By Bilesanmi Abayomi
The candidate of the People’s Democratic Party for the Kosofe Federal Constituency, Mrs. Florence Da-Costa Adepegba, has shared her agenda and decried the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for fielding only Muslim candidates across Kosofe.
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She shared her agenda while appearing on the TVC program Politics tonight, monitored by the Kosofe Post, on Monday.
Adepegba said that she has done a few things in her capacity, and her drive to serve them in a large capacity prompted her to join the race.
She said, “I know joining politics for me like I tell people is a ministry and Serving the people.”
Continuing, she said, “You know when you love your people, you just want to serve, and I know through politics I will be able to do much more than what I was doing at that time. And ever since I joined politics, I give God the praise that I was able to get to this stage. I have a lot of things that I want to do for my people, and contesting and representing the people of Kosofe Federal Constituency is a way for me to reach the heart of the people and serve them very well.”
Speaking about her campaign experience, she accused the ruling All Progressives Congress of covering her campaign posters and banners, among others. We know that politics is grassroots; it’s about the people, and we have been able to reach out to the people and tell them what we have in store for them.
“We need to create awareness, and we have tried, but the disappointing part is that every time we put up a banner or a poster, two days later we have the ruling party covering all of our posters and pulling down our banners.
“We look at it, and we know we can’t match their posters for posters, and we don’t have the resources to roll out thousands of posters every two days. So what we do is that when you tear off posters or cover up posters, once you have a relationship with the people, you can’t take away what they have in their hearts.
“One thing about the people is that they know who is sincere and who wants to serve. So what we have tried to do over time is develop a relationship with the people of Kosofe and let them know why we want to do this.”
On the recent viral slogan by young people, “No water, no votes,” she said, In Kosofe, we know we have the issue of water because some areas in Kosofe have a lot of water issues. The whole of Odo-Ogun, Ajegunle, doesn’t have water, and we know people go through; I live in Ajegunle, and we buy water there; and some places in Alapere, Gbagada, don’t have water; we buy water. These are the things we look into to figure out how to fix it.
She said she will partner with private organizations to facilitate solar-powered industrial boreholes to ameliorate her constituents’ over a decade of suffering.
Florence, better known as Flo, also talked about the long-promised Agboyi Ketu Link Bridge and assured the constituents of facilitating its construction.
She said: “I don’t see any reason why Agboyi Ketu can’t have a bridge that will link the riverine community to the main Agboyi Ketu. First thing, when I get into the house, I will develop a relationship with my people in the house and push for the needs of my constituents. Building a bridge for the people of Agboyi Ketu will help them a lot.”
Recall that Olakunle Koya, who also participated in the PDP House of Representatives poll, petitioned the PDP National Working Committee, leading to a rerun of the Federal constituency primary election before he later voluntarily withdrew from the rescheduled race. However, Adepegba said the party is united and everyone is working as a family.
According to her, “in Kosofe Federal Constituency, the PDP is united. In every family, we have challenges, but the ability to realize this and come together and work together as one body is very important. Olakunle Koya is my boss, if I must say so, because he was in politics before I joined and he’s a good man. After the primary, we were able to do reconciliation, and we have been working together.”
She further emphasized the fact that her party has a high chance of winning in Kosofe. “We have a very high chance, I must say, because in Kosofe’s federal constituency, the PDP has never ruled before. Right now, we tell people why we need PDP in Kosofe, and for the past years, we have seen what is going on. I don’t want to mention names or parties, but we have seen what has been going on. adding that when the party wins, they will do what they know how to do in terms of service delivery.”
She noted that youth, women, and out-of-school children would be the focus of her representation.
She promised to partner with individual private schools to take the out school children off the streets across Kosofe.
“Before now, when I was not in government, with the help of friends, I sponsored a few children into a private polytechnic, and now that I am in government, I will be able to do more.”
Empowerment, She promised to empower and train women on how to manage their businesses and money and how to save, among other things.
She says, “If I have resources to empower 2000 women with N50,000 to N100,000, I will rather empower 100 women with so much money, maybe with half a million, that they can use to establish themselves and set up a monitoring team. You don’t empower and forget it like that.”
Adding that she will encourage monthly thrift contributions and a 6-month review of beneficiaries’ performances through a monitoring team.
She added that vocational training and start-up capital for the equipped shop will be provided to young people who are interested in acquiring special skills under the supervision of a monitoring team.
Adepegba further noted that she will build a mentoring institution to strengthen women’s participation in politics and provide a mentoring program for them.
Speaking on behalf of her female opponent on the platform of APC, Mrs. Kafilat Ogbara, she said it’s a good thing to have another woman on another platform, and she didn’t feel intimidated by her.
In her words, “It’s a good thing I have another woman; I didn’t feel intimidated because I knew what I wanted to offer my people.”
She adds, “I have never been in government before, and I can tell you my opponent has been in government.” “What have you done so far for the people? I have never been in government. I have done a few things for my people in my little way, and being in government shows that I am going to do much more.”
However, in a message to constituents ahead of the election, she decried the ruling: “AllProgressives Congress for fielding only Muslims in Lagos East Senatorial District, Kosofe Federal Constituency, Kosofe Constituency 1, and Kosofe Constituency 2 House of Assembly as candidates without consideration for other faiths.
She said: “Remember that Florence is young and is coming to serve; she is passionate about the people; she cares so much about them, and there’s something I must say;
It’s saddening that we don’t have all of the candidates well represented.
“Christianity in politics in Kosofe is not well represented. Looking at my party, it is balanced, but looking at the ruling party, they have whole Muslims representing Kosofe and the people who live in the Kosofe Federal Constituency; we have the Muslims, the Christians, and we have traditional people, and I think that when you have a government that is fair, the best thing to do is to carry everybody along.” Kosofe Federal Constituency PDP House of Representatives candidate Florence said.
She urged the people of Kosofe to remember that the election is about their future, saying, “Think and vote wisely.”