In an earlier report by Lagos Panorama that zoning was a factor in electing new executives of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State in the forthcoming State Congress next Saturday, as the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), the apex body of the party in Lagos, had moved the party chairmanship to Ojo Local Government, Lagos West, at the just-concluded GAC meeting held at the old State House Marina on Tuesday.
The re-zoning of the chairmanship from Apapa Local Government in the Lagos Central Senatorial District, to Ojo Local Government in the Lagos West, is one of the highlights of the Apex Meeting.
Aside from the general dissatisfaction with the performance of the outgoing Chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun who is from Apapa in the Lagos Central Senatorial District, the APC leaders also canvassed that the senatorial district has also produced the Speaker of the House of Representatives, Rt (Hon) Femi Gbajabiamila who is from Surulere local government. As it is now, Ojelabi may emerge as the next chairman of Lagos APC.
All these influenced the decision of the GAC to settle for a former Commissioner for Rural Development, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, who is from Ojo local government as the consensus candidate for the position. Pastor Ojelabi was endorsed for his vast experience of administration, loyalty, and commitment to the party.
He was elected Chairman of Ojo Local Government in 1997 on the platform of the defunct Grassroots Democratic Party (GDM).
Ojelabi was appointed the Executive Secretary of the newly created Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area and three months later became the first elected Executive Chairman of the LCDA.
After his tenure as Council chairman, he was elected to represent Ojo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives between 2007 and 2011 and thereafter served as Commissioner for Rural Development between 2011 and 2015 under the administration of Mr Babatunde Fashola.
