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  • Sanwo-Olu, Agbaje throw jabs at Lagos forum

    Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Mr Jimi Agbaje, yesterday differed on infrastructure, health and other issues critical to  the development of the state.

    The candidates spoke during the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Private Sector Interactive Forum with governorship candidates in Lagos.

    Addressing issues of traffic and transport management, Sanwo-Olu said that government was a continuum and vowed  to continue all projects started by his predecessor for the benefit of citizens.

    He said that his plan for traffic was holistic, from road repairs and construction to opening up more means of transportation through waterways and rail, to training and empowerment of traffic officials.

    “For years during the PDP rule, we asked the Federal Government for access to the existing railway corridor, but it was denied. This led us to create the Blue line railway from Okokomaiko to CMS.

    “We need to complete the track because Lagos needs a transportation system outside roads that can move thousands of people daily,” he said.

    Responding, Agbaje said that for 20 years of APC governance in the state, residents were still grappling with traffic congestion; especially issues with trailers parked on bridges along Costain to Apapa.

    “Lagos is one of the two mega-cities of the world that does not have a multi-modal transportation system. It is time we start thinking of multi tiered roads; the world is moving, we cannot afford to be different.

    “The rail project has been on for too long. We need to have big ideas to address problems that are peculiar to Lagos.

    “The way things are presently is not sustainable and it has failed to deliver the sort of impact in the lives of ordinary citizens that should be expected from an economy of Lagos’ magnitude,” he said.

    Agbaje said that the sort of development that Lagos requires should be anchored on improving liveability, expanding the economy and retooling it for the 21st century.

    Sanwo-Olu promised to take the state away from the national grid.

    He said that within   six months of his assumption  of office, he  would deliver about 1000 Megawatts of power supply to the State.

    He said with about 2000 Megawatt of consistent power supply, the power needs of Lagosians would be solved.

    Sanwo Olu  said that  a well thought out regulatory and legal framework is strategic to drive Public Private Partnership (PPP) operations in the State, stressing that when elected, he would deploy global best practices in the engagement of the OPS.

    He said that he would partner with distribution companies to ensure they upscale their power supply to the state, noting that prepaid meters would be provided to residents to ensure accountability and transparency.

    However, Agbaje said he would improve power by 1000 megawatts within his first 18 months, and encourage investment in embedded power projects toward enhancing power supply.

    Speaking on health, Sanwo-Olu noted that the Lagos Health Insurance Scheme would ensure access to affordable healthcare and help build a health care structure to be proud of.

    On his part,Agbaje criticised the present Health Insurance Scheme, saying making it mandatory was another form of taxation that has been making life difficult for the masses.

    He said his administration would have significant developments in health, waste management, education, transportation management and in making use of technology to solve problems.

    Agbaje promised to develop “an ocean economy” and a knowledge driven economy” to enhance the economic well-being of the state and its citizens.

    Besides, Sanwo-olu said that his administration would be innovative about Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) in a way that would not exert pressure on the citizens.

    He noted that the private sector remains the engine of economic growth and would continue to create an environment for the private sector to thrive in the state.

    “As a former Commissioner for Commerce & Industry in Lagos, I know that proper collaboration with the private sector leads to more job creation, improved industrial harmony and boosts investment,” Sanwo-Olu said.

    Mr Babatunde Ruwase, President of LCCI, said that engaging the candidates would give exposition that would guide the private sector’s electoral choice.

    He said that the quality of political governance has profound implications for investment environment.

    Ruwase said without a conducive business environment, there cannot be meaningful economic progress.

  • Lagos not in bondage, Razak tells Agbaje, others

    A member of the Lagos State Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), Chief Lanre Razak, has dismissed as diversionary and cheap blackmail a recent claim by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr. Jimmy Agbaje, that the state is under the firm grip of a political godfather from whom Lagosians must be liberated.

    Rather than resort to name-calling and primordial sentiments, Razak challenged Agbaje to focus on issues-based campaign.

    He said doing otherwise would not give him victory at the poll.

    The former Commissioner for Public Transportation noted that other political parties jostling to upstage the All Progressives Congress (APC) were only envious of the state’s strong economic and financial base and not genuinely committed to providing good governance to the people.

    Razak, a chieftain of the ruling partty, said Lagosians and Nigerians would fare better if they elect Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the party’s governorship candidate and President Muhammadu Buhari in the forthcoming polls.

    He hailed President Buhari for appointing former governor of Lagos State and APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, as co-chairman of the party’s Presidential Campaign Council, adding that the body has the capacity to ensure total victory for APC candidates in this year’s general elections.

    Razak had made a strong case for Asiwaju Tinubu’s appointment to chair the council.

    Addressing reporters at a party he hosted in Epe for members of the APC from Lagos East Senatorial District, the APC chieftain noted that Asiwaju Tinubu is eminently qualified for the position because he has built a “successful political structure that is second to none, not only in Lagos State but in the entire country, since the return to civilian rule in 1999”.

  • Agbaje and ‘freedom fighting’ ambiguity

    Lagos State All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain Sesan Daini criticises the claim by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, that Lagosians are under boundage under the ruling party.

    Martin Luther king Jr once posited that “nothing in the world is more dangerous than sincere ignorance and conscientious stupidity”. Being sincerely disposed to error is excusable, but activating ignorance and making deliberate attempt to walk a population of 26 million people into the proponent’s political frenzy is not acceptable in Lagos State of today.

    What is freedom? Except the Oxford English Dictionary is wrong, freedom means the state of having free will; the power or right to act, speak or think freely. It therefore, simply means that, if Mr Jimi Agbaje portrays Lagosians as 21st century citizens and indigenes as having deficiency of free will and lacking the power or right to act, speak or even think freely, then, we can see obviously what Mr Agbaje thinks about an average Lagosian – a person with no rights whatsoever.

    Moving away from core issues and riding on emotional chagrin, Mr Agbaje goofed when he portrayed Lagosians as lacking political and democratic freedom. First, it must be noted that democracy is a game of number anywhere in the world. At a point in this country, the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) was the ruling party by majority decision of Nigerians; today, it is the All Progressives Congress. Also, states have been won and lost by both parties as reflection of the freedom Nigerians enjoy to make choices in the political space. Lagos is not different. One Permanent Voters’ Card is equal to one vote, and that Lagosians have continuously preferred the APC government based on conviction on the party’s ability to deliver good governance does not translate to lack of freedom whatsoever.

    In APC’s Lagos State that gives no political and democratic freedom to Lagosians in the context of Mr Agbaje’s definition of freedom, six federal constituencies and six state constituencies were won by the PDP candidates in the 2015 general election. Three out of these 12 seats are currently being occupied by Lagosians of Igbo descent.  The longest serving Publicity Secretary of the party and longest serving Commissioner of Finance are both of non-Yoruba ethnic origin.

    Mr Agbaje’s attempt to launder his political deficit on the threshold of freedom fighting is not a goal. Also, claiming to wash Lagos financial mess under the APC is like wearing a fragrance to perfume shop to impress the owner. On two occasions that Mr Agbaje has contested to become Governor of Lagos State, his main financials were host of popular names on the looters’ directory who were members of the PDP and have participated in mindless looting of our national treasury.

    The reign of PDP saw needless blockade of developmental strives such as independent power plan project, creation of additional 37 Local Governments, repair of Federal Government roads under concessional plans, harmonisation of state traffic enforcement agency to provide assistance to Federal Government’s on federal roads within Lagos and lots more. All these anti-development policies were firmly supported by Agbaje in his several utterances on the matters. In fact, he supported the freezing of Lagos State allocations from federation account for three years during Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s administration. At a point, Agbaje, the proponent of mischievous freedom agenda, threatened Lagosians and the entire Yoruba race that Nigeria would explode should PDP lose Lagos State and Presidency in the 2015 general election. According to him, “Niger Delta militants would unleash terror”, which indeed came to pass before they were curbed at the inception of President Muhammadu Buhari’s government in 2015.

    PDP is a party badly damaged leaving no trusted person of integrity as member till date – that is the platform Jimi Agbaje has been running and considers best for the good people of Lagos State.

    On economic freedom, only three per cent of the State’s population have their wealth affiliated with earnings around politics and governance as active party members or serving political appointees; the rest 97 per cent are out there succeeding as industrialists, entrepreneurs, career personnel and creative talents. Lagos State is a place where someone with two pairs of shirts and trousers can become a billionaire in another one year due to enormous opportunities and freedom that are abound. No single person is capable of controlling Lagos State’s economy to himself because it is vast, diverse and limitless under a competitive economic atmosphere.

    Agbaje’s attempt to divide Lagsosians along emotional line and drag them into campaign of denigration under the guise of freedom advocacy is a ruse, unpopular, uninteresting and does not represent a clear, unambiguous manifestoes for ensuring a greater Lagos, which Agbaje’s has failed to concentrate his efforts on but which APC’s Babajide Sanwo-Olu is critically addressing.

    I don’t see Lagosians trading their peace, continuity, steady development and unity they enjoy for any flimsy coax. That Agbaje thinks Lagosians lack free will, the power or right to act, speak or think freely is the biggest insult to an environment that would have been the fifth largest economy in Africa if it were to stand as a country. Agbaje is tactically misrepresenting thoughts of Lagosians, dismantling their intelligence base, reducing them to C class citizens akin to a war torn societies around the world.

    Undoubtedly, Mr Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu has, in his brief media appearances, demonstrated proficiency and ability to take Lagos to a greater level given his vast knowledge for 13 years.

     

     

     

  • Lagos Accord Party denies endorsing Agbaje

    The Lagos State chapter of the Accord Party, has denied endorsing the Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Jimi Agbaje.

    Lanre Ogundare, Secretary of the party who spoke during a press conference, said the Accord Party does not have any form of understanding or pact with Mr. Jimi Agbaje of PDP .

    His words: “As a political party that has attained the role of main opposition in the state After careful consideration and consultation, we (Accord) have thrown our support behind the APC in Lagos State and it’s candidate in the 2019 general election in person of Mr Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu and Dr. Femi Hamzat respectively.”

    Read also: Accord governorship candidate steps down as party adopts Agbaje

    “To set the records straight, we (ACCORD) and other 44 Political Parties endorsed the candidature of Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu on the 3rd of November 2018. If the aggrieved and disgruntled APC member so wish to join the bad wagon of Peoples Democratic Party PDP Lagos they are free to do so but not to drag Accord into the show of shame to seek political relevance”

  • We will beat PDP, Agbaje roundly in 2019, says Sanwo-Olu

    The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said the party will defeat the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, in next year’s general elections.

    Speaking to a large crowd of party leaders and members during a stakeholders’ meeting at the party’s secretariat on Acme Road in Ogba, Ikeja, the state capital, the APC candidate maintained that it would be foolhardy for anyone who thinks Lagosians “who are in bondage” will vote from them.

    “How can someone be talking about freedom in Lagos?” Sanwo-Olu asked.

    He added: “Are we in the 18th or 19th century when slavery was the order of the day? Lagos has always been free. The state is the fifth largest economy in Africa, the cynosure and envy of all other states across Nigeria. It is the bedrock of the nation’s economy, where everyone who is enterprising records success without any form of hindrance.

    “It is obvious that Jimi Agbaje and indeed the PDP do not have anything to say; so, they had to resort to freedom. This won’t fly; it won’t sell. Lagosians will not buy it.”

    Read also: One soldier dead as troops kill four Boko Haram terrorists

    Amidst cheers from the teeming APC supporters, Sanwo-Olu queried the role of Agbaje as a candidate and PDP as a party had played in the development of Lagos State.

    He said it was the same freedom that Agbaje clamoured for that had made him run for governorship three times in a row.

    Sanwo-Olu said: “We have freedom here in Lagos and that is why someone like Jimi Agbaje can aspire to govern the state three consecutive times. Although he has failed in all two attempts, I can guarantee you that he will fail this time around because Lagosians don’t trust him or his party, the PDP.

    “Where were they several years ago when our leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in concert with other members of the State Executive Council (Exco), toiled day and night to revamp Lagos economy from paltry N600 million monthly Internally Generated Revenue (IGR), which could not pay Lagos State workers’ salary, to over N30 billion.”

  • Agbaje shouldn’t experiment with Lagos, says Razak

    A one-time Lagos State Commissioner for Public Transportation, Chief Lanre Razak, has urged the electorate to prevent the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Mr Jimmy Agbaje, from using the state for a political experiment to realise his ambition.

    He said Lagos State, the nation’s economic nerve centre with a mega city, should be governed by an experienced technocrat and financial expert, like the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to consolidate the solid socio-economic foundation laid by former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu and his successors.

    The APC leader in Epe Division insisted that the election of Sanwo-Olu in 2019 will not only ensure continuity in government policies and programmes but will also put the state on the path of sustainable growth and development.

    In a statement at the weekend in Lagos, Razak urged Lagosians not to vote for Agbaje, saying his only credential is being a pharmacist but without past experience in public service.

    The former commissioner noted that Sanwo-Olu has been part of the good governance narrative in the state since May 29, 1999.

    The statement reads: “Sanwo-Olu is the best option for Lagosians. Mr. Agbaje is a pharmacist and he established his pharmacy business in the last 20 years. If he could not expand his business beyond one shop during this period, I don’t think we should entrust a complex state like Lagos in the hands of such a man. We must look at the antecedent of a man who we are giving enormous responsibility to handle.

    “The APC candidate should be given the mandate for the party to continue to govern Lagos, given the good performance of its past governors. There should be no trial and error, and Lagosians should not give their mandate to a new comer and an inexperienced candidate, like Agbaje, who will use the state for an experiment.

    “The next governor of Lagos State should be someone like Sanwo-Olu; who has been part of the system for almost 20 years; who will hit the ground running immediately he is sworn in as governor and consolidate the giant developmental strides the state had recorded since 1999.

    “I strongly appeal to the electorate in Lagos to continue to believe and trust the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who has given a serious thought to ensuring quality leadership by encouraging the emergence of Mr. Sanwo-Olu. He will not disappoint Lagosians in terms of performance and good governance because he is an expert on several issues, including the economy and finance…”

    Also, the President of the Nasrul-lahi-li Fatih (NASFAT) Society of Nigeria, Alhaji Kamil Bolarinwa, has told Sanwo-Olu and his running mate, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, to lead with the fear of God, if elected.

    He also urged them to be wary of political sycophancy when they get into office.

    Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat visited NASFAT headquarters yesterday in Alausa, Ikeja, the state capital.

    According to Bolarinwa, one of the ways to bring down a government is to listen to hearsay and unverified information from loyalists.

  • Lagos is not in bondage, Sanwo-Olu replies Agbaje

    LAGOS State All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu has said Lagosians are free citizens and not in bondage.

    Sanwo-Olu stated this yesterday at the Palace of Akran of Badagry Aholu De Wheno Menu Toyi 1 during a consultative visit to the traditional rulers in the Badagry Division.

    In a direct response to the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje, who said Lagosians were in bondage, Sanwo-Olu said Lagosians had not been enslaved under the APC-led administration.

    He noted that the state had achieved accelerated prosperity since 1999 due to the tenacity and purposefulness of the ruling party.

    Highlighting the numerous infrastructural needs of the Badagry division, the APC standard-bearer promised to speedily address some of the listed concerns of the people.

    He said: “Some have started talking about freedom and insinuated that Lagos is in bondage. Unfortunately, we cannot begin to talk about freedom in the 21st century. This is insulting to humanity and the people of Lagos, especially because slavery and bondage were abolished in Badagry several decades ago. When they talk about freedom, we ask them freedom from what? We have had our freedom and everyone in Lagos is free. We have since moved away from the era of slavery, to era of prosperity with deep-seated aspiration for greater Lagos.

    “We are aware of the challenges facing the people of Badagry on the rehabilitation of the expressway and we are promising that our administration would immediately hit the ground running and ensure the completion of that important road immediately we assume office by your votes.”

    Sanwo-Olu reminded the royal fathers of the economic importance of tourism to the GDP of the state, maintaining that he would ensure a speedy completion of all projects that will improve the quality of lives of the people.

    “It is no brainer that once we fix infrastructure, it will automatically jump-start development in the area.

  • 2019: Agbaje kicks off campaign, promises 4th Mainland Bridge

    Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, yesterday kicked off his campaign with promises to deliver the Fourth Mainland Bridge, Light Rail and a minimum of a thousand megawatts electricity in four years.

    Agbaje also promised quality and affordable healthcare, good education, blue economy with functional water transportation, as well as employment for the youths.

    He spoke at Ultima Studio in Lekki where he officially presented his running mate, Mrs. Haleemat Busari, a lawyer.

    According to him, the over 20 percent unemployment rate of Lagos was largely caused by lack of electricity, adding that the state needed 3,000 megawatts to drive small, medium and large scale industries.

    Agbaje, who said he had continued his quest to govern Lagos despite failing twice, claimed he was in the race to serve.

    He alleged that money that would have been used to develop the state over the years had ended in private pockets, adding that his mandate was to liberate Lagos and enthrone democracy.

    He said: “Our youths are emigrating daily to Canada and United States in search for employment. Under my government, I promise that there will be jobs for the youths.

    “As governor, I promise to provide a minimum of 1000 megawatts of power. I know that Lagos needs at least 3000 megawatts but I do not want to promise more and achieve less, that is why I said I will ensure Lagos produces at least 1000 megawatts.

    “I will ensure that our people have quality healthcare that is funded through insurance. We will revive public education in the state so that even the children of the poor can have good education.”

    Meanwhile, the Lagos State Police Command said it has deployed riders to monitor and arrest anyone seen vandalising campaign posters.

    The deployment, according to police spokesman Chike Oti, a Chief Superintendent (CSP), followed complaints by Agbaje that his campaign boards were removed by unknown persons.

    The PDP candidate had alleged that his campaign boards that were placed along the Third Mainland Bridge which he saw on his way to Unusual Praise programme were vandalised as of the time he was returning from the praise night.

    Upon the compliant, Oti said his boss, Imohimi Edgal, directed the deputy commissioner in charge of State Criminal Investigation and Intelligence Department (SCIID), Panti Yaba, to set up a monitoring team to daily monitor and arrest anybody seen vandalising or defacing campaign posters or boards.

    “In addition, the commissioner has directed that invitation letters be sent to chairmen of all political parties in the state, their flag bearers, the INEC and other stakeholders for a meeting scheduled to hold on Wednesday, December 5, at 11am, at Police Officers’ Mess, GRA, Ikeja.

    “This is to further drive home the fact that there is no alternative to peace and the need for all political parties, their candidates and supporters to shun acts capable of breaching the public peace.

    “Constrained by limited manpower, there is no way the command could post policemen to cover all  campaign posters in the state but the much it can do, is to adopt the Aberdeen System in protecting campaign adverts and solicit the cooperation of all and sundry in ensuring the maintenance of law and order.”

  • How far can Agbaje go?

    Based on his antecedents in the last general elections, when he gave the Governor Akinwunmi Ambode a run for his money, the choice of Jimi Agbaje as the governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State in next year’s election was adjudged to be the best for the party, under the circumstances it finds itself. MUSA ODOSHIMOKHE examines his chances.

    JIMI Agbaje is back on a familiar terrain. The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State has made two efforts in the past to clinch the number one position on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA) in 2007and the PDP in 2015. But, he lost on both occasions. The last effort was unarguably the toughest ever held in the state since the return to democratic rule in 1999: Ambode won with a margin of over 150,000 votes. The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate polled 811,994 votes, while Agbaje got 659,788 votes.

    As a result, the PDP candidate cannot be underrated. Some observers say the pharmacist-turn politician has a good chance, given that his opponent, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the APC is just testing his popularity. Indeed, Agbaje has vowed that he would defeat Sanwo-Olu. He said Lagosians are ready for a change. He added: “This time around we intend to take over Lagos in 2019. It is clear to us in Lagos that Lagosians are looking for freedom which the PDP is prepared to offer.”

    Agbaje who picked the PDP ticket, after defeating Deji Doherty with 1,100 votes during the party’s primary. His performance at the primary improved the rating of the party’s flag bearer. Those who monitored the primary said Agbaje scaled through despite the stiff opposition to his candidacy by some top PDP bigwigs in Lagos. They say he is now formidable and would make remarkable improvement in the coming election.

    But, the party has put behind it any misgiving before the primary and is working in accord to ensure that the PDP wins Lagos. Attesting to the unity existing in the party, Agbaje said the structure of the PDP, which has been in the opposition since 1999, remains intact and that he was working to expand its base in some critical areas.

    He said: “The strategy is to expand that base in a way that we have every assurance that we are taking Lagos. There is a lot of confidence and don’t forget that in 2015 and irrespective of what happened, that base is still intact.

    “Those that voted for us are still there for us. For those who left us, we have really felt anything and it will not affect us. We have not had defection from the PDP in the last few years.”

    But, other observers believe that the PDP candidate had the best chance of winning four years ago, when his party was at the helms at the centre. Based on the fact that the ruling APC has dominated the polity in Lagos State close to 20 years, with structures fully entrenched across all strata, defeating the party in 2019 would be difficult.

    The party’s chances appear slimmer this time around, owing to the series of setbacks the PDP has suffered in the last three and half years. The party is still battling to regain lost grounds, following the defection of its former chairman Moshood Salvador.

    Salvador defected when he alleged that Chief Olabode George framed him up and that he could no longer stay in the same party with him. Salvador who announced his defection at the Agege Township Stadium said he was joining the ruling party with thousands of his supporters who are in all the councils in the state.

    The former chairman said his defection signaled the death of the opposition party in Lagos State. He said Lagos was now a one party state.

    If Salvadors remark is anything to go by, then, Agbaje’s efforts is not likely to succeed in 2019. Analysts rates Salvador very high; they say he is a grassroots mobiliser. Thus, his defection is likely to have negative consequences on the PDP in the 2019 election, because since the party lost power at the centre one of the few financiers of its activities in Lagos had been Salvador.

    Speaking on whether the party can win Lagos, its senatorial candidate for Lagos East, Princess Abiodun Oyelusi, said Agbaje has all it takes to deliver. She maintained that the party’s flag bearer was the best among the candidates who want to take over from Ambode.

    She said Lagos East was still lacking in infrastructure and that some of the achievements credited to the ruling party are cosmetics. Her words: “Can you imagine there is no General Hospital in Imota. What that means is that when people are sick, they have to travel to Ikorodu for medication.

    “The last time I went to Ibeju Lekki, I saw a primary school by the road side; no fence, nothing. The children are at a great risk. These are the thing we can do with constituency funds. But, the APC had painted the picture as if everything is working in Lagos. I can assure you that Agbaje will win Lagos for the PDP.”

    The emergence of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar as the presidential candidate of the PDP is believed to be a good omen for Agbaje’s candidacy this time around. Atiku during one of his visits to Lagos before the primary said he would ensure that Lagos returned to PDP.

    If the threat by the former VP is anything to go by, the APC would have to work harder to maintain its dominance in Lagos. A source said the former Vice President is throwing his weight behind the Lagos governorship candidate to boost his own chance in 2019.

    He said the PDP governorship candidate is leaving no stone unturned to kick off the campaign, once the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) gives the go ahead. Agbaje had urged his supporters not to undermine INEC act on campaign, noting that is campaign would be based on issues.

    He said: “To my supporters and well-wishers, I understand that we are anxious to get this campaign on the road, but it is important that we are also mindful of the bigger task ahead, which is not just winning an election but about changing the mindsets and sending strong messages across that it would no longer be business as usual.

    “If our goal is to bring reform and order to governance, if our mission is to fundamentally transform the way government works for the greater good of our people and not a few vested interests, then, we must begin by setting an example by obeying instruction.

    “So, I implore everyone to please hold on to those wonderful banners, posters and boards until December 1, when campaign commences. We have an opportunity in this election to really make it, it’s about the people of Lagos and not our personal egos.”

    The PDP National Vice Chairman (Southwest), Dr. Eddy Olafeso, said the party would coast to victory in 2019. He said the APC was in crisis, noting that the ruling party would not resolve the challenges that characterized its recent primaries nationwide, including Lagos State.

    Olafeso said the opposition party would take advantage of the division within the ruling party. He said the PDP was working hard to embrace aggrieved members across party lines to key into the party’s project in next year election.

    He said: “The rumble in the ruling party will affect it and, therefore, the PDP’s chances are very bright. Again, despite the mandate given to the APC by Lagosians, the people are yet to reap the dividends of democracy.”

    Olafeso said the purported division between PDP stalwart, George and Agbaje was not true. He noted there was no rancour, stressing that George was a loyal party man who believes in the development of the PDP. He said: “We are putting ourselves together, we are reconciling our differences. Given the quality of our governorship candidate Jimi Agbaje victory is assured.

    “Chief Bode George is a foremost party leader; he is a party man to the core and we taking his leadership serious. Even if there are differences, this does not mean the foremost party leader wants our party to lose the governorship election. Whatever is peddled from any quarter is over exaggerated.”

    At a strategic meeting by the APC Lagos West Buhari Campaign Organisation, its Director General, Salvador, urged the party not to underrate anybody in the 2019 election.

    He reiterated the need to dislodge the PDP in areas it won elections in 2015. He noted that the APC must unite to ensure what happened in the last election is nipped in the bud.

    Salvador said: “There is need for unity; those who have grudges must forget it.

  • Agbaje decries police role in Akwa Ibom crisis

    A group, the Atiku-Agbaje Media Engagement Network (AAMEN), has described the alleged police occupation of the Akwa Ibom State House of Assembly as a coup by the All Progressives Congress (APC).

    It called for the removal of the Inspector General of Police, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris, for allegedly aiding and abetting the party in the dispute that has split the legislators into two camps.

    Highlighting the spate of anti-democratic abuses by the police under Idris, AAMEN said that the police IG had clearly lost his professional impartiality and demonstrated gross incapacity to provide the neutrality required in next year’s poll.

    AAMEN’s Director Felix Oboagwina, in a statement at the weekend in Lagos, described the police invasion of the House as a rape on democracy and constitution.

    The group pointed out that the IG had brazenly changed the Commissioners of Police in PDP-controlled Bayelsa State, where the state had seen eight CPs within two months.

    AAMEN said that the APC-controlled Federal Government had by its role in the Akwa Ibom House of Assembly’s impeachment saga demonstrated a total disregard and disrespect for the sanctity of the nation’s democracy.

    Describing the police as meddlesome interlopers in a purely legislative dispute, AAMEN asked other state houses of assembly to spend time on the matter.

    “Today, the police high command under Mr. Ibrahim Police constitutes the greatest threat to democracy in Nigeria,” Oboagwina said, warning, “It has become an ill-wind that promises no good for the coming elections. He must be changed.”

    AAMEN complained that instead of allowing Akwa Ibom legislators to democratically settle their conflict through the normal legislative and judicial channels, the police demonstrated uncommon partiality and joined the minority in the subjugation of the majority.