Why Yemisi-Coker should be the APC Consensus Candidate for Lagos Island Federal Constituency 1. ..........,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, I, first of all have to thank our leaders for seeing the wisdom in considering consensus candidature, as a first step in picking candidates for various elective offices starting from presidency to the last, where the idea is acceptable to all aspirants involved in the contest. This according to the promoters of the option, more often than not has taken care of acremonies and bad blood that usually follow primary elections, though, if at the end of the day, the aspirants were unable to agree on a consensus, primaries must be used in arriving at a candidates that are acceptable to the majority. I have therefore chosen to bring into fore, some of Hon. Abdulbaqee Yemisi-Cokers political antecedents, as well as his contributions to the well being of APC since the days of AD to date, for all to see that, he is actually the one that have to carry the banner of our party in the next February election to the lower chamber of the National Assembly for the Lagos Island Federal Constituency 1, as the consensus candidate. Apart from being the only veteran amongst the six that are juggling to have the ticket for the forth coming election in the constituency, he has persevered so much and respected the party supremacy for close to Sixteen years with out corresponding acknowledgement from the party in way, judging by he was treated in the past. Yemisi-Coker started his political career in the 2nd republic and as a result of the confidence which the leadership of the defunct Nigerian Peoples Party ( NPP) had him, even as a young man, he was taken from his Olowogbowo Constituency to Apapa Costituency in 1983, which was then part of the old Lagos Island Local Government Area, to contest for the Apapa seat at the Lagos State House of Assembly. He showed good account of himself, by coming third in the contest won by late Hon. Oluwole Awolowo, the UPN candidate, who with very little margin defeated the first runner up (NPN candidate) and in turn also defeated Yemisi-Coker with paltry sum of 20 votes, while the three other candidates of GNPP, PRP and NAP were far away trailing him. In 1987 he was elected the Councillor for Lagos Island Ward A2, in the zero party elections organised by the Babangida regime to usher in the 3rd republic, were he learnt the rudiments, arts and science of law making, an experience, which he alone has, amongst those presently contesting the Lagos Island Federal Constituency 1. Immediately after his election as a councillor, he was appointed amongst the 25 of his colleagues, the Vice-Chairman and Supervisory Councillor for Finance and Economic, again as the Vice-Chairman and Finance and Economic Planning he was exposed to the administration of government business. He was rated as the best of Councillor in the administration, as well as in the annals of those in Lagos Island Ward A2 and for people to see, I have taking the pains to showcase some of his achievements as follows:- 1. He was responsible for the taring of (a) Seriki St. from Layeni Street Junction to Nnamdi Azikiwe St. junction. (b) Palm-Church St, from Nnamdi Azikiwe St. junction to Martins St. junction (c) Shitta St. from Fred Macwen St. Juction to Balogun St. Juction (d) Banjoko St. from Agoshofin St. Juction to Nnamdi Azikiwe St. junction. 2. He erected gates, so as to provide internal security for people of his Ward at:- (a) Palm-Church by Martins St. junction (b) Palm-Church by Nnamdi Azikiwe St. junction (c) Adagun St. by Palm-Church St. Junction. (d) Seriki by Breadfruit St. (e) Banjoko by Nnamdi Azikiwe St. (f) Shitta St. by Fred Macwen St. (g) Shitta St. Balogun St. (h) Kester Lane by the side of the Police Post. (I) Lawrence St. by Ereko St. junction. 3. He constructed stalls and distributed 250 amongst his constituents and gave instruction to the committee he set up to handle the distribution that 25 of every 50 that goes to each of the five zones of the ward, be given to the youth who won the election for him. To ensure that at least one person from each of the houses in the Ward benefitted from the distribution of the stall, he directed that, no 2 persons allocated stall in one address, thereby the distribution of the stall was able to go round the nook and crannies of the ward. In the sprite of good sportsmanship, he also gave another 10 stall to one of his two opponents in the contest, for distribution amongst his followers. Some times in 1989, the military administration of Brigadier-General Raji Rasaki as the governor of Lagos State, suddenly came to serve the people of Olowole Community a seven days quit notice, which he considered to be contrary to the sprite of the 1952 Accusation edict of Central Lagos, which included Oluwole amongst others and for which the possession of the Oluwole land was then about to be taken. It took the bold leadership of Yemisi-Coker and the concerted efforts of some of the elders in Oluwole area to challenge the action of the government in Lagos High Court and was able to successfully thwart the efforts of the government,to displace his people, with out proper arrangement to provide alternative accommodation for the 37 families who houses were to be pulled down. He was able to get an interlocutory injunction that prevented the government for 18 years before an agreeable conclusion was reached between the government and the people of the community during the tenure of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. It is on record that he was the leader of the community, who on several occasion met with the governments of late Sir Micheal Otedola, Brigadier-General Olagunsoye Oyinlola and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Timubu (none throughout Brigadier-General Buba Marwas administration) over the Oluwole Issue. He was elected and serve as the Chairman of Oluwole Community Development (CDA) Association and became a member of the Lagos Island Community Development Committee (CDC) between 2000 & 2003 and he made his marks at both levels. At the beginning of this republic in 1999 he and Barrister Abayomi Maiyegun contested the ticket of the Alliance for Democracy (AD) to represent the Lagos Island Federal Constituency 1, at the Federal House of Representatives. Those who have joined party then, would recall that the leadership of the party, then in the hands of our highly respected leaders of Afenifere, without allowing for primaries, did the picking of the party candidates nationwide, under the roof of an hotel in Ibadan and for this constituency, Barrister Abayomi Maiyegun was picked,Prince Tajudeen Olusi, Hon. G .O Aro-Lambo and Hon. R.F Balogun are living witnesses to this historical facts. (That was the beginning of history of his perciviarance) You would recall that In 2000, when the party was known as Alliance for Democracy, he began an unprecedented contribution to the party, when he floated the Alliance Watch Magazine, using his God-given talent of communication, in promoting the party, as an in house publication, which he he distributes free of charge throughout the party formations nationwide. He was changing the name of the publication each time the party changes its name, as the publication is now known as APC Watch. It is pertinent to say at this juncture, that up till now Yemisi-Coker has not called for the launching of the publication. In 2007, he and six others aspired for the Chairmanship of Lagos Island Local Government Council and after obtaining the nomination forms and having done vigorous campaign, the party leadership advised them to step down for Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni, who never showed interest in the contest, has he was said to preferred by the party leadership, as the party candidate. After three years of no compensation or recognition of any sort by the party for what he considered as injustice done to him and others, he left the party, to look for greener pastures in the defunct All Peoples Party of Nigeria (ANPP) where he was offered the Partys candidature for the 2011 election, to contest the election to the Federal House of Representatives in the same constituency. Few days to the election, the National Leader of the Action Congress of Nigeria, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed, in open gear, where thousands of party faithful were present, invited Yemisi-Coker back to his old party, that is ACN. As a mark of absolute respect for the party leader, Yemisi-Coker did not only jettisoned the candidature which was offered him on a platter of gold, but renounced the membership of ANPP. In 2005, Yemisi-Coker was appointed the LGA Chaiman of Lagos Island Chapter of the Alliance for Democracy by the LGA leadership to fill the vacuum created as as a result of the then Chaiman defection to another party and parts of his achievement are as follows:- 1. He within six weeks of his assumption of office, he called for the movement of the party Secretariat to Lagos Island and acquired the present Secretariat of the party, instead of shearing the one he met with the Lagos Island East,then at Campbell Street, Lagos Island East. 2. He used his connections with some of the Lagos Island political office holder is the Lagos State government, to donate furnitures and office equipments for the secretariat take off. 3. He changed the forth nights meetings of the LGA to weekly, so as to be able get abreast of happening within the party formations of the party in the locality. 4. He for the first time produced Identity and complementary cards for members of the LGA. 5. Within the first quarter of his assumption of office he toured the ten wards of the LGA, to rekindle the confidence of the party membership at the ward levels, which was then at a low elbe, as a result of the seizure of the state local government allocations from federal account. 6. He led the members of the party to join in the 2006 May Day parade to demand for release of the Lagos States Local Government funds, that was illegally being with held by the Federal Government, where he was very vocal in the Obasanjo fun awa lowo wa& Obasanjo bawa gbowo wa song. 7. He was in the fore front mobilising members of the party and their relatives as well to as the entire people of Lagos Island to participate fully in the census exercise of 2006. Yemisi-Coker is a consummate grassroots politician, who have been living amongst his constituents through out his life and has promised to live amongst them, even as as a federal legislator, then you can now see why you should Let It be Yemisi-Coker, he who should speak for the constituency at the Federal House of Representatives.
Posted on: Mon, 01 Dec 2014 05:53:13 +0000
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