It is no longer a news that Hon Mutiu Kunle Okunola stole the show when the Lagos All Progressives Congress (APC) formally received former Minister and Senator Oluseye Ogunlewe and Okunola the National Coordinator of the Tinubu 2023 Not Negotiable (T2023NN) group and his teeming supporters into the APC.
The Peoples’ Democratic Party’s (PDP) candidate for the Federal House of Representatives, Ikeja Federal Constituency slot in the last general election had described his re-joining of the progressive as home coming.
Okunola in a media chat with Lagos Panorama on Friday stated that “my re-joining the progressive is a home coming for me. I was part of the Alliance for Democracy at the beginning of this democratic dispensation. I was a Youth Leader under Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organization (BATCO) in 1998. You know I am a founding member of the present progressive’s party.
“I went to the National Democratic Party (NDP) to see if I could realize my ambition and I probably would’ve taken the mandate back to the progressive where I feel more at home, but because I was denied the opportunity to contest for the State Assembly in 2003 against the incumbent of the Ikeja Constituency 1, Hon Niyi Oyemade who underperformed but somehow he was foisted by some leaders in Ikeja who deprived me and other hardworking youths from seeing Asiwaju Tinubu who was then busy with the administration of the state”.
“Now the narrative have change, I am back for good. Since my return some leaders who are afraid of my political sagacity have being trying to fence me out but no one can stop a hard working person from achieving a set goal”.
“My major reason for returning to the progressives is to help actualized the Presidential ambition of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and that is the reason for the formation of the Tinubu 2023 Not Negotiable group which we have started inaugurating our state chapters”.
“We have inaugurated the six Southwest states, seven Northwest states and Kwara state to make a total of fourteen states inaugurated so far within three months which included both local government and ward levels inaugurations. Our next inauguration is the Southeast states which we hope to conclude within the first quarter of 2020”.
“All our inaugurations most especially the Northwest were very successful. Which is an indication that Tinubu is well appreciated all over Nigeria for his immense contribution to the growth of democracy in Nigeria. No doubt he is the most qualified to take over after the tenure of President Buhari. Power have to rotate back to the south”.
“2015 to 2023 Nigeria would have had eight years of northern rule so it’s expedient for the ruling party to rotate power back to the south which is a great factor to keep Nigeria together and the most qualified person is Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, the number one leader of the southwest. This is the first time Yoruba will be having our own candidate, Obasanjo was Northerner and Military agenda. Now the Yoruba people’s agenda is Tinubu for President and it’s not negotiable. I am ready to do all within my capacity to achieve Tinubu presidency, my own ambition for now is secondary”.
On the National Assembly jettisoned of the six years single term bill for both the executives and legislators Okunola alluded that “it’s an obnoxious bill and it failed on this attempt because of the limited duration for the legislators who presently enjoy an unlimited term as long as your constituency return you. So the legislators are not in support of the bill not because they like us but because of their own personal interest of limiting some of them who are already enjoying third or fifth terms”.
“Such bill will now give room for governors who are already enjoying their second term to think of contesting for the six years single term that is, eight years plus additional six bonus years to make a total of fourteen years”.
“I disagree with this obnoxious bill. I want to call on Nigerians to be weary of this six years single term bill. We should be vigilant. May be six years single term for only presidency and this should exclude the incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari”.
“If you allow a governor a six years single term he will not do anything because there won’t be anything to challenge him to perform to impress the electorate. So usually the first term is for the people to vote them for a second term and as we all know they mostly underperform in their second coming” asserted the National Coordinator T2023NN.
