15-Year-Old Haruna Suliat Emerges One-Day House of Representatives Member

Haruna Suliat Adeola, who is an SS3 student of Okedere High School, Idere, in Ibarapa Central Local Government Area of Oyo State, has emerged as a One-Day House of Representatives Member representing Ibarapa Central and Ibarapa North Federal Constituency in an intellectual competition organised by Hon. (Dr.) Anthony Adebayo Adepoju, the member representing the federal constituency in the Nigerian House of Representatives.

The well-attended event, which was held at the Igboora High School auditorium on Sunday, June 29, 2025, saw dignitaries from all walks of life in attendance.

According to a statement made available to newsmen in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital, on Monday, June 30, 2025, by Hassan Olaoniye, who is the spokesperson for Hon. Adepoju, Miss Haruna, a native of Idere, in Ibarapa Central, participated in the grand finale of the nationally celebrated initiative involving five finalists from the five principal communities comprising Ibarapa Central and Ibarapa North Federal Constituency, namely: Igboora, Idere, Ayete, Tapa and Igangan.

The highly competitive contest is spearheaded by Hon. Adepoju for over 2,700 SS3 public and private school students in the federal constituency, and it is geared towards engaging young minds with the aim of producing future legislators from the federal constituency; raising the hope of children of becoming successful irrespective of their socio-economic status; incorporating youth-driven initiatives that were previously sidelined and producing intellectually minded young leaders for the development of the constituency.

The competition usually starts with an Aptitude Test to select the best 50 students, 10 students in each community among the over 2,500 SS3 students who are eligible to participate, after which an Essay Writing Contest is conducted for the 50 students to select the overall best student to represent each of the five communities in the constituency at the final stage of the competition.

At the grand finale of the second edition of the competition held on Sunday, each of the finalists was tested on a series of questions ranging from Spelling Bee, Essay Writing and Quiz Competition comprising English Language, Mathematics, General Knowledge, and Public Speech Making, in which Haruna Suliat came first in all except the Speech Making Contest, where she came second.

In the competition, Haruna Suliat from Okedere High School, Idere came first, Amoo Ibrahim from Hopecrest College, Igboora emerged first runner-up, Olusegun Victor from Angels Height College, Ayete, Kolawole Sofiyat from Angels Height College, Ayete and Olagbenro Tosin from Royal Diadem College, Igangan emerged second, third and fourth runners-up respectively.

The benefits that the winner of the competition usually enjoys include: Free return flights for the winner and his/her parents from Lagos to the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja; a two-day free accommodation and feeding in the FCT; a Certificate indicating one-day lawmaker status as a teenager; sitting on the official chair of the House of Representatives member representing Ibarapa Central/North Federal Constituency for one day with access to a green pen to decide for constituents in Ibarapa Central and Ibarapa North; witnessing the plenary of the House of Representatives live; meeting the Speaker of the House of Representatives and other distinguished lawmakers from different constituencies and senatorial districts of the federation; and having practical knowledge of legislation through the Senior Legislative Aide (SLA) to Hon. (Dr.) Anthony Adebayo Adepoju, among others.

The maiden edition of the initiative was held last year, where the then 16-year-old Miss Peace Oluwaseyi Oladosu, a native of Idere in Ibarapa Central, was recognised during the plenary session of the Nigerian House of Representatives by Rt. Hon. Tajudeen Abass, PhD, becoming the first One-Day House of Representatives Member since the inception of democracy in 1999.

Hassan Adesodi Olaoniye
Special Adviser to Hon. (Dr.) Adebayo Adepoju
(Media and Publicity)
June 30, 2025