I’m Still a Bonafide Member of the APC – Comrade Adewale

By Eric Elezuo

The Immediate past Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, has sounded it loud and clear that he is still a bonafide member of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), and has no plans of ever ditching the party.

Comrade Adewale made the clarification following the appearance last weekend of a huge poster depicting him as defecting to the Zenith Labour Party to actualise his aspirations to contest the House of Representatives seat in the February 16 General Elections.

The former chairman was quick to point accusing fingers at the incumbent chairman of the local government, who he accused of planning to tarnish his ‘good image’ and challenged everyone to visit the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) offices in Amuwo Odofin or anywhere in Lagos to see if his name is in the list of contestants.

“Mischief makers from the Valentine Buraimoh Chairman of Amuwo Odofin Local Government camp had pasted posters all over Festac Town which depict that I, Comrade Ayodele Adewale, is aspiring for the House of Representatives seat under the Zenith Labour Party and also endorsing Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu as candidate for Governor of Lagos State.

This dastardly act is intended to tarnish my good image within my party, the APC, and show me as disloyal,” Adewale said in a statement.” he said

He went to reel out his intimidating credentials as a clean and honest politician, tracing his origin to the political APC greats like Asiwaju Bola Tinubu amongst others.

“My whole life has been dedicated to the pursuit of an ideal society for all and I found a replication of my views and ideology in the APC Party.

My loyalty to the APC Party is unshake-able, and all my activities have been focused on profiling a positive image of the APC,” he said.

He however, called on the law enforcement agencies to investigate the immediate and remote causes of the said poster as well as the council chairman, Buraimoh, whom he accused as mismanaging the council fund in the period he has held sway as chairman since July 2017.

He dismissed the council boss as a low performer and chronicled his inefficiency over a period of 18 months, saying the people of the council are highly disappointed in his leadership style abysmal scorecard. He also accused him of diverting council funds to non-council matters including allegedly buying a house in London.

“Valentine Buraimoh have not deemed it fit to visit any of the 28 riverine communities of the local government since he was sworn into office 18 months back.

“The chorus of angry voices is increasing in volume with many reminiscing about the good old days of Festac Town and its environs and making comparison to the descent it has fallen into under the Valentine Buraimoh’s administration!

An administration that in its 18 months of existence (July 2017 – December 2018) has received the sum of N1,569,476,675.51 billion naira from Federal and Lagos State allocation (excluding internally generated revenue) with no visible, meaningful and verifiable project or services carried out. On all fronts Valentine Buraimoh has failed!

“The structures and processes that worked successfully under my administration have all collapsed under Valentine Buraimoh, who is more interested in personal enrichment to the extent that he made a recent trip to the UK in December 2018 to open a foreign bank account and buy properties in London,” Adewale accused.

Comrade Adewale was the chairman of Amuwo Odofin between 2008 and 2014, and is reputed to have performed creditably well; a testimony most residents of the LGA have not ceased to comment about.