For legislators to represent optimally and influence development in their constituencies, the electorate must support them for multiple terms in the National Assembly, speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yakubu Dogara, has said.
Speaking in Oko town, Surulere Local Government Area of Oyo State, at the final funeral thanksgiving for Pa Sunday Akanji Odebunmi, the father of a member of the House of Representatives and chairman of the House Committee on Information and National Orientation, Hon. Segun Odebunmi, the speaker also noted that most lawmakers who have served multiple terms in the National Assembly have a better chance to become principals and even presiding officers.
Hon Dogara showered encomiums on Hon Odebunmi whom he described as a committed member of the House whose interest is the development of the country and urged his constituents to give him support by reelecting him in the 2019 elections.
He said, “The Hon member representing this constituency is a brother, a wonderful member of the House of Representatives and he heads one of the important committees of the House and I will urge the people of this constituency to continue to support him. I have said elsewhere that a member is like wine, it is said of wine that it tastes better with age. If he was able to do some things during his first tenure, his second tenure is better than the first and likewise, if he is given support, his subsequent sojourn into the parliament will produce better results.
“I guess the people of my constituency have been smart to understand this and therefore, they took me to the House for the third time, it was only on the third time that I became speaker. So, if you want to produce leaders in the National Assembly, it means that once you have a member that is doing his best, you have to support him and I tell you that before time, he can be leading the House and the fruits of his representation will be made manifest.”
Speaking on behalf of the entire members of the House, he joined the family in celebrating the life of the departed Pa Odebunmi, noting that “he lived a life that touched so many people as an accomplished community leader, a philanthropist, he was someone who was very selfless…. if you look at the fruits that Baba has left behind, beginning from our own dear brother, who is a member representing this constituency in the National Assembly and his siblings that are here, you will be left with no option than to say that Baba lived a quality life and we can see that reflected in the fruits that he left behind.”
On his part, the Oloko of Okoland, Oba Solomon Adegoke Akiyoka Oyeyode III, expressed gratitude to the speaker for visiting his domain and urged him and other visitors to take advantage of the vast agricultural land in the area to invest.
Also present at the event were the deputy speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Yussuf Sulaimon Lasun, Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, House Leader Hon Femi Gbajabialima and other members of the House.
Turaki Hassan
Special Adviser (Media & Public Affairs)
