Hon Temitope Olatoye, famously known as Sugar, who represents Lagelu/Akinleye constituency of Oyo State in the federal House of Representatives, was making the journey from his village after casting his vote in the governorship election of Saturday, March 9, 2019, when unknown gunmen ambushed him and assailed him with a hail of bullets.
One bullet was lodged in his head from pointblank range, leaving him fatally wounded.
Olatoye, who was gunned down in Elesu village, Lalupon, Lagelu, was immediately rushed to the Accident and Emergency ward of the University College Hospital in Ibadan by his supporters, before being moved to the Intensive Care Unit, where doctors battled to save his life.
At about 7:45pm of the same day, Olatoye was declared dead by doctors.
In October 2018, at the plenary of the House of Representatives, the lawmaker representing Akinyele/Lagelu federal constituency of Oyo State, Hon. (Dr) Olatoye Temitope Sugar, officially defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Action Democratic Party (ADP). A letter addressed to the Speaker of the hallowed chamber, Rt. Hon. Yakubu Dogara, and dated 4th of October, 2019 made Sugar’s stance known.
According to Dr. Olatunde Amusat, the Senior Special Adviser to Hon. Olatoye Temitope Sugar on Strategy & Public Communication, the lawmaker expressed his utmost displeasure with respect to high-handedness of leaders of APC across the state, which had caused landmark divisions within the rank and file of the party in the state.
Perhaps, Hon Sugar was compelled to have broken the number one rule in the book “Laws of Power” written by the legendary Robert Green, which says: “Never outshine the master”, but there’s an exigent need to put the power that be on notice by today’s declaration that the 2019 struggle for the political soul of the pacesetter state is between the established Selectorate/Gatekeepers, who are unwilling to give up their illegitimate hold on the levers of power to the detriment of suppressed, but patriotic and downtrodden Electorate.
The Push and Pull variables are at play in our dear Oyo state and loose wires seemed to have connected at last. It is necessary to set the record straight that Hon. Olatoye Sugar is not a test tube baby at anybody’s political laboratory, who could be tossed around against the wishes of the generality of the people with whom electoral powers actually resides.
The generosity of Hon. Sugar’s loyalty, dedication and commitment to worthy causes of the APC have long been abused with reckless abandon and ineptitude against the voices of the masses whom he represents. As a Federal Representative in the last three and a half years, he has demonstrated that, the general good of the majority of the people should not be sacrificed on the altar of sentimentality and inordinate ambition of a few, but by the collective will of the majority which is the foundational frameworks of a modern democracy.
In the words of Albert Einstein, “The world is not dangerous because of those who so harm, but because of those who look at it without doing anything”.
Hon. Sugar through a well articulated consultations with constituents and adherent of core values of integrity, honesty, transparency, rule of law and the dictates of modern democracy within and beyond his constituency, therefore, decided to migrate from the shrine of intimidation and fear to the altar of political liberation anchored on the Omoluabi values.
The time is now when the Bolshevik (majority ) in Oyo State should have their way while the Menshevik (minority) should only have their say as against the erroneous status quo.
In the words of Hon Olatoye Sugar, “In all honesty, I cannot continue to patronize a political party where it’s leadership has deliberately programmed others to be politically anonymous and estranged having worked tirelessly and identified with the masses driven by our direct positive impacts on the socio-economic wellbeing of our people and my conscience will not permit me to sacrifice principles for expediency. I have given substance to true meaning of selfless service for my constituents and beyond”.
To the established Selectorates, Hon Olatoye Sugar’s senatorial aspiration was inconceivable and a political alienation, but we need to put them on notice that this aspiration has become a fait accompli and inevitable mission being the collective will of people’s interest as a stance against the selectorates’ imperialism and holistic commitment towards achieving total liberation.
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