The Yayi’s Friends Network, led by former Ogun State governorship aspirant, Prince Kayode Tejuoso, has taken its grassroots mobilisation and consultation drive to the Ijebu Ode Zonal Community Development Committees (CDCs) and Ogun Waterside Zonal CDC.
The network, comprising friends and supporters of Senator Solomon Olamilekan Adeola, popularly known as Yayi, is engaging community leaders, CDCs and residents across Ogun State as part of efforts to mobilise grassroots support for Adeola ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
The delegation included Hon. (Engr.) Kennykadri Edu (Mrs.), Hon. Segun Idowu, Pastor Lekan Araba, Hon. Ojoye Olasehinde, Oke-Ona CDC Chairman, Alhaji Tijani Qozeem, Hon. Jolasun Yusuf and Rafiu Idris Olamilekan.
The engagements, held on Friday, formed part of the network’s ongoing consultations aimed at identifying development challenges and priorities in communities and communicating them to relevant political leaders.
Speaking during the meetings, Tejuoso said meaningful development must begin with listening to people at the grassroots.
He said the network would document the needs raised by the communities and present them to Senator Adeola for consideration.
“Development must begin with listening to the people at the grassroots. Our responsibility is not only to speak to communities but also to listen, document their needs and ensure that those concerns form part of the conversation about the future of Ogun State,” Tejuoso said.
Tejuoso further said he believed Adeola would pursue an ambitious development agenda if elected governor, noting that his personal vision for developing Ogun State was similar to what he believed Yayi wanted to achieve.
“If Yayi becomes the governor, it is just as if I am the one who becomes the governor. What I have in mind to develop Ogun more than Lagos State, that is also what Yayi has in mind. That is why we, the Yayi Friends Network, stand by him,” Tejuoso said.
He appealed to the CDCs and residents to support Adeola and other candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2027 general elections.
According to him, the network’s campaign is centred on presenting Adeola’s record, experience and agenda to the people while also giving communities the opportunity to communicate their needs directly.
Tejuoso also advocated political rotation among Ogun State’s three senatorial districts, arguing that Ogun West had yet to produce an elected governor since the creation of the state.
“We should not create a precedent where one senatorial district continues to occupy the governorship after eight years. Ogun West has never attained that position before, and this is why the issue of equity and rotation is part of the conversation,” he said.
He also urged residents to continue supporting President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration, saying continuity at the federal level would help sustain ongoing economic reforms and facilitate cooperation among the federal, state and local governments.
Responding to the delegation, the Ijebu Ode Zonal CDC highlighted inadequate electricity supply, transformer shortages and water as some of the major challenges confronting residents.
The CDC representative said the community was struggling with electricity supply and largely depended on a single transformer.
“We have the problem of water and transformer. We don’t enjoy electricity at all; we are only managing the only one transformer that we have,” the representative said.
The CDC also expressed support for Adeola, describing his perceived performance and interventions as encouraging.
“I have not seen this kind of governorship candidate. Though he hasn’t become the governor, Yayi has been doing well ” the representative said.
At the Ogun Waterside Zonal CDC meeting, community leaders expressed concern over what they described as inadequate attention to the needs of grassroots communities.
The CDC said although Community Development Committees were often referred to as the “fourth tier of government,” communities had yet to see the level of recognition and support expected.
“We are being called the fourth tier of government, but we have not been seeing anything. They shouldn’t send politicians to us. We are going to collate our needs and forward them to the Yayi Friends Network,” the CDC representative said.
Speaking on behalf of the Ogun Waterside Zonal CDC, the Chairman, Mr. Olajide Kilajolu, commended the Yayi Friends Network for embarking on what he described as a deliberate effort to engage CDCs across the state.
Kilajolu expressed appreciation to the delegation for travelling from other parts of the state to Ogun Waterside to listen directly to the concerns of the people.
“Coming from far distance to Ogun Waterside, they have really tried. We commend the Yayi Friends Network for their effort in making sure that they engage all the CDCs in Ogun State,” he said.
The CDC chairman said the approach was different from what communities had experienced in the past, expressing optimism that Sen. Yayi administration would cater for all parts of the state.
“Yayi government will be for everybody. This has not happened before. We really commend Yayi Friends Network for their efforts”.
