A member of the Osun State House of Assembly representing Ifelodun Constituency, Mr. Afolabi Rasheed Olalekan has said there was not a time he left the ruling All Progressives Congress or worked against the interest of the party as being speculated in some quarters.
Olalekan, who recently got the House of Representatives ticket of the APC to represent the people of Ifelodun, Boripe, Odo Otin Federal Constituency in Osun, said his candidature is hinged on competence, loyalty and productivity.
The lawmaker made this known in a statement he personally signed and issued to journalists in Osogbo on Wednesday.
“It has become imperative to set the record straight on the concocted but baseless anti-party narrative which some politicians who lost out in the just concluded House of Representative primaries with me were hanging on my neck through sponsored publications on both social media platforms and daily newspapers using pseudo names and accounts.
“I had ignored this gratuitous beer parlour gossip in the first instance but it seems the promoters of such falsehood are hellbent to stain my name based on their desperation to rubbish my personality and take the ticket unanimously given to me by the leaders of our dear party from me through back door childhood antics. Hence, the need for this clarification vis-à-vis my role at the just concluded governorship election in the state;
“I am a proud member of All Progressives Congress (APC) and this usually reflects in all my activities since I was elected as Honourable representing Ifelodun State Constituency at Osun House of Assembly since almost 8 years ago. Truly, I started hearing rumours of my defection to another party immediately after our dear party governorship primary in July. To clear the air on this, two weeks after our party primary – 29th July, 2018 to be precise, I organized an empowerment programme in my constituency which had in attendance APC party leaders and members not only from my constituency alone but from all the nooks and crannies of the state to show to the whole world where I proudly belong.
“When the rumour keep vibrating again after my empowerment programme, I went online on 13th August, 2018 to release a statement titled; I AM IN APC AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE IN APC on my Facebook wall. I did not only affirm my membership of APC, I also sought support for our party candidate (as he then was) but now Governor Elect – Alhaji Isiaka Gboyega Oyetola. The press release is still on my wall (Hon. Afolabi Olalekan Platform) till tomorrow.
“Unfortunately a week after – 21st August, 2018 to be precise, I lost my first son (a Medical Doctor) in United States. As expected, I need to travel to United States to sign all the necessary papers and documents to get his corpse and console his younger ones. This kept me away throughout the period of campaign. Yet, as a party man, I returned back to Nigeria 2 days before election to be part of APC victory team at the poll. I arrived my hometown – Ikirun on Friday 21st September, 2018 and used that night to canvass for votes for my party aside from the one I was doing while in United States through phone calls and constant messages. Below is my unit result on election day;
Ward 02, Unit 003;
APC : 146
PDP: 84
ADP: 67
SDP: 12
ADC: 07
“I am the only politician/government official in entire Ifelodun local government who delivered my unit for APC with this margin despite the fact that I arrived home a day before election. You will all agree with me that those who are saying that I voted for another party were saying gibberish. How can I vote for another party and still deliver my unit for APC? It contradicts reasoning and logic. What they failed to know is the fact that the number one criteria our leaders usually measured before given anyone position of authority is loyalty. I can never be given the ticket in the first instance if my loyalty is in doubt.
“I got my ticket based on my loyalty, competency and productivity. To the glory of God, I am a Fellow of Institute of Chartered Accountant (FCA), Fellow of Chartered Institute of Stockbrokers of Nigeria (FCS) and Fellow of Chartered Institute of Marketing of Nigeria (FCIM). I am an investment banker before going into politics. I am a professional in politics not a professional politician. Those who are spreading fake and unsubstantiated news about me should stop so with immediate effect.
“For the records, I joined politics in 2002 as a member of Alliance for Democracy (AD) and journeyed with the party through thick and tin to Action Congress (AC), Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and now – All Progressives Congress (APC). Since my first day of joining politics, I did not for once left progressives fold for a day. What many people don’t know is the fact that this same House of Representative ticket that was just given to me five days ago was the first ticket I sought when I joined Alliance for Democracy 16 years ago. I was told to wait for my time then which I did. To God be the glory that my time has come now. I enjoin those who are sowing this seed of hatred, falsehood and blackmail to wait for their own time too because; no matter how long the night may be, day will surely follow.”
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