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Honourable Member-elect of Federal House of Representatives and former Chairman of Ojokoro LCDA, Hon. Benjamin Adeyemi Olabinjo has extoled the virtues of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, describing him as a reformer, change agent and bridge-building.
Olabinjo fielding questions from newsmen during the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly election said Tinubu have shown capacity in leadership and a firm believer in the Nigerian project who deserves a shot at the presidency to replicate the template he used for the development of Lagos State in the country.
“I have a lot to say about Asiwaju because I’ve known him for many years now, I know his antecedents in terms of performance. He did very well as the governor of Lagos State. As the governor of Lagos, he created massive employment opportunities especially through the creation of 37 LCDAs amongst other agencies he floated to develop the state and create avenue for employment. Again, Tinubu is a development agent, a unifier and a bridge-builder, he is one of the few men that truly believes in the Nigerian project and I have no doubt he will build a new progressive Nigeria when elected president of the Federal Republic.” He said.
When asked if the scarcity of naira has affected the outcome of the election in any way, he said “If you have done well, you don’t need money for election so I don’t believe that scarcity of Naira will affect the outcome of the election in any way, and that is why we are campaigning for Asiwaju because he has done well for this country and deserves our votes for higher responsibilities.”
Describing the outcome of the election, the federal lawmaker-elect said, “It’s a successful election so far but there are lots of issues. Though in my ward, we started very early and everything went on smoothly but there are some wards where the BIVAS is giving them issues so it’s difficult for them to commence election until I left there. But beyond that, the atmosphere is calm; the people are enthusiastic and eager to cast their votes. By the grace of God, I know the result will be in our favour because what I can deduce from the turnout of voters is that people are not voting for today rather they’re voting for whom they have known yesterday”.
“My advice to INEC is to explore the two weeks window before the Governorship and State House of Assembly election to put their acts together so that there won’t be a repeat of what was witnessed in some polling units where the BIVAS malfunctioned. Some of the adhoc hands they employed for election duties don’t even understand their works and usage of the BIVAS device. For instance, where a person has been accredited by the BIVAS and his or her name is not in the register then you say the person cannot vote. I believe that the BIVAS is more important than the ordinary written register. In some case there are mistakes on potential voter’s sex, while there’s male in the register and the device is saying female and the person is female in reality, I don’t see the reason why the fellow would not be allowed to vote.” He said.
When asked if he will still maintain his trademark open door policy even as a federal lawmaker, Olabinjo said the best way to live long is to maintain open doors policy.
“Reality is that I’ve been leaving in this Estate as the first occupant like this since 1998, even before I became the Local Government Chairman. I must tell you that this is the best way to live life, if you want to life long, make your gate open. If your gate is open, if the people in your house cannot talk to you, you will see someone on the street to talk to. If you have good habit you won’t be scared of anything but per adventure anything happens then see it as the will of God.” He concluded.
