In Ibokun, the headquarters of Obokun Local Government, community leaders, youth groups and women’s leaders gathered on Friday with a message for the man who has represented them in Abuja since 2003: it is time for a change.
Stakeholders from all 10 wards of the local government said they had unanimously endorsed lawyer Pelumi Olajengbesi as their preferred candidate for the Obokun/Oriade Federal Constituency seat in the 2027 general elections. Olajengbesi is the Accord Party’s candidate, and he is seeking to unseat the APC’s Wole Oke, who has held the seat for 24 years.
Speaking for the elders and youths, Hon. Mayowa Adejorin, a respected political leader in the local government, said Obokun could no longer stay in “political darkness” while a small cabal diverts public resources. He complained that the area has almost no federal presence, and he praised Olajengbesi for touring the constituency to see the poor roads and abandoned federal projects for himself. Adejorin blamed the abandonment on a lack of legislative oversight.
“We have adopted him as our son,” Adejorin said. “We must all support, canvass and vote for him.”
Mrs. Eniola Omotosho spoke for the women. She said small-scale women traders get little support and claimed that Olajengbesi has been empowering women even before the election. “He is not coming to learn, he is coming to work,” she said.
Civil society leader Comrade Ajayi Dotun made the most personal appeal, speaking for young people who feel left behind. “Hon. Wole Oke has been in the House of Reps since I was in Junior Secondary School,” he said. “I have graduated, I am now married with children, yet he is still there.” Dotun said that after two decades in office the lawmaker has little to show in projects, and that “the youth must take over.”
Olajengbesi, who was visibly emotional, said the endorsement belonged to the community’s children rather than to him. He described it as a mandate to “Rescue, Restore and Reset” Obokun/Oriade. He promised to be a home-based legislator rather than an “Abuja representative,” and he shared plans on youth empowerment, women’s inclusion and effective lawmaking.
The statement was issued by Sodiq Lawal Chocomilo, spokesperson of the Pelumi Olajengbesi Campaign Organization (POCO). The claims about Oke’s record are the endorsers’ and the campaign’s own, and Oke had not responded at the time of writing.
The two men have a history. Olajengbesi was the spokesperson for Governor Ademola Adeleke’s campaign council. He has cited the 2026 Osun governorship results in the constituency, arguing that Accord edged out the APC there by 2,383 votes and that Oke is not unbeatable. He has also said Oke earlier asked him and other leaders to allow one final term, promising to back Olajengbesi in 2027, and that Oke went back on that. There is no response from Oke on this in the reports I found. Olajengbesi also contested the same seat in 2019.
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