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Since after the general elections of last year, the trending damaging news, all over Oshodi local government, where I contested for House of Representatives election, is that I sold that my victory mandate to Hon. Bashiru Dawodu of APC, the man INEC declared the winner, for 100 million naira.
That is what many of the community people; supporters and most electorate, who voted for me in that election, believe happened up till now.
The social accusation is that I was paid 100 million naira to give up the reclamation of the mandate.
Well, up till now, I still do not know where the source of that fake news emanated from, but all the same, I want to say that there is nothing like that, and I challenge Hon. Bashiru Dawodu himself to come out and tell the public, if I even met and sat with him physically for once, before and after the election, let alone, receive such an amount of money from him.
Or, I challenge anybody within APC in Oshodi/Isolo and beyond, to come out publicly with the evidence of such payment.
I can swear with anything I hold dear, that I, Olukayode Salako, did not collect 10 kobo from Hon. Bashiru Dawodu, or ever sit down with him to even talk about anything like that for once.
Or, neither have I ever even talked to him on phone, despite the fact that he is someone I know personally.
Yes! It is believed I won that election by all and sundry, including my own INEC sources, and party officials, present inside that collation centre that night.
My INEC source called me around 2 am that night, and said Hon. Salako you are the winner, but they don’t want us to declare you the winner.
INEC itself even published it on its official website that Labour Party, my party then, won the election, but before morning of that day, the candidate, who was believed to have come third, was declared the winner.
The results my party agents brought back from the field on the day of the election showed clearly that I won.
I met with Muyiwa Owadara, the candidate of the PDP in the election, he didn’t only tell me that I won the election, he showed me the results of all the parties, who participated in the election, the agents of his party collated from the field as well.
The results showed I won with more than 8,000 votes.
Initially, when the news that I sold my mandate was flying around, I didn’t want to dignify the situation with any rebuttal response.
I didn’t think it was necessary for my official response, until I realise the damage it has been doing to my name, personality and socio-political reputation.
Bashiru Dawodu and I were leaders in the same party, APC in Oshodi, before I left in 2021 to try my luck in Labour Party.
We know each other, but there was no time the issue of collecting money from him to compromise the integrity of my mandate ever happened.
All my political associates and people, who are close to me within the constituency know the truth about it, and they are convinced Olukayode Salako, did not collect such kind of money.
In conclusion, I repeat, I did not collect anything from anybody, or anywhere to give up my mandate.
I decided not to go to the election tribunal for my own personal reason.
And the substance of that reason has been communicated expressly in all relevant quarters socially.
Above all, as I keep saying, the main reason Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of Labour Party in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria, went to the tribunal, and didn’t come back with anything, is the same reason my lawyers advised me not to bother myself, going there to drag anything with the man INEC deliberately gave my certificate of returns to.
I hope this communique will assist to address any erroneous believe about the accusation that I was paid not to pursue the reclamation of my mandate at the election tribunal.
On that note, I want to, for the umpteenth time, use this opportunity to thank everybody in the community, who worked on my election campaign project; supported me in one way of the other, and voted for me to be the man, who would be elected to represent the constitution in the 10th National Assembly last year.
We won the election, but lost the mandate, and my believe is that, while there is life, there would always be hope of another gracious time to try again.
And, by God’s grace, I would always be around in politics to try again and again.
I am a personality that is well know by almost everybody in Oshodi constituency 1 and around the state.
I am popular for good social acceptance and agelong reputation.
Please, discard the news that I collected anything from anybody.
It is fake news, and there is no truth in it.
