In the coming days, delegates across the ruling All Progressives Congress will elect the party’s flag bearers as the 2023 election beckons. For the first time in recent history, intra-party politics in APC across all levels has never been interesting, intriguing, and unpredictable. In the distant past, for example, matters of party tickets are never a serious or cut-throat issue; most aspirants get tickets on a silver platter, in part because of loyalty or to aptly capture it: consensus.
At that distant time, securing a party ticket mostly had nothing to do with competence or track record of performance – for most; it was a simple stroll in the park. The least known aspirants have the brightest chance of being favored once they know how to pay the pipers. Consequently, leaders that emerge out of this skewed favoritism only keep people in perpetual bondage, locked in the prison of suffering and hardship – for eon. Here comes Honorable Abiodun Olumide Ojerinde, the pathfinder.
More than any other Member of the House of Representatives in the entire history of the Irepo/ Olorunsogo/ Oorelope federal constituency, Honorable Olumide Ojerinde’s towering, and exceptional performance looms large, shattering the long-held myth about first-timers being banished into the dispiriting realm of bench warming. Honorable Ojerinde came into his job fully prepared, thrusting himself into the business of the house like a Pro. Not one to be caught off guard, Honorable demonstrated that kind of rare leadership acuity in the discharge of his job. In essence, he has continued to display that uncommon zeal and zest in his capacity as people’s preferred representative. Even his traducers would agree with him on many fronts. Essentially, he has ticked all boxes and raised the bar of law-making and purposeful representation with unimpeachable performance.
By far, he has not only surpassed the existing standard left behind by his predecessors but has moved past the ordinary and into the realm of the extraordinary. Placed side by side with other first-timers on the floor of the green chambers, Honorable Olumide Ojerinde has by far exceeded expectation, etched his name as one of those promising and performing house members who deserve to be returned to the house – for the second term.
Before going further, it is crucial to note the emotions and dust his second term ambition has generated; in part because of the long-held view that his constituency is better with each town having a share of one term each – at the detriment of development. As a leader, Honorable Olumide Ojerinde is not just acutely aware of the challenges ahead but is also profoundly conscious to know that sometimes the obstacle is the way – as Ryan’s holiday beautifully conjectured.
In the past three years, he has shown why the ticket should be his – with truckload of initiatives and interventions – to his credit. He has displayed that quality, fecundity in the handling of his delicate job, the type you rarely see in others who claim to represent their people.
Returning Honorable Olumide Ojerinde to the house would be the greatest service to our land, one that is poised to place our constituency on the path of rapid development.
