The hope of former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, picking the senatorial ticket of the ruling party, All Progressives Congress (APC) for Lagos West Senatorial District may have been dashed following the decision of the party leaders to settle for the Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire.
1steleven9jatv.com gathered from multiple sources that APC leaders at the state and senatorial levels have settled for Orelope-Adefulire, a former Lagos State Deputy Governor, to succeed the incumbent, Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, who has moved to Ogun State to represent Ogun West Senatorial District in the Upper Chamber of National Assembly in 2023.
Investigations bby 1steleven9jatv.com revealed that the party leaders settled for Orelope-Adefulire to ensure gender balance in Lagos State. The main contenders for Lagos Central and Lagos East senatorial districts are male, therefore, the party is rooting for a woman to occupy the Lagos West Senatorial District and that was why they settled for the former deputy governor.
It would be recalled that since 2011, one of the three senatorial districts in Lagos State was represented by a female and the other two districts by a male. Senator Oluremi Tinubu, representing Lagos Central Senatorial District is currently on her third term in the Red Chamber while Lagos East was represented by (Senator Gbenga Ashafa (2011 to 2019), Bayo Oshinowo (2019 to 2020) and Tokunbo Abiru (2020 till date). Lagos West was represented by Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon (2011 to 2015) and Senator Olamilekan Adeola (2015 till date).
Information gathered by us is that Senator Abiru has already been given a clearance to seek re-election but with Senator Adeola’s intention to move to Ogun West and Senator Tinubu’s decision not to seek re-election in 2023 elections, there would be vacancies in the Lagos West and Lagos Central senatorial districts.
While the case of Lagos Central is yet to be totally resolved as the two major contenders in the race – Nigeria Ambassador to Spain, Chief Demola Seriki and Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun-Sanni, are expected to challenge each other during the APC senatorial primaries on Wednesday, May 25, Orelope-Adefulire had been favoured to win the Lagos West Senatorial District primaries.
Investigations by 1steleven9jatv.com revealed
that apart from using Orelope-Adefulire for gender balancing, the former deputy governor was also considered ahead of Obanikoro because of her root, experience and political network, which cut across many local governments in Lagos West Senatorial District, especially in Alimosho, where she is currently a political leader.
According to a reliable source, Senator Obanikoro, one of the most experienced politicians, whose records in public office are yet to be surpassed by any politician in Lagos, is not being favoured for the position because of his son, Ibrahim Babajide, who is seeking re-election in Eti-Osa Federal Constituency. The ambition of the son seems to have affected Senator Obanikoro, who represented Lagos Central from 2003 to 2007.
But since 24 hours is a long time in politics, the tide may still turn in favour of Obanikoro, who is not losing focus in his quest to representing the largest senatorial district in Nigeria in the Red Chamber in 2023.
