepted our fate.
“But I know that I would have won if we had had the primary election because I am more popular among the grassroots people in the council.
“Accord nomination form was N100, 000”, he added.
Speaking further on the conduct of the last APC primary election, Hon. Adeosun said that the election only held in one ward out of the five political units in Ikorodu North LCDA, and added that the situations in the other four wards were brutal.
“In Ikorodu North LCDA, the primary election was only held in one Ward which is Agbala (E3) and while the situations in the other four Wards were brutal”, he said.
“My agents reported to me that there were gun shots in some places. In Ward E2 in Maya where election was supposed to be held, thugs invaded the place and started shooting which made people to run away.
“I was supposed to vote at Olorunda which is my political base/ward but I was unable to vote because materials for the election and the officials were not present on that day.
On his programmes if elected as the Chairman, Adeosun said that he would be a listening person and would execute his agenda faithfully.
He said that he would focus on lnternaly Generated Revenue (IGR) improvement, infrastructural development, environment, youth development, partnership with CDAs among others.
“Firstly, I will be a listening Council Chairman who will provide avenues for people to come to him and share their views on how to improve the council and have good governance.
“I will also execute all my programmes with all sincerity and faithfulness. I have been a Councilor for two – terms and that should tell you that I know what I am doing and know where the problems are.
“While I was serving as a Councilor and Chairman of lGR Committee, I wrote a report on how to improve our revenue because our IGR was very low then. The then executive chairman, Hon. Adeola Jokomba, called me to know if I could execute the proposal and I did. I did increase the IGR from N16million to N25million, N38milion and N40million respectively”, Hon. Adeosun said.
“For any executive chairman to perform, you need to first of all know how to generate revenue. It is only when you are able to generate money that you will be able to execute your programmes.
“If elected, I want to increase the council’s IGR for me to perform very well.
“Infrastructurally, I want to focus on local roads which are deplorable. There are some that we need to tar and others that only need grading.
“We also have areas that are being disturbed by floods and in such areas, they only need drainages which we are going to construct.
“While I was a Councilor, I brought all the CDAs in my Ward together to create a joint CDA forum and it still exists now. I will use that platform to create a communication platform and improve relationships.
“I will encourage them to always bring their challenges and demands to me through the joint forum, while I will also do the same to them through the same platform.
He also said that his administration would practice an open – door policy and be a listening Chief Executive.
“I believe that if I am given the executive power, I will do more than I did then as a Councilor and that is why I am telling my people that I can do it better”, he said.
“I am very close to the youths and l listen to their problems and challenges once they bring them to me and always try to solve them.
“As a good citizen, I have been calling the attention of the Chairman to areas that are needing his interventions and suggesting ways out to him. This is what that I want to do if elected and l also want to impact positively on the people.
“I think that Hon. Adeola Banjo has done his best. That's what he believes his capacity can do. Since he has done his own best and we can do better, we should be allowed to serve our people better.
“The local government election is grassroots oriented and it is not all about the party but personality of the candidates that the parties are sponsoring.
“I have my antecedents and people know me for what I have been doing. I know what I did when I was serving as a Councilor and Secretary of APC. I know that many people will prefer me and vote for me”, he boasted.
The Chairmanship candidate of the Accord Party, while expressing doubt over the capacity of the State’s Electoral body (LASIEC), added that his party believes in the capacity of body's Chairman to organize a free and fair election.
“We have our doubt over the capacity of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) because Lagos State owns LASIEC and APC owns Lagos State, but nevertheless, we still repose some trust in the body, especially the Chairman of the commission whom we all know to be very reliable, responsible and reputable”, he said.
“She is a person of justice and I believe that she will do justice to the elections and results. I have trust in her regardless of the fact that Lagos State is conducting the election”, Adeosun said.
