Ondo APC in Ifedore Local Government writes about local politics in the state.
Local Government is made of ten wards and over twenty communities with Igbara-Oke as the headquarters. The three major towns are Igbara-Oke, Ilara-Mokin and Ijare.There are three major political positions (COMMISSIONER, LG CHAIRMAN AND HOUSE OF ASSEMBLY MEMBER) which have been rotated among the major towns. It is an unwritten rule that no town in the local government retains two of the said positions at the same time. He who comes to equity must come with clean hands.
Mr Governor and the entire leaders of the party are aware that there are 3 key positions for the local government in every dispensation from 1999 till date.
There is no Governor who has ever given two out of Local Government Chairman, House of Assembly and commissionership to a town in the local government. The governor has used his discretion with the support of the party leaders to appoint a fine gentleman as commissioner from Ilara-Mokin.
Since 1999 no Igbara-Oke citizen has been elected as a member of State House of Assembly as the Headquarters of the Local government.Both Ilara-Mokin and Ijare citizens had been elected as members of Ondo State House of Assembly.
The issue of zoning raised by an aspirant in the local government is to justify his unstable stand in the electoral process. It was insinuated out of fear of contest,lack of political history of Ifedore local government and lazy means of getting an undeserved political position. How can four wards with the largest electoral strength share political positions equally with three wards and it is referred to as zoning formal. How many political positions have been benefited by Ipogun/Ibule and Ekamefa as a result of this unholy and undemocratic zoning system being advocated for by the paid writers of zoning in the local government.
Let other towns get their own rightful shares as it has always been.
What is important now is that Ilara-Mokin as a town has an experienced, vibrant and well educated young man as a commissioner of oil and gas,Engr. Rasaq Obe and another industrious son of Ilara-Mokin ,Hon. Lanke Bakare appointed as a director in a state owned company.
The APC victory in the next election can only be ensured when all towns in the local government are well represented in the government. No community in the local government should be allowed to dominate the rest of the communities.The next State House of Assembly Member from Ifedore Local Government is for Igbara-Oke Town to uphold democracy with her tenets of fairness and justice since 1999.
Ajayi Adedayo
