On Thursday, July 31, 2025, the member representing Ibarapa Central and Ibarapa North Federal Constituency, Hon. (Dr.) Anthony Adebayo Adepoju, engaged a conscientious community activist who goes by the name Tawa Vlog on Facebook and Minister Ibi on TikTok.
In recent days, the concerned community member had extensively appealed to members of the political class and former political office holders via her social media pages, calling for an immediate solution to the prolonged power outage that has lasted over seven years in the five communities comprising Ibarapa Central and Ibarapa North Local Government Areas of Oyo State, namely: Igboora, Idere, Ayete, Tapa and Igangan.
According to Hon. Adepoju, his attention was drawn to several videos posted by the concerned constituent and he felt deeply responsible, prompting him to reach out to the individual to explain the efforts made so far concerning power supply in the constituency. In the conversation, Hon. Adepoju commended Tawa Vlog for using her platform for a right cause without any political undertones or selectivism.
The federal lawmaker expressed that he had gone through her modest campaign and acknowledged that every fortnight he visits home, he feels more pain seeing his community in darkness. He narrated his investigative motion on the floor of the Nigerian House of Representatives in October 2023, which aimed to thoroughly investigate and complete the abandoned New Abeokuta-Igboora/Lanlate/Igangan 132/33 KV Double Circuit Transmission Line project awarded in 2009 at the sum of one billion, nine hundred and thirty-four million, one hundred and twenty-nine thousand, four hundred and twenty-one naira, and two kobo (N1,934,129,421.02). He said the move was impressive in order for the Rural Electrification Agency to probe the projects, the disbursements, the completion stage and why the project had not been delivered beyond the June 2021 completion date and ensure the successful and timely delivery of the project in the Ibarapa Central, North and East Constituencies of Oyo State.
He stated that the efforts resulted in a significant improvement in the three sites where the projects are located, but still stalled due to paucity of funds.
Not just that, the lawmaker detailed his numerous visits to the Minister of Power, Chief Adebayo Adelabu and the Transmission Company of Nigeria (TCN), which led to positive funding allocations. He also mentioned his recent heated exchange with the Managing Director of the Ibadan Electricity Distribution Company (IBEDC) during a committee meeting on the floor of the House of Representatives in July this year when the Director claimed the company only gives light to communities where they are certain of getting their money back and making more profits. He said electricity is enjoyed in areas where there are companies while the host or neighbouring communities leverage that to have access to power. This led to a question, which was greeted with the loudest silence when the lawmaker quizzed the director to explain how he allocates the subsidy being paid by the federal government on light in Oyo State in respect to how each community in the state benefits. The heated conversation later resulted in a message of hope from the Director when the lawmaker disrupted the meeting that his community last saw electricity in the last decade.
The lawmaker explained to the concerned citizen how he ensured the inclusion of electric poles in the 2025 budget for the constituency, aiming to change all faulty electric poles from Eruwa to Igangan. He noted that the delay in the implementation of the 2025 budget by the federal government has prevented the work from commencing, urging everyone to verify his statement in the 2025 budget. Hon. Adepoju also mentioned that he had facilitated 12 transformers, of which only two have been delivered and installed, saying a monkey sweats, only that the hair on its body makes it less obvious. The lawmaker said the reason why the issue of electricity is this bad in the constituency is as a result of years of neglect and the attitude of everyone, which is not limited to the people in power alone, emphasising that no political officeholder is happy about the situation.
The lawmaker commended the concerned citizen for her advocacy, which aims to hold members of the political class accountable without any ulterior motive other than just to see a better community for everyone. He said he values the kind of advocacy adopted by Tawa Vlog. He also promised that the issue of power failure would soon be a thing of the past.
The concerned citizen, in her own words, expressed her satisfaction with the call made to her by the lawmaker; she commended him on his efforts and all he has done in both infrastructural and human capital development in the constituency. She prayed to God to grant the lawmaker the ability to continue to fight for the interests of the constituency at the federal level.
