The Iyaloja-General of Lagos, Chief Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, yesterday led a group of traders to the national secretariat of the All Progressives Congress (APC) to protest the non-inclusion of traders in the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration.
The Iyaloja, who is the daughter of the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, said though they were not politicians, traders worked for the APC’s success in the last general elections.
She said they were not in the secretariat to protest but to bare their minds.
“Traders are not partisan. We are not politicians and so, we are not mobilising against the party. Don’t get us wrong. The fact that I am the daughter of the national leader does not mean that I must not represent my people well.
“I have to represent my people’s opinion. I am a leader and as a leader, my people are crying foul and I will not fold my hands and keep quiet. That is wrong.
“I’m not mobilsing against the party because I am solidly behind the party. I have worked for the party before and I will work for the party again. But that cannot stop me from saying the truth.
“I am here this afternoon to represent Nigerian traders. There have been agitations and the people believe that the Federal Government is not carrying them along.
“We heard that the First Lady has a programme and we saw the news report. All the complaints come to my table daily and I said enough is enough.
“We even heard that one woman leader is organising another market association and most of these people are Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, who did nothing for our party. Our people are not happy because they need to benefit from where they believe they have invested.
“All we are saying is for the government to give us a sense of belonging. We want the government to help us with employment slot, hajj slot and Jerusalem slot.”