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Fashola, deputy (Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire) battle over senatorial seat

-Both eye Lagos West

If the information at our disposal is anything to go by, Lagos governor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN), and his deputy, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire may be heading towards a collision course. The two most powerful people in the Centre of Excellence are trying to put their heads in the same bucket to drink water.

ENCOMIUM Weekly gathered that the two are aspiring to represent the state at the upper chamber (Senate) of the National Assembly in 2015 general elections. They are aspiring to do so from the same Senatorial district, Lagos West, the seat which is presently being occupied by Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon.

The calculation is that Senator Solomon who has served two terms in the Senate and has thrown his cap into the governorship race, may not be interested in third term. So, his seat will be vacant in 2015.

ENCOMIUM Weekly gathered that the vice president slot of APC which was earlier touted for Governor Fashola is no longer feasible. This is because Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu is very much interested in the slot with General Muhammadu Buhari as the presidential candidate of the party. Therefore, the next option is the Senate.

Governor Fashola is from Surulere local government area, which is in the Lagos Central district, presently occupied by Senator Oluremi Tinubu.

Senator Oluremi Tinubu has just done one term as a senator. There is likelihood that she will be going for the second term.

The only option is Lagos West Senatorial district. The governor, we gathered, may come from Badagry local government where he also has a family tie.

In the case of the deputy governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, her second term as deputy governor is no longer plausible with a Christian being proposed as the next governorship candidate of APC in the state. She has, therefore, accepted her fate and looking for an alternative which is the Senate. She is from Alimosho local government area, the biggest in the state.

Alimosho local government area is one of the 10 local government areas that make up the Lagos West Senatorial district of the state.

When ENCOMIUM Weekly called Mr. Akeem Bello, the Special Adviser to Governor Fashola on Media on Monday, May 5, 2014, he said, he was not aware of the governor’s interest in any senatorial seat.

But the Deputy-Governor, Princess Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, in her response to our text message sent by ENCOMIUM Weekly on Monday, April 28, 2014, wrote “I do not know of Governor Fashola. He is yet to disclose it to us. But I’m very much interested.”

FASHOLA’S PROFILE

Governor Fashola
Governor Fashola

Babatunde Raji Fashola was born in Lagos at the Island Maternity Hospital on June 28, 1963. A fifth generation Lagosian and a direct descendant of the patriarch of the Fashola family in Isalegangan, he is also a descendant of the Shomade family of Isale Eko through his paternal grandmother as well as a descendant of the Bashua and Suenu families of Lagos.

He studied at the University of Benin from where he graduated with a Bachelor of Laws, LL.B. (Hon), degree in 1987.

He was called to the Nigerian Bar as a solicitor and advocate of the Supreme Court of Nigeria in November 1988 after completing the professional training programme at the Nigerian Law School, Lagos, between 1987 and 1988.

His legal career of over one and a half decades, commenced in the law firm of Sofunde, Osakwe, Ogundipe and Belgore, where he cut his legal teeth as a litigator over such wide-ranging areas of specialization as, intellectual property (registration of trade marks), commercial law, covering general contracts, company activities, mergers, acquisitions, right issues, ownership of shares and equity of corporations, as well as land disputes, criminal law and chieftaincy matters, in all of which he has come to acquire appreciable expertise and vast experience.

Babatunde Fashola commenced a four-year tenure as the executive governor of Lagos state on May 29, 2007; this was after a successful four-year tenure as the chief of staff to his predecessor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Fashola had, during his tenure as chief of staff, also doubled as the Honourable Commissioner to the Governor’s office. He was the first to hold both offices simultaneously.

Before and during his appointment, he had had the privilege to serve the state in various capacities, including:

– Secretary of the Lands Sub-Committee of the Transitional Work Groups. 1999.

– Member of the panel of enquiry into allocation of houses on the Mobolaji Johnson Housing Scheme at Lekki in 2000.

– Member of the State Tenders Board- 2002- 2006.

– Member of Lagos State Executive Council-2002-2006.

– Member of the State Security Council-2002-2006

– Member of the State Treasury Board-2002-2006

– Chairman Ad-Hoc Committee on the Review of Asset distribution among Local Governments.

He is married to Dame Abimbola Emmanuela Fashola and they have children.

ORELOPE’S PROFILE

Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire
Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire

Hon. Victoria Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire is an administrator, social worker, politician and princess of a royal family in Lagos State and was born on September 29, 1959. Though simple in outlook, and self-effacing in her interactions, she has a long history of great achievements through her passion, commitment and dedication to public service.

Victoria Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire has, in her more than two decades in politics, carved a niche for herself as an accomplished grassroots politician with a passion for the emancipation of the womenfolk, youth development, especially the girl-child education.

On completion of her academic career, she worked briefly before venturing into politics, drawing inspiration from her father, who was one of the staunch Awoists in his active political life.

Her passion and determination to render quality public service that will impact the lives of many, especially the vulnerables, saw her elected a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly in the nation’s Third Republic when she represented Alimosho Constituency 1, between 1991 and 1993.

In 1999, when Nigeria returned to democratic governance, Hon. Orelope-Adefulire was appointed Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC). She held this position until 2003, when she was appointed Honourable Commissioner for Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation by the immediate past administration of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.  It was a choice which Governor Babatunde Fashola (SAN), his successor, found equally appropriate and quite in line with the proverbial a round peg in a round hole and re-appointed her due to her track record as a transformational achiever during his first term, as commissioner.

Hon. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire is a member of the Lagos Legislators’ Forum, member of Awori Welfare Association of Nigeria (AWAN), Lagos State, as well as the Association of Lagos State Indigenes (ALSI).

Hon. Victoria Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire is a graduate of Social Work from the Lagos State University and she is married to Mr. Claudius Abiodun Adefulire and they are blessed with children.

-TOLANI ABATTI

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