- Though the Independent National Electoral Commission has yet to fix a date for the bye-election, gladiators in various political parties in the federal constituency have been campaigning underground ahead of the election.
- The President of the group, Engineer Ibukunoluwa Akeju, made the call at the inauguration of the new executive of the association, held in Akungba Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of the state, on Saturday.
A group working under the aegis of the Akoko Youths Forum has advised the political parties not to force candidates on the electorate in anticipation of the upcoming bye-election to fill the open seat in the House of Representatives for the Akoko North-East/Akoko North-West Federal Constituency.
After Mr. Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo, who had been elected to represent the federal constituency in the House of Representatives, resigned, President Bola Tinubu appointed Tunji-Ojo as the Minister of Interior, leaving the seat empty.
Gladiators from a number of political parties in the federal constituency have begun their covert campaigns ahead of the election, even though the Independent National Electoral Commission has not yet set a date for the bye-election.
The President of the group, Engineer Ibukunoluwa Akeju, made the call at the inauguration of the new executive of the association, held in Akungba Akoko, Akoko South-West Local Government Area of the state, on Saturday.
Akeju stated, “We are a pressure group, we are not a partisan group, I would like to advise all the youths, we are not a kind of group that would impose anybody over them, but the person must be a candidate that knows what we are passing through, a candidate that have an undiluted antecedent and have the interest of the masses, we wouldn’t want to influence the election negatively, the only advice we would give is that they ( political class) should give everybody an opportunity to cast his or her vote and opportunity to contest for the position.
“All the candidates right now are qualified because they are bonafide sons and daughters of the federal constituency and I believe each and every one of them is capable of doing it, the people would decide their wish among them. So there should be no imposition of candidate.”
On the activities of the group, Akeju said the major focus of the AYF was to contribute to the development of Akokoland, particularly in the area of youth employment and empowerment, adding that the association had many developmental plans.
“We all know the challenges we are facing in this country, majorly youth empowerment and employment, and this is the time we are set to look into the resources that we have, we would use all resources gathered judiciously for the interest of the masses, especially the youths, talking about human resources, especially the good people God has blessed us with in Akoko, we have the philanthropists, traditional rulers, political leaders, we are coming up with proposals, programs that these people would look into and be able to invest in it.
“I said during manifestoes that we have graduates, but not all graduates are employable. We are coming up with programs that will equip our graduates, that would make them employable, we would give them a soft landing, that would bring opportunities to them.
“Akoko Youth Forum is a formidable group that, in one way or the other helps the development of Akoko. A few years back, when Akoko was in total blackout, AYF took it upon themselves as a responsibility to fight the cause of the Late Prophet T.B. Joshua sent money to us, and we used it for the interest of Akoko.
“Talking about security we have done a lot of programs to ensure security, we are working hand in hand with the security personnel in Akoko land and to give our people well secure environment.”