Sometime in 2016, as I was approaching 30 years of age, I had a deep conversation with myself. I told myself that if we truly desire a good country, we cannot remain spectators, we must get involved in the political and electoral process.
That conviction pushed me to indicate interest in contesting for the House of Representatives in Ijesa North. Many people discouraged me. They said it would require huge money to confront the “Rich Boy,” Wole Oke, on the seat. I listened carefully, but I told my team, “Gentlemen, we will mobilize.”
We moved from street to street, community to community. We held meetings under trees, in living rooms, in town halls, markets, and every available space. It was aggressive, not normal politics. It felt like our usual students’ movement days. It was intense, ideological, relentless, yet organic and real.
By 2018, we had become a force. Our presence was no longer ignorable. I had written 143 articles on social media, granted 37 interviews, and was active in 82 WhatsApp groups with different audiences. The movement was loud, not so coordinated, but focused.
It became so intense that Wole Oke allegedly sponsored accusations that I was being funded by Femi Gbajabiamila to truncate his Speakership ambition.
At that point, Wole Oke began to plead. He did not want a primary election. After several political tensions and engagements, a meeting was eventually arranged for dialogue and negotiation.
The meeting was convened at the private residence of Prince Diran Odeyemi at Aerodrome Estate, Ibadan, with political leaders of Ijesa North. Hon. Areola, the Professor of Politics, had to personally plead with me to come to Ibadan for the meeting.
It was late in the night. Present were Late Adagunodo, Prince Diran Odeyemi, Hon. Areola, Prince Ogungbangbe, Wole Oke and myself.
I sat, looking straight into his eyes, even though he could not sit still for five minutes at a stretch. He looked tired. Weak, even. He started drinking alcohol. Less than an hour into the meeting, he was visibly intoxicated and staggering. Those who know him understand that alcohol affects him emotionally.
Then came his pitch. In a tone that was patronizing, and boastful all at once, he told me I was like his younger brother. He said God had already blessed him and that he lacked nothing. He told me I should come with him to Abuja and see, that he could put me in charge of one of his companies and that I would run all the constituency project contracts with him.
“Pelumi, I have money. I have made real money, I have Rollsroys, Bentley. I have Private Jet. My boy, I have cash. I don’t have problem.” Just join me and see for yourself, you will handle the business and I will just be traveling.
I smiled. Then he mentioned the names. “I will put you in charge of MC AREMO… or is it MUKUSMUKUS? You will just be making money.” Well, that was the first time I ever hearing those company names, very funny names.
He was talking too much that night, perhaps because he was drunk. I respectfully declined and told him there was no need for all that.
Suddenly, he switched. He began attacking Ogungbangbe and Late Adagunodo, accusing them of giving me an opportunity and introducing me into the process. He said they had brought this “trouble” upon him.
In the presence of everyone, I told him not to worry. We were in the same political party. He was free to run. I did not need anything. That night ended. But the memory of that conversation stayed with me.
Fast forward to September 2023. A civil society organization, Tracka, which I followed, posted on social media that a contract had been awarded to MC AREMO to renovate schools in Obokun Local Government, yet more than a year later, the work had not been done.
The name immediately rang a bell. I went straight to my diary, where I had documented everything Wole Oke said that night. I searched CAC and saw the details of the Shareholders and Directors, I profiled them all within the proper legal scrutiny. I traced their work and activities for past 20 years and connected the dots.
I started tracing contracts awarded in Oriade/Obokun to MC AREMO and examining how those projects were being executed, or not executed, for our people.
Each time we found ourselves together in Abuja and I tried to ask how the constituency projects were going, he would say he is doing everything with his private money, that government is broke. He would say he was expecting money from some of his private businesses so that he can help more. He would talk about helping some people “on his neck” and how he wanted to renovate a particular palace with his personal money.
On many occasions when we were together, I made sure I paid the bills for our outings. I even gave him cash at times for his enjoyment. I did so deliberately because I never wanted to hear any future narrative about how we spent money together.
And I have proof of that.
Looking back, that late-night meeting at Aerodrome Estate was not just a political negotiation. It was an introduction to MC AREMO and MUKUSMUKUS.
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