By Emmanuel Onwusoro
The League of Veteran Journalists, Ekiti State Chapter, has been commended for keeping the flag of the profession flying through its interventions in information dissemination that impacts positively on engendering prominence to developments in the country and its citizens.
A veteran journalist, and the spokesman of the Senate in the National Assembly, Senator Yemi Adaramodu, gave the commendation when members of the league led by the Chairman, Prince Kayode Oni, paid a courtesy visit to the Lawmaker in his country-home, Ilawe-Ekiti, to formally inform him of the forthcoming ‘Patrons’ Day’ of the League slated for September.
The Lawmaker who promised to be present at the event, expressed delight at the visit, saying as a veteran journalist, he would not hesitate to play any role that could catapult the League in Ekiti to an enviable pedestal. He describes journalism as a noble profession that has brought men and women to the limelight in any society. To him, the Ekiti state chapter of the League should always remain an shinning light.
The Ilawe-Ekiti-born politician who according to the League’s Chairman, Prince Oni, is one of the Grand Patrons, pointed out that it is his journalistic background coupled with the grace of God that paved the way for him to occupy the position of spokesman for the Senate.
In the meantime, delving into some national issues, particularly, the last primary elections of his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, that have remained a subject of controversy in some states in Nigeria, and still left many aspirants aggrieved, the Senate image-maker, says as at today, no aspirant is aggrieved because the National Working Committee,NWC, of the party had adjudicated on such matters and the names of those who emerged as candidates are already on the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.
According to him”, nobody is aggrieved in the APC. Even those people that contested for various positions during the primaries, there is accommodation for them in APC because everything is not about contest. Everything is not about election. We have so many things in APC. APC is a party that runs like a family”. He believes that in a family, everybody cannot sit at the steering, there are other areas that they will occupy themselves with.
The legislator maintains that a political party is not about contesting elections by members alone. Adding that there are other areas in the three arms of government that will be serviced or occupied by people. ” Hence, everybody will find accommodation and the party at the national level has already told all of us that those people who could not find accommodation in the elective positions there are opportunities for them. In fact, big chances for them”.
” The dust raised by the party primaries have been settled. And where you have five – ten people vying for one position, there is no way there will be primaries and everyone will just accept the outcome. That is why there are mechanisms within the party to sort out any kind of arguments, disagreements, observations and others issues about the party primaries”.
” That is why we have the National Working Committee that already told us, the contenders, before the primary elections, that we were going into the primaries whoever had any reservation either for or against the results and the outcome of the primaries should channel that through the party’s Appeal Committees, which members did. Are we expecting that the Appeal Committees will not sit on those matters and then give reports?”.
Senator Adaramodu adduces that statutorily and constitutionally, it is stated that candidature of any person that is vying for any position in any party, not only in APC, resides in the national working committee of that party. According to him, that means it is an internal affairs of the party. And the party reserves that kind of constitutional right to conduct primaries, give reports to decide if there are gray areas, if there are conflicts and complaints. He says his party did not do anything contrary to these positions, other than what all members agreed to.
”And if there is only one position, and then ten people contested, is the party going to clear the ten people to go and contest for that one position? No, one person must emerge. Out of the one person that emerged, the other nine that could not make it, one or two of them must agitate,which is very normal. The party is not a grave yard. It is not where dead bodies are interred. Surely, there must be noise. That is the meaning of politics”.
He notes that even smaller parties are grappling to get their act together. Even asking INEC to extend timetable for them, and describes such as funny and ironic.
In another development, Adaramodu who represents Ekiti South Senatorial District in Senate, baring his mind on the 2027 general elections, urge the opposition to engage in constructive criticisms about the President Bola Tinubu-led government because his administration has impacted positively in diverse areas of the economy.
He believes that as far as Ekiti is concerned, President Tinubu will be given overwhelming votes that will enable him to become victorious at the poll.
