For President Tinubu, I am strongly convinced that he will perform beyond our expectations especially with the solid team of men and women he has been appointing to man different positions, his renewed hope agenda is very much destined to be a huge success
INTERVIEW: Erudite Scholar, Dr. Saheed Oyede Reveals His Impression On President Tinubu, Gov. Dapo Abiodun, Ogun SSG Tokunbo Alabi
PRINCE OYEDE SAHEED (Ph.D), a crown Prince of Ottaland, Awori Kingdom, who describes himself as an UNREPENTANT FOLLOWER of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and Governor Prince Dapo Abiodun (CON) was the Head of APC’s Election Monitoring and Control Room for Ado-Odo/ Ota Local Government in the 2023 General Elections in Ogun State and also doubles as the APC Trainer that trained the APC Election Agents for Yewa South and Ado-Odo / Ota Local Government of Ogun State; training over 1,000 APC Agents for the 2023 General Elections.
In this exclusive interview with the newsheadline247, he talks about the President of Nigeria, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), the Governor of Ogun State, His Excellency Prince Dapo Abiodun (CON) and the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. Tokunbo Talabi.
Meet Prince Oyede Saheed Adesunkanmi
My name is Prince Oyede Saheed Adesunkanmi, an Awori man from Ota, Ogun State, I am popularly known as High Prince Humanbeing, the four-in-one location man. I am a young man with a Ph.D in Business Administration from Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, B.Sc. in Insurance and M.Sc. Risk Management and Insurance from the University of Lagos. I have over 12 years of work experience ranging from the private sector to the public sector. I am a community man to the core.
Can you tell us your role in the 2023 General Elections?
First of all, before I talk about my role in the 2023 General Elections, let me use this opportunity to specially thank the Deputy Governor of Ogun State, Her Excellency, Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele (FNSE) for finding me worthy and nominating me to take up various roles before, during and after the 2023 General Elections. She is my own political godmother while not forgetting my very good brother Honourable Kola Rahmon Salako, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor (Office of the Deputy Governor), he was the one that identified me from the pool of talents in Ota and strongly recommended me to Her Excellency who accepted me wholeheartedly as one of her political sons. I remain forever grateful.
Back to your question, I was at the Moshood Abiola Stadium during the primaries that produced His Excellency as the APC’s candidate for the 2023 Governorship election. I was part of the party faithful’s that welcome President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) at the Presidential Lodge, Abeokuta where he made the famous EMILOKAN speech. It was that day that I fell in love with Vice President Shettima (GCON) with the way he introduced President Bola Ahmed Tinubu inside the Presidential Lodge. I was also at the MKO Stadium during the President’s visit to the Stadium. When the President visited Jos for his campaign, I was also atthe Stadium as a party faithful to show support for our Presidential Candidate during his visit to Plateau State. I campaigned rigorously for the APC both in Ogun State and Plateau State.
As a prominent member of the DANSO (Dapo / Noimot Salako-Oyedele) Team for the 2023 General Election, I was in charge of setting up and running the DANSO team for our Local Government under the able leadership of Alhaji Wasiu Lawal (FCA) the former Chairman of Ado-Odo / Ota Local Government and Hon. Kola Salako. We had several strategic meetings. We set up and managed a robust team comprising of APC Ambassadors for all the 655 Polling Units in our Local Government (mind you, our Local Government has the largest polling units in Ogun State) we were saddled with the responsibility of organizing a door-to-door campaign for the APC, it was a massive coordination.
Apart from being part of the DANSO Team, I also belong to several APC groups both locally and nationally, one of such was the Dapo Abiodun Acolytes (DA Acolytes)under the leadership of Engr. Mazoya, we had several strategic meetings in Abeokuta and organized several campaigns within Abeokuta which also included a road walk / show of support for the Governor from MoshoodAbiolaStadium through Kuto to Pansheke Skating Ground in Abeokuta. For the Presidential Election, I belong to and actively participated in so many groups that are too numerous to mention, all for President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR).
Furthermore, during the build up to the General Elections, as a member of the APC, I was part of the team that visited various part of Ogun State to campaign for His Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun (CON), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and the APC as a party. One of the most outstanding of such campaigns was His Excellency’s visit to Ota which was held at the popular HONDA Training Ground. The turnout was a massive one, all the Souvenirs meant for the whole campaign period by Her Excellency were exhausted on that day, the love for His Excellency was massive. I was in charge of the logistics for the souvenirs. We had a hectic time controlling the massive crowd that turned out to welcome the Governor, in fact it got to a point that I had to give out all the APC campaign souvenirs I was wearing on that day.
As the election day drew closer, there was a need to train all the APC Agents in Ogun State. Again, Her Excellency Engr. Noimot Salako-Oyedele (FNSE)graciously nominated me to be part of the APC’s Train-the-Trainer team headed by Apostle Biodun Sanyaolu where I trained over 1,000 APC party Agents for Yewa South and Ado-Odo/Ota Local Government Area on election duties.
I was also appointed by Her Excellency as the Chairman of the APC Election Monitoring and Control Room for Ado-Odo / Ota Local Governmentfor both the Presidential Election and Governorship Election. It was a massive task, don’t forget that our Local Government area has the largest Polling Units of 655 in Ogun State and we gave the President and Governor the highest number of votes in Ogun State and the second highest in the whole of the South West.
However, for now; none of us have gotten any Federal appointment despite returning those massive votes because we simply don’t have anybody to speak for us in Abuja, but I know that I am just one person away from President Tinubu but the person to introduce me to the President is who I don’t know for now. From the Control Room,my team and I were able to monitor and get real time election situation reports from the field before, during and after the election.
It was a task that required being meticulous and I was happy to have delivered on the task successfully. When the PDP wanted to start their propaganda about the Governorship election result for Ado-Odo/OtaLocal Government, as the Head of the Control Room with the authentic results from the field before INEC’s official announcement, I had to make a statement to counter the PDP’s propaganda machine that was heavily deployed to Ota. It was my statement that put paid to the propaganda of the PDP wherein they were claiming to have won our Local Government.
I made statements confirming that with the results from the APC Control Room, it was His Excellency Prince Dapo Abiodun (CON) that won our Local Government, this statement must have been part of the reasons why their Governorship Candidate had to relocate to Ota that midnight. When INEC officially declared His Excellency as the Winner of the Governorship Election, I was part of the entourage that went to congratulate Mr. Governor at the Presidential Lodge and when the Governor delivered his Acceptance Speech, I was standing right behind him.
How will you describe yourself to Governor Dapo Abiodun and President Bola Ahmed Tinubu?
I will simply say I am Prince Oyede SaheedAdesunkanmi (Ph.D) from Ota, an unrepentant disciple of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR) and his Excellency, Prince Dapo Abiodun (CON). I have always been an addicted supporter of the Governor since his first term in office.
For example, in 2021, we had a crisis in Jos necessitating the evacuation of Ogun State Students from the University of Jos, the Students’ body contacted me to help them reach out to the Governor, it was about that time that His Excellency was mourning his late dad and back in Ogun State, and we all know and recognize Mr. Tokunbo Talabi, the Secretary to the Governor as a dependable ally of the Governor, so I reached out to him and he ensured that not only were Ogun State Students Evacuated from Jos, Students from other States of the Federation that were willing to join the Ogun State Buses were also evacuated free of charge with full Military cover. Despite the short notice, Mr. Talabi ensured that the evacuation was a huge success, he also ensured that the Students were given a befitting accommodation at the Ogun State Liaison Office Complex in Abuja and they were given a token to subsidize their logistics.
Since that day, Mr. Talabi earned a tremendous respect from me despite the fact that even up till now I have never met him in person but I can attest to the professionalism that he has brought to the office of the SSG and the significant admiration he commands from direct reports and subordinates largely due to the way and manner he has been performing his job. I greatly admire his quiet and unassuming nature. I look forward to meeting him one day and His Excellency Prince Dapo Abiodun (CON), President Bola Ahmed Tinubu (GCFR), Vice President Shettima (GCON) and Her Excellency Madam Oluremi Tinubu (First Lady) and Mr. Seyi Tinubu, I know that God works in a miraculous way.
What is your impression of the President and the Governor?
For President Tinubu, I am strongly convinced that he will perform beyond our expectations especially with the solid team of men and women he has been appointing to man different positions, his renewed hope agenda is very much destined to be a huge success.
Governor Dapo Abiodun (CON) is a man with an uncommon grace and you know that if you are on top, you will always be the topic of discussion. He came on board during one of the most challenging phases of mankind, i.e the COVID 19 pandemic which affected the whole world and shrunk revenues, the EndSARS protest also shook the nation but he was able to navigate these issues successfullyto the admiration of everybody which earned him the second term on merit.
I am not saying there are no challenges in Ogun State but what I am saying is that we must appreciate how all these challenges are being tackled by the Governor and encourage his Excellency to do more within the limited resources at his disposal.
There is no other yardstick to measure his performance better than the verdict of the good people of Ogun State who returned him for a second term as Governor of our dear State through their votes, a victory that the Supreme Court has validated.
