The Oba-elect of Ikeja community in Lagos, Prince Samsondeen Adeleye, has berated his detractors who have been parading the corridors of power, blackmailing him that he is a member of opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
Adeleye, in an interview with our correspondent, declared that as a private citizen, he had all his life been in the political parties of the progressives, a claim to which he said prominent indigenes of Ikeja could testify.
Worried that some contestants who lost out during the selection process for the Olu of Ikeja went to prominent leaders of the All Progressives Congress, including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to put up a lie that he belonged to the PDP, Adeleye said, “I initially ignored them, but now, I have to come out and shout, because they are about being believed and this falsehood must not overcome the truth.”
“Though a royal father must not be partisan as he belongs to all the political parties, the truth is that, as a private citizen, I have been in the parties of the progressives all my life.
“During the military era, I was in the Social Democratic Party and I can recall vividly that when Asiwaju Tinubu was to be voted in as senator in Ikeja, there was this torrential rain that scared away his supporters from voting.
“But God used me to save the day as I secured shelter for all the voters and once the rain stopped, they came out and voted for Asiwaju Tinubu.
“Same way, I was a local government councilor under the party at the period. And all along, I have been a prominent member of the Action Congress of Nigeria, and Action Congress and now, a card-carrying member of the APC,” Adeleye explained.
The monarch-elect, as such, appealed to Governor Akinwumi Ambode, to “go ahead with his good intention and ratify my choice, having been selected by the city’s five kingmakers after due screening and native traditional rites, way back in 2014.”
Adeleye also appealed for unity among Ikeja indigenes, noting, “We should learn from the unity of the ants, who are great builders, by coming together for the progress of Ikeja.”