Oloyede is locking horns with three incumbent council officials – vice-chairman, Town Planner Daisi Osho, Supervisor for Environment, Mr. Yusuf Adesanya, and Secretary to the Local Government, Mr. Oladipupo Abiola.
Others in the race are veteran politician, Mr. Abiodun Ogundimu, Adebanji Adeoye Atewogboye (Skibanj), and the son of late party chieftain, Mr. Badmus.
Narrating how he invited Oloyede to join the race to reconcile their differences after over 22 years of hostile relationship, Akinsanya said he visited the residence of the aspirant on the island to persuade him to start his political journey from the grassroots.
“My brother likes it big. I had to persuade him to let us start from the scratch”, he said in Yoruba, alluding to the proverbial eating of bean cake from its remnants: Mo ni ka ti ibi pelebe mu ole je!
He said he made the overture because he desired better roads and greater development in Oshodi and was confident that Oloyede would make the change.
Assuring that the aspirant would make himself available to the people, Akinsanya said Oloyede would run a responsive government that will throw the doors of the council open to the people.
He lamented that his contributions to the ruling party were to shore up its fortunes during elections to ensure good governance and the provision of capital projects.
Akinsanya also announced that Oloyede would be setting a new record in the history of governance in Oshodi-Isolo local government by running with the first-ever female vice-chairman to promote gender balance and open up more opportunities for women.
The running mate is expected to be Mrs. Bose Agbabiaka, a former supervisor who became a councilor during Ipesa Balogun administration and currently runs a school.
Mrs. Agbabiaka had launched a serious campaign to be the first female chairman of the local government weeks ago but was invited onboard the Oloyede ticket to give it more vigour and feminine appeal.
Assuring Oloyede of winning the primaries, Akinsanya said he would mobilize more than enough crowd to secure victory at the party primaries and the local government elections holding on July 24.
He promised to hold another rally after Ramadan to fete the participants enjoining them to go out and canvass for the victory of Oloyede at the polls.
Akinsanya’s open declaration of sponsoring Oloyede emerged as the news made the round that incumbent Supervisor for Environment, Yusuf Adesanya, is being backed by the outgoing local government chairman, Hon. Bolaji Muse-Ariyoh for the chairmanship.
Everyone has been waiting to see who will earn Muse-Ariyoh’s support among his aides and allies.
A few close watchers of the local government politics said they were not surprised because Yusuf, a businessman who made good in the furniture sector, is a staunch member of his political group.
Muse-Ariyoh’s two terms of seven years at the local government and four years as the secretary of the Conference of local government chairmen packs substantial influence that he will certainly deploy in the struggle against the opponents.
Many supporters of Daisi Osho, a town planner, and incumbent vice-chairman, were surprised that he didn’t get the support of his boss despite serving faithfully in the past three and a half years.
This decision seemed to have jolted his loyalists and sponsors leading to rumours that he may collapse his campaign structure and back Badmus.
But Osho dismissed the rumours in an interview with ECHO NEWS, declaring that he would fight till the end.
“I am fully in the race, I am not joking to have obtained the chairmanship form of N2 million, 50 thousand Naira, Even if it is sold for N10, I will not joke with it, not at this level. If anyone is collapsing his campaign, it’s not for someone like me and I’m saying this with all sense of responsibility and not out of proportion because I know my worth.
“It is best to have a vice-chairman that has been in the position of governance with lots of experience. It’s not against my candidature having served twice as vice chairman, it should even qualify me the more with all that I have learned.
“This is the more reason that the position should go to the person that has served twice as vice chairman with the substance that he has brought into the governance, there is no sense in the rumuor.
Reacting to the suggestion that he might back Badmus’ son, he said: “Badmus’ son is a brother, a young man coming up and local government association is a serious business, it’s not a joke, not a walk in the aisle, one must be equal to the task to fit in. if an Elephant is standing, it should be known that it’s an Elephant. The same thing goes to the Lion when it roars, it should neither be compared to an ant standing nor a cock crowing.
