Met at informal space, he would easily be bypassed and, in fact, snubbed because of his anonymous disposition. Yet, he is the Speaker, the Osun State Eighth House of Assembly. He is Honourable Adewale Egbedun, who is representing Odo Otin Constituency in Osun Central.
The 38-year old was elected unanimously at the inauguration of the legislative house in June, and is already justifying the reason he is tagged a round peg in a round hole with his sparkling showings both on his elevated seat of law and outside the Assembly.
Shortly after he had assumed his exalted office, he surprisingly showed a heart of kindness to a suspect, out to destroy his public image and, by extention, his political career.
Also, on August 11, 2023, while returning from a trip to Ayedire Local Government of the state, his convoy ran into victims of police condemnable act of harrasment to extort helpless road users.
Rather than turning a blind eye to the save-our-soul alert by the stranded motorists and standing on security reasons, Egbedun ordered his convoy to pull over at the scene, after which he boldly engaged the policemen in a brief interrogation, which resulted in his recovery of a sum of N25, 000 illegally collected from their prey.
He recalled, “I was stopped and as a public servant who had sworn an oath to protect the sanctity of the Nigerian Constitution which values protection of life and property, I must stop.”
That odd act earned him a rapturous ovation, especially on social media, with respondents branding him a model of a new, responsible leadership the nation needs to break the seemingly leadership jinx since independence.
Although Egbedun had a taste of contest for the House of Assembly election for the first time this year, his political discretion in flying the flag of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is regarded as a stepping stone for his bright, promising future in Osun State and Nigeria as a whole, on the strength of his age, energy, acumen and exposure.
The speaker traced his political root to 2016 after he had returned to Nigeria from his sojourn across the Atlantic and held a talk with a senior politician, a former speaker of the state House of Assembly in the administration of Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola between 2003 and 2010.
Egbedun affirmed, “I met Rt. Hon. Adejare Bello, and in one of our discussions one day, he advised that if I want to develop my town, Asi in Odo Otin Local Government, I should join politics. He said my finances won’t be enough to develop the town but there are benefits I could influence if I’m in politics. So, he introduced me to someone Lekan Oyediran who introduced PDP (Peoples Democratic Party) to me.”
Armed with that guide, it took him no time to join the Adekeke political dynasty, stuck to the alliance and picked vital tutorials, consequent upon which he enjoyed unalloyed support of the dynasty to emerge the speaker.
By the virtue of his status, he is a member of the Caretaker Committee of the Conference of Speakers and enjoying a cordial relationship with his fellow speakers.
Aside that he also works in harmony with all members of the Osun State House of Assembly, he relates with the executive branch of government on friendly terms without compromising or undermining his constitutional obligations as an independent arm of government.
Egbedun, as a matter of principle, doesn’t believe in a rancourous relationship between the legislative and executive, despite the fact that he understands the principle of check and balance as promoted by the doctrine of the Separation of Power propounded by the18th Century French philosopher, Montesquieu.
The speaker sees Governor Ademola Adeleke as a father, with whom he is pleased by his transparent style of administration since November 27, 2022 of Adeleke’s inauguration.
“The Governor is my leader and a father, our relationship is cordial and I have been using it to the advantage of the development of the state,” he submitted and added that he looks forward to setting “an unprecedented legislative standard for the state.”
TheTabloid.net gathered that Egbedun attended Taoheed Nursery/Primary School Offa in 1989. Then, Offa Grammar School in 1996 for his Junior Secondary education. Then, the Federal Polytechnic, Offa Staff Secondary School in 1999 for his Senior Secondary Education, from where he sat for the Senior School Certificate in Education.
He headed to the University of East London, where he obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Business Information Systems in 2015.
He started work on his father’s farm shortly after he died. Later, he ventured into car business with a UK-based friend. His thirst for exploration turned him to a building contractor, a line influenced by an elderly architect friend.
He became a licensed agent with Emaar Properties when he travelled to Dubai before he founded his own construction company called Savis Construction Limited.
Rigour of his schedule has not totally robbed him his relaxation hours, especially most often in the evening hours after the day job, except for weekends when he is out of the state.
He plays Lawn tennis. He is a member of the Osun Civil Service Club and IBB Golf Club in Abuja.
Egbedun: Baby face, soldier heart
The sterling performance of the Rt. Honourable Hon Adewale Egbedun, within the short term of his assumption of office as the Speaker of the Osun State House of Assembly, must have left his traducers, if any again, in shock and dumb disbelief.
The 38-year old number three Citizen of Osun State has significantly performed beyond the expectations. His cult of friends who saw good energy in him and stood their ground to rally support for his ambition, must be very proud of him.
The prime supporter of the Speaker was Governor Ademola Adeleke but that did not prevent the horse trading that characterized the race to his Speakership. The innocent young man was called all manners of names and wicked unsubstantiated lies told to stain his name. Alas, all is now falling flat. Thanks to the majority members of the parliament who saw beyond the plots of naysayers and elected Egbedun.
Some of the foes called him a baby candidate and dismissed that he would only be a rubber stamp and figure head Speaker. But that has not happened in the hallowed chamber so far.
Begining from the eloquent manner in which house businesses are being conducted under him, to his effort at bringing in investors from the private world, to the mutual synergy he has birthed among the member states parliament with Osun State, especially across the Southwest neighbours, and to his famous and viral global video of alleged police culprits who were extorting the public on duty where he nabbed them and ensured justice was served, to his open agitation in the party on the need to entrench deep local participation in the choices of those to be appointed, and then the House of Assembly intervention to get value for public investments on the prompt and diligent approach of the parliament when the served a summon notice on Peculiar Concerns Construction Company sometimes ago, even the greatest critic will say that Honourable Adewale Egbedun has been wonderful in the discharge of his duty.
He has treated every executive request with the express dispatch attention that they deserve without compromising on independence of the House and above all the legality of processes. To his credit, approval was given to His Excellency to form the cabinet after all the checks and scrutiny. We now have in place too, a fully constituted local government structures in line with the executive vision.
Above all, what impressed me and informed my decision to rent the air again for the first time after the Speaker emerged is the decision by the House of Assembly to address the concerns and plight of the Osun workers relating to the issue of the ongoing necessary staff auditing of the workforce.
Public have been inundated with repeated complaints against the consultant handling the audit. I have had to personally reach out to our top government functionaries on specific lapses on the part of the woman consultant which were nipped in the bud to allow for peaceful audit exercise.
However, the matter continued to rear its head until the House of Assembly swiftly came in. This is explaining the respect that the administration of Senator Ademola Jackson Nurudeen Adeleke has for the workers and the prompt top notch that the administration is giving to matters that directly affect our workers in the state.
It is important to again echo that there is no controversy about the necessity of a staff audit as being carried out by the executive. It is for the good of the workers at the long run.
However, because of the special premium that the government places on the workers, their dignity has to be protected. And this is why the decision of the parliament to suspend the staff auditing exercise with immediate effect, while all the stakeholders are brought on board, including the consultant to fashion out the best way to round off the staff auditing, is crucial at this time and commendable too.
If nothing else, it is apparent that the executive has given other arms of government the opportunity to independently function. This is to the credit of His Excellency and indeed the leadership. The people now can attest to the fact that we have a House of Assembly that will not compromise, yet will not behave in affront.
In Osun State, love, peace and unity reign supreme, and these are what is engendering the developments being recorded and the positive image and brand being achieved under IMOLE. The naysayers have nothing to attack, and business of criticism is not flourishing, except from a few black agents who may be doing so for commercial objectives.
Unfortunately, the masses do not care about them; instead, they trust and believe the government they put in place because honesty and transparency have remained our watchword.
I am personally proud of Mr Speaker’s dexterity and performance so far. We do not regret our past support for him at all. The workers are happy because of the decision by the House of Assembly. This Government is workers’ truest friend.
Akintunde Bello Sheriff ABS Is Senior Special Assistant – SSA For the Bureau of Social Services (BOSS) Under The Bureau of General Services, Office of the Governor, Osun State.
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