•House Of Reps. Speake
As you read this, the camp of the Lagos PDP is buzzing with excitement. It is a reinvigorated and reenergized camp. For the first time in many years, the big players in the Lagos PDP are of the conviction that the next governorship election coming up next year might just be their year. This is because they feel that, unlike the previous election years, they have quite a lot going in their favour this time. And their optimism is quite understandable. They have just received into their fold a mammoth addition of supporters led by Abdilazeez Adeniran, aka Jandor, who defected from the APC, thereby leaving the ruling party’s support base hugely depleted. But not only that, but they are also expecting that, after the much anticipated APC convention, there will be conflicts and disagreements. And they would be on hand to receive into their fold, many of the aggrieved APC members who would be bent on leaving the APC for another party where their interests would be best served.
For quite a while now, since 1999 specifically, the PDP has played second fiddle to APC in Lagos. No matter how hard it tried every election year, the PDP could never quite cross the finish line ahead of the APC in Lagos governorship polls. This has left many wondering when the opposition party will be able to break the 23-year-old grip of the ruling APC. Every election year, the PDP has appeared stronger and better prepared to take over the state from the APC, but it has always fallen short of its target. The best chances opened to the PDP to oust the ruling party in 2007 and 2015. In 2007, the major opposition party got federal backing and massive funding from former President Olusegun Obasanjo when it presented former envoy to Ghana, Senator Musiliu Obaniko as its governorship candidate.
The PDP would have capitalised on the internal crisis in the ruling Action Congress (AC), now APC, when about 11 commissioners and the then Deputy Governor, Mr. Femi Pedro, revolted against Tinubu on the ground that the National Leader allegedly imposed his anointed candidate, Babatunde Fashola on others. But Fashola, who is currently Minister of Works and Housing, eventually defeated Obanikoro in the 2007 governorship race with 599,300 votes to 383, 956 votes.
Political observers believed that the results would have been different if all stakeholders in the PDP had united to support Obanikoro. And this has been the bane of the PDP in the state, their inability to unite, speak with one voice and rally around their candidate when it matters the most. They have had a running battle with internal wrangling within the party and just never seemed capable of finding a lasting solution to it. This is why they have continued to squander chance after chance to take over the reins of power in Lagos.
They lost yet another golden opportunity under erstwhile President Goodluck Jonathan, who put the Federal structure behind the Lagos PDP’s gubernatorial candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje.
But the APC appear unperturbed by the PDP’s growing optimism. As far as they’re concerned, it’s the same old recycled story they tell every time an election year is approaching. It is nothing new. According to an APC senior member, they are not bothered by the antics of the PDP, “it is all a ploy to get the APC distracted from its goals, but they cannot succeed, the APC is much too focused to pay attention to their shenanigans.”
This may just have echoed the sentiments of the Rt. Hon. Speaker of the federal House of Representatives, Femi Gbajabiamila, spoke about the strength of the APC in Lagos last week. He was the Special Guest of honour at the second Free Medical & Surgical Outreach organized in Surulere by Hon. Desmond Elliot, the Lawmaker representing Surulere Constituency 1. The brilliant Lawmaker was addressing the animated crowd that had gathered to welcome him to the program. It was difficult getting the crowd to simmer down and listen to the Speaker as they were already fired up by the music of the king of Fuji music, Kwam 1. But, finally, he was able to address the restless crowd. He started by saying that “the whole of Surulere must be healthy, hence the need for such free medical programs such as the one Hon. Desmond Elliot has organised. And this is why we must thank Hon. Desmond Elliot for this laudable project. This is how we do it in Lagos State. Everywhere you turn in Lagos, you see development going on. And everything has been done by careful planning. It is all about systematic planning.APC is focused. We are very focused in ensuring that the dividends of democracy are delivered to the people. For us, in Lagos, it is all about performance. The performance of our party in Lagos is what has been sustaining us and keeping us in office. Let the opposition continue to make all the noise they want to make, we will continue to dominate Lagos state because the people have eyes and they can see our performance,” he’d concluded.
It was an absolutely confident Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila assured the gathering that a whole lot more is coming from the APC and that, for as long as the people continue to stand by the APC, the party will not let them down. The PDP definitely are listening. How will they prove the APC wrong? How will they take over from the APC in Lagos? Everyone is waiting patiently to see how it all unfolds come 2023 governorship elections.
-WALE LAWAL
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