Epic battle looms in Lagos as Jandor grabs PDP gov ticket

…may square up with Sanwo-Olu in March 11, 2023 election

By AYOOLA OLAOLUWA

An epic battle is in the offing in Lagos State between the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), with the emergence of the Lead Visioner of Lagos4Lagos Movement, Dr Olajide Adediran (Jandor), as the PDP candidate for the 2023 governorship election in the state.

Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, was on Wednesday night declared the winner of the PDP’s governorship primary by the Chairman of the Lagos PDP Electoral Committee/Returning Officer, Mr Emmanuel Ogidi, after scoring 679 votes to defeat his only challenger, Mr. David Vaughan, who polled 20 votes.

Four contestants, including Otunba Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal, Mr Adedeji Doherty, Mr Ade Dosunmu and Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour had earlier in the day stepped down from the race.

The chairman of the Lagos PDP electoral committee, while noting that there were 775 ad-hoc delegates for the primaries, said only 709 were accredited for the election.

According to him, 10 votes were voided in the election. “The total number of accredited voters is 709, and Olajide Adediran got 679 votes, DAKOVA (David Kolawole Vaughan had 20 and we had 10 voided votes.

“Haven satisfied all the requirements in our guidelines, I want to announce Dr. Olajide Adediran as our candidate after scoring the highest votes of 679. He is hereby declared the winner and returned elected.”

In his victory speech, Adediran, who acknowledged the aspirants that stepped down for him and his contender, said he was ready to face the APC.

He pledged to sit with all aspirants and leaders of the party to tap from their wealth of knowledge and experience in a bid to win Lagos state for PDP.

Adediran, who applauded all the delegates for their trust in giving him the party’s ticket, promised to bring governance to the grassroots.

Also, Vaughan, who accepted defeat, said he vied for the ticket with a well mapped out strategy to transform Lagos state. He promised to support and back Adediran”s ambition.

Jandor, an Awori indigene from Badagry, had being at the forefront of wrestling power from the clutches of ‘settlers’ led by APC chieftain, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and giving it to sidelined indigenous Lagosians through his Lagos4Lagos movement.

His Lagos4Lagos group had unsuccessfully challenged Tinubu’s domination in Lagos politics from within the APC until their defection to the PDP in December 2021.

With Jando’s emergence as the PDP candidate in the March 11, 2023 governorship election, the stage is now set for an epic showdown between Jandor and the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who, barring a major shock, is expected to pick the APC ticket.

Sanwo-Olu is expected to easily walk over his two challengers, Olorunfemi Mustapha and Olawale Oluwo.

Meanwhile, the Mustapha4Lagos Agenda, a support group for the actualisation of the gubernatorial ambition of Mustapha, has accused the screening committee of the APC in Lagos State of ploy to disqualify the aspirant from taking part in the primary billed for Thursday (today).

The Coordinator, Mustapha4Lagos Agenda, Bukola Ogundipe, alleged that the plot to screen out Mustapha is being orchestrated by Governor Sanwo-Olu.

According to him, the governor had enlisted the support of some elements within the screening committee to perfect the plan.

“We have uncovered a plot to disqualify our aspirant from the race. They know that the only way they can stop Mustapha from getting the party ticket is to make sure he doesn’t participate in the primary. Let us forget about the noise they are making, he is the man to beat.

“We are very certain that their plot will not see the light of the day because Mustapha is clean and meets all the criteria required by the constitution of our party and the guidelines for the elections.

“As we speak, our lawyers have met with the leadership of our party in Abuja to make sure that this evil plot does not see the light of the day.

“The national body must step up and quash this evil plan. Sanwo-Olu has been throwing money around, spending billions to buy people, but this is about the future of our state.

“And the leadership of our party in Lagos knows that we can’t continue with the abysmal performance of the incumbent,” Ogundipe said.