Lagos council election: 3 chairmanship aspirants pick consensus candidate in Somolu

By Sunday Ani
Ahead of Saturday’s All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries for the local government election in Lagos State, three aspirants for the chairmanship of Somolu Local Government Area have given up their aspirations and endorsed the candidacy of the incumbent local government vice chairman, Bowale Sosimi.
At a press conference earlier today, the aspirants – Taiwo Adeyemi Adesanya, Mustapha Abiodun Wasiu and Ogunade Adeniyi said their decision to collapse their structure and aspirations to support Sosimi was to foster unity, peace and progress in the local government.
Speaking on behalf of two other contestants, Adesanya said: “The interest of our people is paramount to us, as such we agreed to the leadership of the party to come as one and go forth to contest the forthcoming election against the opposition party to deliver our community for the good of the people.”
Sosimi, on his part, expressed appreciation to his co-contestant for the rare privilege, while promising them that he would never disappoint them.
“To me, it is a call to serve and they have bestowed on me their trust. I assure them that I will not disappoint them. Every one of them is equal to the task. They have the same burning desire. The betterment of the local government is germane in their hearts. So, I thank them for collapsing their aspirations and structure into mine just so that I can represent them in the forthcoming local government election.
“Tomorrow is another day and I am sure your time will come and we will all celebrate you. This is not a time for celebration; it is a time for sober reflection on where we are coming from and our aspirations going forward as a local government.”
He promised to key into the laudable programme of the state governor with regard to security and good governance, demonstrated in protection of life and property, as well as health and environment among others.
He also promised that if elected as chairman, he would run an open government; one that will serve the people and which they will be proud of.
A party stakeholder in the locality, Bayo Ogunbadejo said the endorsement would bring about more meaningful development to Somolu as a community. “We felt that going into the election individually would not help the community, so we asked the contestants to come together so that we don’t dissipate our energy and endorsing Sosimi as a consensus candidate is the result of their coming together,” he said.
Another party leader in the local government, Prince Ifejuwa Adeyemi corroborated Ogunbadejo, saying that Sosimi’s endorsement was in the interest of peace and progress of the people.
He described Sosimi as the right person to take the local government out of the woods. “With him everybody will go to sleep because he will deliver. This is the first time contestants in the local government are coming together to pick a consensus candidate,” he added.