IJEBU-ODE— Senior Advocate of Nigeria and political activist, Kunle Adegoke, has urged Nigerian voters to take greater responsibility for their choices at the polls by examining the records and antecedents of candidates before casting their ballots.
Adegoke said voters should not rely solely on campaign promises, arguing that the credibility, capacity and commitment of candidates could be better assessed from their previous conduct and records of public service.
He spoke on Thursday during an appearance during an appearance on Frontline, a current affairs programme on Eagle 102.5 FM, Ilese Ijebu, Ogun State, where he discussed voter responsibility, political alliances in Osun State and his ambition to represent Osun Central Senatorial District.
The SAN was responding to concerns raised by some callers over politicians who make several promises during election campaigns but allegedly fail to fulfil them after assuming office.
The callers questioned why some politicians appear to change after gaining power despite the commitments they made to voters before elections.
In his response, Adegoke said the electorate must also accept responsibility for the choices it makes by properly scrutinising the people seeking its votes.
“It is you people that have been making mistakes. What is the antecedent of the people that have been soft-soaping you, that have been soft-talking you? What is their antecedent?” he said.
Adegoke said voters should therefore look beyond campaign rhetoric and examine what candidates had done before seeking elective office.
He argued that a candidate’s antecedent could provide voters with a clearer indication of the person’s capacity, character and commitment than promises made during election campaigns.
The SAN also addressed questions about his previous legal representation of the All Progressives Congress and whether the professional relationship could affect his credibility as a political candidate.
He explained that legal practitioners have a professional responsibility to represent clients who engage their services, stressing that representing a political party as a lawyer should not automatically be interpreted as endorsing all of its political positions.
“I’m a lawyer by profession. It is whoever engages me that I will represent,” Adegoke said.
He questioned whether the same standard would be applied to lawyers who had represented the Peoples Democratic Party or other political interests before becoming politically active or seeking elective office.
According to him, professional legal responsibility should be distinguished from political affiliation when assessing the career and public activities of a lawyer.
Adegoke said political discussions should be based on facts rather than assumptions drawn from the identity of a lawyer’s former clients.
“So we must develop society from the conscious appreciation of issues and facts,” he said.
The SAN also spoke on the political relationship between the Accord Party and the All Progressives Congress, particularly the understanding between the parties at the presidential level.
He said the arrangement, as far as he understood it, was limited to the presidential election and should not automatically determine the outcome of elections involving other elective positions.
“The purpose of the accord between Accord Party and our party, as far as the presidential election is concerned, I will not be mischievous to say what they did not say, is limited to the presidential election,” he said.
Adegoke said voters were not bound to support the same political party across different elections conducted within the same electoral cycle.
He argued that the electorate was much larger than the membership of any political party and could therefore make independent choices based on candidates and issues.
“It is not members of Accord alone that elected Governor Adeleke. It is people, the electorate generally. The membership of Accord, the membership of APC, combined together is not up to one-tenth of the general populace,” Adegoke said.
He said voters could consequently make different choices in presidential, governorship and National Assembly elections depending on the candidates presented to them and the issues at stake.
Adegoke linked the argument to his own political ambition to represent Osun Central Senatorial District, saying his intervention in politics was driven by concerns about leadership and development.
“My intervention is based on leadership and I’ve been an activist to address developmental needs,” he said.
He said his priority, if elected to the Senate, would include effective representation, legislative oversight, scrutiny of government budgets and constituency development.
“These are part of the supervisory functions that I am going to ensure that we carry out. It is not always when we want to probably discipline somebody in the executive who has committed an offence and what have you alone, that the National Assembly will have to come in,” he said.
Adegoke said lawmakers must also monitor the implementation of government programmes and ensure that public resources translated into tangible benefits for citizens.
On constituency projects, he said lawmakers should ensure that such interventions reflected the actual needs of the communities they represent rather than being driven by political considerations.
“When it comes to constituency projects, yes, I mean, it is not my father’s money. It is government money that they are appropriating,” he said.
He said that if elected, he would use his legislative position to pursue constituency projects across the 10 local government areas that make up Osun Central Senatorial District.
“I want to develop Osun Central. I want to use Osun Central as a template that will show what I would have done were I to be in the executive,” Adegoke said.
He said such projects should be based on proper assessment of the needs of each local government, noting that some communities might require the rehabilitation of existing facilities rather than the construction of new ones.
“I will use my legislative position to now ensure that constituency projects will be constructed in all the 10 local governments and will take into consideration the needs of that particular local government,” he said.
Adegoke also stressed the importance of cooperation with other lawmakers and political actors, saying effective representation could not be achieved in isolation.
“I cannot work in isolation. I cannot go there without the guns of informing, no, no, no. I must acknowledge the place. The endless of a lot of knowledge, knowing that it must not display arrogance…” he said.
The SAN said political office should be approached with humility and an understanding that elected representatives were in government to serve the people.
He said political opponents could still work together when the objective was to improve society, stressing that political competition should not permanently prevent cooperation.
“We are supposed to work together to ensure the success of our society. I will reach out to my opponents to see how we can better the lot of our society. I’m not going to do it in isolation, so long as they are willing to cooperate with me,” he said.
Adegoke said the quality of political representation should ultimately be judged by the ability of elected officials to provide effective oversight, respond to the needs of their constituents and work with others for the development of society.
