Why I Parted Ways With Ibikunle Amosun To Join Prince Dapo Abiodun – Hon Sheriff Yusuf

Hon Sherif Abiodun Yusuf popularly known as Ibeman is a member-elect of the Ogun State House of Assembly. In this interview with OgunNewsExpress, Hon Yusuf revealed why he parted ways with former governor Ibikunle Amosun. He also assured the people of Ogun state that the government of Prince Dapo Abiodun will reposition the state as one of the leading economy friendly states in Nigeria. He also pointed out that his constituency will benefit immensely from the new government.

Congratulations on your emergence as member representing Ota state constituency in the Ogun State House of Assembly, Hon Sherif Abiodun Yussuf

Thank you very much

Can you tell us about the process that led to your emergence as the candidate of All Progressives Congress for the Ota State constituency

Well, the journey was tough and it was not easy to emerge as a candidate, especially in a popular party like APC.  I emerged through a rigorous primary election and I thank God for this feat.

But some people said there was never a primary, that you were just handpicked as the party’s candidate

(Smiles) that was not true, we had a primary election, and one of the prominent candidates that participated in the primary was Hon Rahmon Salako, among others.

There is also this assumption that you were candidate of YAYI and how did that help your emergence

First of all, am a well-known politician in Ado-odo/Ota, yes I was part and parcel of the YAYI movement, and that led me to Dapo Abiodun, so if it is said that YAYI movement helped me, so be it, confidently I am from YAYI Group.

Before you joined YAYI group you were formerly the chairman in Ado-odo/Ota  local government and you were seen as somebody close to Governor Ibikunle Amosun, what led to your separation from him

Well, I was the caretaker chairman from 2011 to 2012, a period I was in good terms with the former governor Ibikunle Amosun because we had been together since 2004. Then, we were all in ANPP and I was even the state assembly candidate of the party. In 2011, Amosun became governor under the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and he later appointed me as the caretaker chairman of Ado-Odo/Ota local government.

But in 2015 after Amosun was re-elected, this time under the platform of the APC, we discovered that he derailed from our initial plan and for somebody like me who has integrity and name to protect, I had to pull out of the sudden and mischievous plans of Governor Amosun as he started running the state like his personal property.

What was the initial plan

Our initial plan was to serve the people of the state and to be answerable to the grassroots people, but along the line, governor Amosun deviated from the plan and started running the government of the few. He believed he could do it all alone. Hence, I had to pull out from his camp to prevent my political career being dented. Sincerely speaking my political career started about 25 years ago because I started politics at early stage of my life. So I have to pullout of Amosun’s political train in order avoid my political career being ruined.

Let’s talk about your legislative agenda, what are the things that the people you are representing should expect from you

Actually, I have wanted to be a member of Ogun State House of Assembly since 2011, but I have to thank God this time.

Yes this is my time and for my people in Ado-odo/Ota Constituency 1.  I want to run an all inclusive representation by involving everybody. With our collective ideas from our people, we are going to promote and sponsor bills that will have direct impact on my constituents and Ogun State at large. We will sponsor education and health bills. At the same time, we need to let people know that we are going there to make laws and not to execute projects.

How are you going to convince the governor about the pathetic state of roads in Ota state Constituency for him to be able to vote enough money into rehabilitating them

Thank you very much for this question, I don’t need to convince the governor Dapo Abiodun because he once said he had to use one packet of paracetamol just after a visit Ota and that’s due to bad state of roads. For this reason, Governor Dapo Abiodun has promised to rehabilitate all bad roads and construct new ones in our local government. Thank God the deputy governor is an engineer and she is an indigene of this local government. I can assure our people that this government is a government of the people and we need the full support of the masses to perform even beyond their expectations.