Adebayo Adenrele
The senate leader and the lawmaker representing Ekiti Central Senatorial District, Senator Opeyemi Bamidele has distributed over 5000 bags on fertilizer to farmers in his district.
He revealed that the purpose of the distribution were to boost food production and the economy in line with the agenda of the APC-led administration to support farmers across the country.
Bamidele pleaded with the benefitting farmers not to sell the fertilizers to people who are not into farming, saying that some unscrupulous elements and criminals are going about to buy the produce to manufacture explosives devices.
In another development, the lawmaker has revealed that the headquarters of the proposed South-West Development Commission will be sited in Ibadan, the Oyo state capital.
He explained that President Bola Tinubu would sign the bill into law when he returned from his vacation abroad.
Bamidele denied the insinuations making the round that he was against the interest of the south west region, adding that his efforts and other 17 senators in the zone culminated in the passage of the bill by the National Assembly.
According to him, a bill or memorandum on regionalism has not been presented before the senate for discussion, noting that he would continue to protect the interest of the Yoruba race and the country at large.
While acknowledging the hardship being faced by the people across the country, he appealed to citizens to show more understanding with President Tinubu in his efforts at implementing his renewed hope agenda for the nation.
His words, “Some enemies of progress are deliberately maligning my character, they have been doing so much to make me a bad person, that I am against the regional government but I am not so worried because I know the truth will prevail at the end of the day.
“Let me reiterate again that, as of today (Monday), there is no bill of such before the senate, not even a memorandum before the senate to debate on regarding regionalism. So, all the talk that I opposed regionalism is fake news and is unfounded. We have not had any paper to debate. Whether anybody supports regionalism or not is a debate that will come later when we have the bill before us.
“Let me say here that I just led 18 senators representing the south west states to work hard for the senate to pass the South West Development Commission bill. If I had just done that with my colleagues, there is no way anyone can say I am against Yoruba race.
“The House of Representatives has passed it and by the grace of God when President Bola Tinubu comes back from its vacation, he will sign the bill into law. We will set up the commission and the headquarters will be in Ibadan, there is no controversy about it.
“The commission will ensure the interest of Ekiti and other states in the region are well protected. There will be a chairman for the commission, there will be a managing director, and there will be four executive directors (Finance, Administration, Project and Operations).
“These six positions will be shared among the six states in the South West and the interest of every state including Ekiti will be well protected.
“We will continue to do everything to protect the interest of Ekiti and the Yoruba race and of course the interest of Nigeria because it is when there is peace in the country, that is when every tribe and region can have peace, that is where I stand.”