Ahead of the forthcoming Lagos-East Senatorial election on Saturday, December 5, 2020, Lagosians and well-meaning observers are raising salient concerns that seem to question the integrity and reliability of the candidate presented by the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi as he goes shoulder to shoulder with the All Progressive Congress, APC’s candidate, Tokunbo Abiru.
Gbadamosi, in the face of media, is, quite an assertive crusader, who is quick to jumps to this Twitter handle to condemn projects, policies, and proposals of serving government at every level and Lagosians are questioning his capacity to operate at any, considering the avalanche of court cases hanging in his neck.
In all his postings, it is shocking that BOG, as he’s fondly called, has not addressed any of the fraud cases filed against Lagos Court. He is yet to defend the allegations of educational certificate forgery and perjury against him before the court of public opinion.
It is recalled that a legal suit has been filed to compel the IGP to investigate and prosecute BOG for offenses bordering on giving false information on oath in his Form EC9 submitted to INEC and absconding mandatory National Youth Service.
The action enables the police to invite, investigate, and prosecute BOG before or after the elections. Thus the holding of the elections does not affect the substance of the suit
BOG had reportedly presented to INEC, a WAEC certificate which is materially different from that contained on the official website of WAEC contrary to the provisions of the Constitution.
Whilst in the result presented to INEC BOG is said to have sat for 5 subjects and obtained 4 credits, in the result online, he is said to have sat for 8 subjects and failed 3 including Mathematics and Bible Knowledge. It is believed by APC that the result submitted to INEC does not contain the accurate result obtained and hence same may have been falsified.
Furthermore, the suit questions how BOG would gain admission into LASU having not sat for the minimum number of subjects required by WAEC.
If found guilty, BOG may have all his votes, however much to be nullified or quashed by the court.
For a Gbadamosi that we know, he would have stormed his social media handle to defend himself on matters that has little or no connection to him, how come he has not addressed this fraud allegations or simply take a photo of his certificates and defend himself before the court of public opinion while we await the judgment from the court of law.
The Gbadamosi that we know will not leave his Twitter handle until all his credentials are sufficiently displayed for his 50 thousand followers to download. His reluctance to come out publicly to defend himself puts a question mark on the genuineness of his ambition.
A popular media association of independent online media publishers also raised issues concerning his political inconsistencies. The association secretary, Owodunni Lateef added that BOG has not only be jumping from one party to the other and contesting at different political capacities.
Gbadamosi had contested as a governor under ADP and now has run to PDP to contests for senate. Should he lose in this bid as he lost to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, there is the possibility that he may also want to contest for the Local Government Chairman elections. Is that the kind of person Lagosians want to trust?” he queried.
The association P.R.O added that the opposition party has over the years lack the political tack to field credible candidates against the ruling APC in Lagos.
There are also indications that the PDP senatorial candidate, Gbadamosi did not participate in the one year mandatory National Youth Service (NYSC) as claimed.
He filled Form EC9 that he attended the Lagos State University after obtaining his WAEC certificate in 1985, with results that evidently did not meet requirements for admission in the university. Gbadamosi whose Wikipedia page shows that he attended the university failed to indicate the course of study. Sources who attended the same University also claimed not to be familiar with the name either back in school or on the University’s Alumni handbook.
He has been challenged to produce all his credentials to disclaim all these damning allegations of forgery, but all efforts to reach him on phone and in-person proved abortive.
He has refused to openly address all these inconsistencies and irregularities that question his self-acclaimed credibility and transparency. It is however important that Lagosians look critically into these salient issues before they cast their votes at the poll come December 5, 2020.
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