24th April, 2015
Eromosele Ebhomele
Deputy Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Kolawole Taiwo, has said his major ambition was to reach the peak of legislative career in the state by becoming the Speaker of the House, but this dream was cut short by his defeat at the 11 April election.
Taiwo, the longest serving lawmaker at the House and who represents Ajeromi-Ifelodun Constituency 1 at the House, lost the election to the PDP candidate in the election, Bayo Famakinwa.
While reviewing the outcome of the election in Lagos State and his constituency, he said his defeat was painful but that he was taking it as an act of God.
He also said the election showed that he was not destined to be the Speaker of the House, but said his party, the All Progressives Congress, APC, must find out reasons why it was the non-natives who came out to vote while the Yoruba stayed indoors during the exercise.
Thanking his constituents for supporting him since 1999, he said: “I am the most indulged politician around. This was supposed to be my sixth election; I lost the first election in 1996 for the position of the Chairman of Ajeromi/Ifelodun Local Government.
“This is 2015, I won four elections consecutively. I thank them. Though it is painful because this happened when I had planned to get to the peak of my career but may be God doesn’t want it like that.
“I believe so much in God; it is only what God gives you what you have and you cannot grow more than your destiny. I have been Deputy Speaker, may be I am not destined to be Speaker and I don’t have grudge against anybody over that.
“I am from Ajegunle; it is not easy to climb the ladder to become the Majority Leader and later the Deputy Speaker for someone from that area.
“I got here in 1999 unsung and I have been listening to a lot of comments about what happened; everybody is not happy about it.”
He said even though it was painful that he lost, he thinks this is the best time to begin to live a normal life as he had been living an “abnormal life” since 1999 when he first became a lawmaker.
“I would wake up at the normal time, I would see anyone I want to see and I would be able to drive myself.
“As the Deputy Speaker, when people see me driving, they would say: ‘no, you shouldn’t be driving yourself’. But now I am free, it is good, though it is painful.”
On what he would miss about the Assembly, he said: “I will miss my office. My office has always been part of my life. I am a workaholic; I don’t party or do any other thing. I always live in my office.
“I wonder if I am not going to miss my way and come to this office after leaving. I will get another office; I have been trying to put one up.”
On the way forward, he said as a party man, he relied on his party leaders for his future.
“If they feel that I am still useful, they would call me. Our incoming Governor knows me; we have worked together in the past. If they need me, they will call me and even some people can talk on my behalf.
“What we need to do is to go back home and re-organise our party and look at the reasons we have lost this election. “If the non-indigenes are not voting for us, why is it that the Yorubas are not coming out to vote?” he asked.