By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, has been urged to focus on a return to the state parliament and ditch his ambition to run for the Senate in 2023.
On Sunday evening, some leaders in the Agege and Orile-Agege areas of Lagos State said they would want him to still represent them at the local level before taking a shot at the federal level.
They said he has brought pride to the communities and would want him to still serve them at the Lagos Assembly through effective legislation and related activities, though they said he has an unbeatable chance of winning if he vied for a seat in the Senate.
At an Iftar programme that inadvertently provided an opportunity for the leaders to speak about Mr Obasa’s achievements so far, the leaders said the Speaker had become a pride, not only to Agege, but to Lagos State.
At least 80 leaders, political appointees and chieftains of the All Progressives Congress (APC), including Dr Babatunde Adejare of the House of Representatives; Wale Ahmed, Lagos Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs; Afolabi Ayantayo, Special Adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, Parastatals Monitoring Office; and Oba Ambaliu Hakeem Agbedeyi, the Alaige of Orile Agege supported that the Speaker return to the House.
Some of the others who gave their support included Chief Safari Adaranijo, APC Apex Leader in Agege; Gani Owolabi Dada, leader; Elder Rotimi Adesina; Olaniyi Salau Ojo APC chairman in Orile-Agege, Alhaji Tunde Azeez; APC chairman in Agege; former and current local government council chairmen; vice chairmen; councillors; supervisory councillors and Special Advisers of the two council chairmen.
While urging that the Speaker be asked to return to the House, Mr Adejare said Agege is now noted for good road networks with the help of the Speaker.
“Days ago, during the 80th birthday of Ebenezer Obey, a visiting Senator was marvelled that Agege now has very good roads. I told him not to forget that we have the Speaker of Lagos here,” the former Commissioner said while praying for more wisdom for Mr Obasa in his leadership position.
Wale Ahmed who said he expects Obasa to be unopposed, added: “My prayer is that after the elections next year, we would all gather here to celebrate again.”
Oba Agbedeyi, while thanking Mr Obasa for positively making Agege a place to reckon with, urged the Speaker to return so as to bring more developments to the area.
Mr Johnson Sunday Babatunde, chairman of Orile-Agege LCDA, who led the conversation, warned that Agege must not lose all that it had gained through Speaker Obasa. Rather, he said, the area should experience more dividends of democracy.
“A lot of people from Agege have been employed because of Obasa. A lot of infrastructures have come to us because of Obasa. There should be no vacancy in Agege Constituency 1,” he said.
He noted that one way Agege can appreciate Obasa’s love for the area is to ask him to return and work for him to occupy the position again.
Supporting the collective decision by the leaders, Ganiyu Egunjobi, chairman of Agege local government council, said the Speaker had brought glory to Agege and that he should be encouraged to return to the House unopposed.
Earlier, the Islamic clergy at the Iftar, Chief Imam Quadri Abdul Ganiu Ayorinde, harped on love and the importance of Ramadan.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Business Post Contributor