‘Not too young to be Lagos governor' — Speaker

The Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Mr Mudashiru Obasa, says he’s not too young to be a state governor.

The speaker stated this on Sunday at the annual Obasa Youth Crusade in Agege LGA of Lagos State.

The event was organised by Obasa Youth Alliance (OYA) in Agege to celebrate the speaker’s birthday,

Supreme News reports that Obasa will be 52 years old on Monday, Nov. 11.

Obasa said that he would continue to hearken to directives and progress of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to him, this is paramount as against focusing on his political ambitions.

He said that the party’s decision was superior to personal ambitions.

“Though, I am not too young to become Lagos State governor, but I want to let you know that we will continue to work toward the progress of the party, rather than focusing on personal ambitions.

“We will not stop in whatever we are doing, particularly when it comes to issue of mandates. It is not about personal aspirations.

“It’s not because we want to become something or aspire to become governor of Lagos State. No!

“Our concern is to develop our party, to encourage our party in the grassroots and all over the state. That is our major concern.

“This will tell those who believe that what we are doing is purely about selfishness, let us correct their impression.

“We are party people. We believe in the party and we have reason to deliver, positively,” he said.

Obasa said that, as beneficiaries of the party, the members must work and focus on party’s success during election and not personal political agenda.

The speaker added that party members must not allow the party to fail, under any circumstances.

“We all witnessed the last election; and it was a terrible one. People voted along tribal, ethnic and religious sentiments.

“My concern is that such must not happen again.

“Many reasons have been alluded for our failure in the first election to our Igbo people. But that was not the first election we had in Lagos State.

“Are the Igbos just new in Lagos State? Are they just appearing in Lagos State? So something, probably, was wrong somewhere.

“We must look at that and correct it. That is what we stand for now,” he said.

Obasa said that his immediate concern was to focus on promoting grassroots development and house-to-house financial empowerment.

“We are working toward promoting good governance and reaching out to the grassroots through house-to-house development plan.

“So, when the next election comes, we can stand boldly that we are going to deliver. That’s the most important thing. Aspiration will come later.

“For now, our concern is to entrench APC all over Lagos State. Not to bother about those who have been alleging, mischievously, that every step we take is because we want to be governor.

” Yes, I will like to become governor, and I will also like the experience, because in Lagos today, we know how it works.

“We have God. Secondly, we have leaders. Leader of leaders who we all believe in, President Bola Tinubu. We all trust his judgments. And the party structure,” Obasa said.

Convener of the event, Mr Oluwagbenga Abiola, said that it was phenomenal to organise the event for the benefit of the residents.

Abiola, who is also the vice chairman of Agege LGA, declared the 2024 event extremely successful.

“This crusade was initiated to celebrate the Speaker for the fact that he is a man who understands leadership.

“Obasa is a man who has given leadership to the young people in Agege. Young and vibrant people are now in government. They have come into leadership roles through this man.

“If a man is such a blessing to the community through infrastructure development and youth empowerment, it is of essence that we celebrate him,” he said.

Abiola explained that, to avoid claims of favourism, tribalism and other sentiments, the organisers decided on raffle draws.

“From food items to appliances. This year we have added the star prize of N300,000 to two individuals and a mini-bus.

“Luckily, the man who won the minibus is a voluntary youth organisation member of Lagos State government,” he said.

NAN also reports that over 2000 residents benefited from the draws, winning various items.

Mr Joseph Phillips, a staff of Lagos State security outfit, won the star prize.