2023: I am banking on the achievements of Oyetola — Ibiyemi
…To secure Federal projects for constituency
Joel Oladele-Abuja
One of the leading aspirants for the Ife Federal Constituency under the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince (Dr.) Samuel Ibiyemi has said he’s banking on the numerous achievements of the incumbent Governor of the State of Osun, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola to win election if permitted to be the flag bearer of the party.
Addressing journalists after picking his expression of interest form at the International Conference Centre in Abuja on Thursday, Ibiyemi said he’s quite confident about his victory and he’s coming on board to compliment the efforts of the Governor and ensure that his constituents enjoy more dividends of democracy.
According to him, Governor Oyetola has laid a solid structure through his unprecedented achievements and anyone contesting on the platform of APC can leverage on that to win election in the state. He added that his Government since inception has been setting the pace for other Governors to follow.
“I’m banking on the achievements of my Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola. Between 2018 that he took over power and now, if you move around, you will see a lots of projects executed. In terms of infrastructure, for instance, in my Federal Constituency comprising, Ife North, South, Central and East Local Governments and six other LCDAs. There is no Local Government or LCDA that my Governor has not touched.
“When we talk in terms of job creation, he has been able to impact positively on the lives of people. Security wise, he has been able to transform the state from being a state known for insecurity, kidnapping, to state where you can drive at any time of the day without being afraid.
“His Government has been a role model to other states. Especially the achievements of Amotekun in the state of Osun. Whatever Governor Gboyega is doing, other Governors in the South West, whether APC of PDP are trying to emulate him.”
He also lauded the Governor for his democratic style of governance which reflects in the way he consults community leaders to know their needs before executing any project in their constituency, this according to him has given electorate a sense of belonging
“ He has never dictated or force any project on them without the input of the electorate in any of the local government.
“Not only in my Federal Constituency but across all other constituencies in the state Osun. For instance, we used to have what we call education uniform policy, when he wanted to change it, he set up a committee and when the committee submitted their report, they sent it to the house of assembly and the house of assembly looked at that report, it was finalised and passed into law that the uniform policy is not good as it will not bring development into the state and that was the reason the uniform policy was abolished
“ So, his achievements will give me the opportunity to win, also the PDP man should identify one significant thing that he has achieved for over three years. All you can see across my constituency are the projects and impact of my Governor, with that, I am very confident that if I’m given the ticket by the party, I will use my position at the House of representatives to support what my Governor is doing at the state level.”
Speaking further on his ambition, Ibiyemi who is a Journalist and a Publisher of one of the most popular newspapers in the country, Nigerian NewsDirect, said, “The focus of any law maker shouldn’t be money but how to fight to ensure that the little resources at the federal level and project allocations get to his/her constituency.” He promised to bring about a positive change if given a chance at the green chamber.
“I believe that law making is the key to grassroots development and if you want to contribute to the law making at the federal level, you must have understanding of what is happening at the grassroots. You must know what are the needs of the people at the grassroots, you must be a result oriented politician who is willing to right certain wrongs through sponsoring of bills that will set the pace for development across all the sectors in such a way that the lives of people at the grassroots will be transformed and poverty which has been a major problem in Nigeria will become a thing of the past.”
“If you look at the National Assembly of today, particularly the house of representatives, you will see that some law makers that are proactive are the ones who are fascilitating federal government sponsored projects to their various constituencies but we have lawmakers like the one representing Ife Federal Constituency under Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), you cannot point to something significant he has done. Can he mention the number of bills sponsored by him? nothing to identify as his achievements for over three years.
“ So I’m coming to make a change, to ensure that at the House of Representatives we are able to further development and ensure things get better.
“When you look at Nigeria economically, despite the programs of the Federal Government, the Executive Arm of the Government, there are things that are yet to be achieved by various MDAs because of over sight functions. Most of the current members are really trying but not to the satisfaction of Nigerians.
“Why I’m coming as a journalist. For journalists, most of the things we do are to carry out research. If you want to be a good reporter, you must be everywhere. You want to investigate as fourth estate of the realm what is going on in the Legislative arm, Executive arm of the Government, private sector etc. You cannot sit down in your office.
“This understanding is very important for any legislator in carrying out their oversight functions which will consequently help the executive in achieving success.
“Mr President cannot be the Executive Secretary or Director General of a parastatal. It is through the national assembly.
“For instance, when you say budget is coming up, who are those to monitor budget execution? Is it not the House of Representatives and the Senate? If the House of Representatives just sit down, most of the items on the budget won’t be achieved at the end of the day. If we have proactive house committees in all sectors, our country will achieve more.
“So, for anyone who really want to contribute to the development of Nigeria, the House of Representatives is the best place for whatever you have learnt in the private or public sector over time for you to see how you can right the wrongs through sponsoring of bills and oversight functions.
“Thank God for the likes of Senator Otunba Iyiola Omisore. After his intervention, the project of the renovation of the federal roads between Ife and Osu was approved eight years ago when he was Senate Committee Chairman on appropriation. Since he left, nothing was done until he started mounting pressure on the Federal Ministry of works that the contractor just mobilised back to work.
“So these are the kind of things that I will emulate if I’m given opportunity to be at the national assembly. I’m coming to fight for my constituency.”
Dr. Ibiyemi also used the opportunity to advocate for the review of the land use act of 1978. According to him, such act only put unnecessary pressure on the federal government while limiting states.
“We have to thank our Executive Governor, Alhaji Gboyega Isiaka on all he has been able to do to ignite investments in the solid minerals industry. Before he became Governor, most of these resources are been mined illegally, it was when he took over he was able to invite federal ministry of Mines and Steels to take assessment and then registered some companies to come and invest in the solid minerals especially exploration of gold.
“If you remember, when Osun had what is called Osun Investment Summit, one or two companies were able to make investment of over 200 millions Naira for the development of gold deposit and since then, companies are being invited by the Governor for them to take active roles in ensuring that the recovery of gold contribute to the revenue generation. And that’s why we have a Special Adviser who is directly in charge of that now.
“When you look at it at the macro level, where I can come in is to ensure that we review the existing law relating to land use act. The land use act says the land belongs to the state government but the mineral resources belong to the federal government which is an area which I think if I’m opportuned to be at the house of representatives, we’ll have to look at it very well because whatever we have under the ground in Osun should be used for the development of Osun and should not be brought to the federal level. When that is done, it will reduce the pressure at the centre.”
