By Adewale Benjamin.
The Yagba Group for Fairness, Equity and Justice has strongly refuted the claim by member representing Yagba Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, Hon. Leke Abejide, that the rotational agreement for the House of Representatives seat in Yagba Federal Constituency has been scrapped.
In a statement issued by the group’s spokesperson, Comrade Ajayi Amos, the group accused Abejide of attempting to justify what it described as an “inordinate ambition” to remain in the National Assembly at all costs.
According to the group, Abejide could not have become a federal lawmaker if Senator Sunday Karimi had not heeded public calls to step aside from the National Assembly, similar to the current calls for Abejide to do the same.
They recalled that Hon. Shola Ojo respected the arrangement and declined calls to recontest, just as Hon. Faniyi did in his time. They added that Hon. Samuel Aro only sought a second term following persistent calls for Yagba West to commence the rotation cycle, which ended with his tenure. Though Karimi won the election at that time, the group noted that he respected the calls to allow the rotational arrangement to proceed rather than act as a self-imposed ruler over a collective political heritage that belongs to hundreds of thousands of Yagba constituents across the three local government areas.
Amos also defended the consistent efforts by Mopamuro Local Government to contest the seat over the years, stating that their insistence was rooted in a desire not to be politically marginalised. He maintained that Mopamuro would have completed a second tenure under the initial rotational plan.
He further criticised the lawmaker, reminding him that the APC’s offer of the House of Representatives candidacy to Mopamuro in the last two elections was “mere window dressing,” likened to the proverbial act of “giving a gift with the right hand and taking it back with the left.”
Speaking further on behalf of the group, the group spokesperson claimed that the average voter on the street is aware that APC leaders and disgruntled PDP members were instrumental to Abejide’s victories in both elections. He described ADC, Abejide’s platform, as a micro-party that would have stood no chance of winning an election in Yagba without external backing.
The Yagba Group for Fairness, Equity and Justice therefore urged the federal lawmaker to confront the crisis in his party, the ADC, following his suspension, rather than seek to divert attention by attacking long-standing political agreements.
The group concluded by affirming that the people of Yagba are more politically aware than ever, and that the unity of Yagba is non-negotiable and should not be jeopardised by the ambition of one individual. It asserted that there are thousands of competent Yagba sons and daughters qualified to represent the constituency if the rotational agreement is upheld.
