The APC Ward A leadership in Ifelodun LCDA may be on a collision course following separate moves by different groups over the forthcoming 2025 local government election. The struggle for the Ward councillorship seat is fuelled by the fact that the present councillor Hassan Sulaiman is serving out his second term.
In this regard, the Gate of Hope Justice Forum group, one of Late Olusegun Ogunbanjo’s surviving groups is taking this seriously as they have vowed that the son of their late leader Olu Ogubanjo, is the most qualified to take over from the outgoing councilor Hon Sulaiman, who is the deputy leader of the Council.
Lagos Focus reliably gathered that the group is stopping at nothing but installing the late leader’s son as the next councilor for the ward.
However, Engr Tunde Omojuwa a prodigy of the late Hon Olu Ogunbanjo belongs to a different political group, the Mandate political group strongly believes that nobody has the power to tell Ward A people, who will be their next councilor, except if by mutual agreement of the leaders of the ward.
Omojuwa said, “We do not agree that somebody has been endorsed as Ward A Councillorship candidate but whoever will be, it should be a collective agreement of the entire ward leaders.”
Omojuwa further argued that they should rather compensate the late leader’s son with an automatic Supervisory Councillorship and allow those aspirants who do not have a chance to be considered for Super to jostle for the Councillorship ticket.
For the incumbent APC local government Chairman Comrade Babalola Owegbe, who also belongs to the late Olu Ogunbanjo camp,” It is just that, man does not fear God that is why some people can stand to resist late Comrade Ogunbanjo’s son as the Councillorship nominee for Ward A.. Hon Olumoh can be proud of late leader Ogunbanjo for the roles he played for his return for second term”
Babalola said he would be shocked at any leader who would not support Ogunbanjo’s son because the late Ogunbanjo’s contemporaries even outside Ifelodun had bought into the idea of rewarding the late leader with the ward, “Therefore there is no tension between us and anyone in the ward, even Ajeromi leaders have endorsed Late Hon Ogunbanjo’s son,” he noted.
He explained further, “There is no tension between us and Olumoh. Hon Olumoh had earlier called him for a meeting over the Councillorship issue and said, it would not be a problem as one group can take the Councillorship slot and the other Supervisor. “Hon Taiwo Adenekan was helped by the late Ogunbanjo and Prince Rabiu Oluwa. He was a beneficiary of Comrade Ogunbanjo and virtually all Ifelodun leaders pass through Ogunbanjo, so it is payback time for the leader”.
The incumbent Councilor who is serving out his second term said it is a payback period for all that late Comrade Olu Ogunbanjo did for Ifelodun and Ward A, which he had had the privilege of producing the councilor from inception, and therefore the slot should be used to reward the late leader son
In his contribution, Hon Hassan, the current Councilor said he would be part of the people to decide who emerges as the next councilor because every leader that has been involved in Ifelodun politics since 1997 has passed through the late leader.
Boasting that he is the ‘Pepper’, political kingmaker of Ifelodun, the Deputy leader, popularly called Ogidi Omo said: Late Leader Hon Ogunbanjo did not know him but supported him till his death and it is our turn to support his son now.
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However, Ward A has four members in the newly constituted G17 who may have the final decision over the issue which is the highest leadership cadre at the wards in the persons of the incumbent serving Assembly member, Hon Luqman Olumoh, the present LGA party chairman Owegbe Babalola, Alhaji S.A Adekoya(Serubanwan) and Iya Bukky.
