Kunle Adelabu
-Canvasses for collection of PVCs, support for APC candidates
The Chairman, Nigerian Majority Leaders Forum, Hon. Sanai Agunbiade, has affirmed that the national leader and Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu will win the forthcoming presidential election, stating that he has no match among other contenders for the exalted position.
Agunbiade, who also expressed certainty that other APC candidates will emerge victorious, charged residents of Ikorodu to collect their Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) and vote for all his party’s flag bearers.
The ranking lawmaker expressed his positive dispositions during the New Year Party of his working team, the Onward Movement of Nigeria, tagged, ‘2023 Praise & Worship Party & Celebration of Victory of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu as President of Nigeria (ahead of the election), held at his constituency office, Grammar School, Oke Ota – Ona, Ikorodu, on Saturday, January 21, 2023.
Agunbiade, who would have served for 16 years when he exits office in June and will be setting a record as the longest serving political office holder and lawmaker, speaking with THE IMPACT, said that he and his movement are celebrating the victory of the APC Presidential candidate ahead of the election because there are assurances that he is going to win.
The Lagos Majority Leader added that they are certain of Asiwaju Tinubu’s victory because none of the other candidates has his credentials.
“We usually thank God every year for his support. We do this every year and because 2023 is an election year and we have someone very prominent and important to our lives and aspirations which is Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is contesting for the president of this country and we are confident that he’s going to win, that’s why we are celebrating ahead of his victory.
“We are going to make him as a point of contact to every other candidate of APC, as far as Lagos State, Lagos East and Ikorodu are concerned. We are celebrating the victory of Asiwaju ahead of the election.
“But we have been asked why we are celebrating the victory of a person before the election, but our response is that these days, it is conventional for people to baby shower before a child is born. So, this is a victory shower for Asiwaju and all the candidates of APC in Lagos State. We have seen the need to celebrate the victory ahead going by the support given to Asiwaju across the country. We know what he has done, which people appreciate and are supporting him.
“We are convinced that he has won the election and there’s a need for us to celebrate him and give hope to people and continue to canvass for him.
“Asiwaju is a father to all candidates; he is a father of all and the national leader of APC and that is why we can’t merge him with other candidates and that is why we have singled him out. He is the major target in the major election coming.
“We believe he has won with his unequalled credentials being paraded. We have not seen any other presidential candidate who equal his credentials. So, we are confident that this is happening and we are celebrating him, but this does not mean we will rest, we will go from corners to corners to continue our campaign for him”.
“We believe that when the time comes, we will celebrate him massively, but for now, we are only doing his victory shower. Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, the presidential candidate of APC, has already been ordained as the President of Nigeria. We are not saying that we are prophets or spiritualists, but we have instinct and intuition with the empirical evidence around the country that shows that he has won the election. So, we are coming out so boldly and courageously to say that we are celebrating his victory and the whole Nigeria will celebrate his victory very soon by the grace of God and that is the purpose of today”, he added.
He also expressed the same assurance of victory for other APC candidates in the state, especially those from Ikorodu.
“Asiwaju is a point of contact to the candidates of our party going to the Senate, House of Representative and House of Assembly. He is a point of contact to Gov. Sanwo – Olu, Sen. Abiru, Hon. Jimi Benson and Gbolahan Ogunleye who are contesting for Governorship, Senate, House of Representatives and House of Assembly respectively, and what we are doing today is a victory shower for all our candidates in APC”, he said.
The ranking lawmaker, however, said that he and members of his team are not resting on their assurances, rather, they are going to be campaigning for the APC candidates vigorously.
He also said that members of the Onward Movement have been charged to embark on charging others to collect their PVCs and vote.
“All of our members here have their PVCs, but we are charging them not to rest on the fact that they have collected their own PVCs and that why they have to ascertain that the next person to them has collected and and the only way to ascertain that is by getting in contact with those people and that is why I said we are doing our campaigns from corners to corners; curves and bends and nooks and crannies of Constituency I”, he said.
“That’s what we are charging them for, because when you can see that something is real then, you have enough courage to pursue that thing that is real. So, we are negotiating for the election from a stronger and not a weaker perspective.
“I will continue to charge them to go out there and campaign more, so we can achieve the dream that we already have. It’s a dream that we have achieved already, but we don’t want to rest on our oars and that is why we are bringing them out to further ensure that Asiwaju emerges and so also Sen. Abiru, Sanwo – Olu, Jimi Benson and Gbolahan. As far as Ikorodu, Lagos East Senatorial District and Lagos State are concerned, we are doing this to give them the necessary support and charge them to achieve the desired goals”, Hon. Agunbiade added.
Former Deputy Governor, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, commended the Majority Leader and his team for mobilizing for the victory of the APC and its candidates.
“I thank the Majority Leader, SOB (Hon. Agunbiade) for putting this together and inviting us to partake. I also commend the Onward Movement that organized the party”, Prince Ogunleye said.
“I noticed the campaign for boards for Asiwaju Tinubu, Sanwo – Olu and his deputy, Abiru, Benson and Gbolahan. It is only the LAHA candidate for the Constituency II that I did not see because that is Constituency II. I thank him very much for that.
“The Majority Leader’s position that he will be relinquishing will not be his end politically. Whatever God plan that God has for him, the aftermath will surely come to pass”, the former Deputy Governor said.
While clarifying that he did not influence the choice of his son to take – over from the incumbent, Prince Ogunleye thanked the Majority Leader for showing understanding when he lost the return ticket and accepted the situation.
He charged residents of Lagos with the highest number of registered voters to collect their PVCs and make Lagos come out of the election recording the highest votes cast for APC Presidential candidate and others.
Otunba (Senator) Adeseye Kingsley Ogunlewe, a chieftain of the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) and former Minister for Works, described Hon. Agunbiade as a special person who always respects others.
Ogunlewe, who recalled that the Majority Leader always made him Chairman of his Marathon Competition and other programmes while he was still with the PDP, also thanked him openly for assisting a special boy that he recommended with a mini – bus which the boy is now living on.
Like DG Ogunleye, Sen. Ogunlewe also prayed that his position as the representative of the Ikorodu Constituency would not be his last.
“This position will not be your last. You will still be recommended for a higher position”, the Senator said.
He charged residents of Ikorodu to get their PVCs and ensure that Ikorodu top the list of areas with highest votes in the coming elections.
Asipa Kaoli Olusanya, a chieftain of the APC and former Commissioner for Agriculture, while speaking, focused mainly on the pattern of voting in Ikorodu since 2007 and concluded that votes that were cast since did not reflect the population of Ikorodu.
He said that people must vote in the coming election because of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu who is vying for the position of the President, stating that he must garner the largest votes in Lagos State.
While deploring a situation where residents are not picking their PVCS, Asipa Kaoli also charged members of the Onward Movement and APC to ensure that their family members and friends get their cards and vote.
Other chieftains and guests at the celebration were: Sen. Tokunbo Abiru represented by his Special Adviser, former State APC Scribe, Primate Charles Odugbesi, former Commissioner for Tourism, Arts & Culture, Sir (Otunba) Ayodele Elesho, Agbaakin of Ikorodu, Hon. Adebimpe Adebimpe, Chairman, Ikorodu West LCDA, Hon. (Otunba) Sulaimon Kazeem Olanrewaju and Chairman, Ikorodu North LCDA, Builder Adeola Banjo, Vice Chairman, Ikorodu LG, Princess Olabanji Oba, Iya Oloja General, Ikorodu Division, Alhaja Taofeekat Allison, Hon. Jide Banjoko, former Chairman, Ikorodu West LCDA, former Chairman, Igbogbo/Bayeku LCDA, Hon. Gbenga Basanya, Chairman, APC Ikorodu West LGA, Otunba Lawson, former Chairman, APC Ikorodu North LGA, Hon. Iyiola, Elder Ajayi Bembe, former Secretary to the Ikorodu LG, Prince Ologijo, chieftain of the APC, APC Divisional Secretary, Mr Aleshinloye, Former APC Chairman, Ikorodu LG, Alhaji Taiwo Longe and Mr Rotimi Erogbogbo, Chairman, Ikorodu – Oga Development Association (IKODASS) among others.
