Lagos PDP Governorship Battle Gets Hot
All is not well in the buildup to the PDP governorship primary in the state. The governorship ambitions of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and that of another top contender for the ticket, Jimi Agbaje, appear to be too big for the ‘umbrella’ party to shelter.
Other aspirants who will take part in the contest are Nigeria’s immediate past High Commissioner to Jamaica, Ambassador Tokunbo Kamson; Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi, Mr. Adebayo Doherty and Mrs. Modupe Chukwuneke, the only female in the contest.
Obanikoro was instrumental to the victory of Governor Ayo Fayose in Ekiti State. During the Osun election, Obanikoro was also on the ground, where he campaigned for the PDP candidate, Senator Iyiola Omisore, who later lost to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on August 9.
While Obanikoro was on duty for the PDP, Agbaje was in Lagos where he embarked on a tour of all the 20 local government councils in the state to consult with PDP leaders. Agbaje, who has the backing of the PDP leader in the state, Chief Olabode George; as well as a former Minister of Works, Chief Adeseye Ogunlewe, shot into an early popularity lead in the buildup as he was able to acquaint himself with the party’s leaders in the state and used the party structure put in place by George to gain the advantage.
The APC had zoned the party’s ticket to Lagos-East senatorial district comprising Ikorodu, Epe, Kosofe, Somolu and adjoining communities. Also, the APC had also hinted that it was searching for a Christian to be the next governor and to this end, a former Accountant General of the state, Akinwunmi Ambode, who hails from Epe, was favoured by the leadership of the party.
The decision of the APC became a reference point for the PDP and Agbaje was favoured.
Agbaje, who also hails from Lagos-East, is a prince from Ikorodu, a densely populated division of Lagos which has never produced a governor in the state before. Like Ambode, Agbaje is also a Christian.
Apart from being favoured by the PDP leadership, several political parties in the state, including the state leadership of the Labour Party, Citizen Peoples Party and People for Democratic Change, all endorsed Agbaje as their consensus candidate. As the PDP leadership in the state believed that it would finally be able to wrest power from the APC through the candidature of Agbaje, the unexpected occurred in October when Obanikoro formally resigned his appointment and declared his intention to contest the governorship election.
The political atmosphere became charged upon Obanikoro’s entry but this has also come with its attendant issues as the party became factionalised. George, who is the state leader of the party, reportedly tried to push out Obanikoro from the race but many South-West PDP leaders quickly rallied round Obanikoro who had helped the party to gain some ground in the South-West.
Statements were issued by groups loyal to both Agbaje’s camp and Obanikoro’s camp attacking one another. As campaigns continued, Agbaje and Obanikoro continued to fire indirect shots at each other.
Obanikoro, while declaring his intention to contest at PDP secretariat in November, said party delegates should not vote for any person that had never held a political office before. Obanikoro, who has been a minister, an ambassador, a senator, a commissioner and a local government chairman, is one of the most experienced politicians in Lagos PDP. Agbaje has never held a political office before.
Obanikoro said it would be unjust for Lagos, Nigeria’s economic capital, to be run by ‘an apprentice governor’. However, Agbaje later fired back during a meeting with delegates in which he said they should not vote for anyone who was too domineering and would want to hijack the party.
Agbaje told the delegates that selecting a "dictator" as the candidate of the party would be like handing the state governorship to the APC.
He said, “As delegates, you own the party. If you elect someone unsuitable and overbearing, he will simply take the party from you and exclude you from making input into the government. He will become another dictator, like the one in Lagos, who monopolises the appointment of councillors, local government chairmen, senators, commissioners and even market women leaders.”
PDP Organising Secretary, South-West, Femi Carrena, accused some elders in the party of “smuggling” Agbaje into the party to contest in the party’s primary.
But Adeseye Ogunlewe, while speaking with Punch, said Obanikoro was not a saleable candidate. He claimed that Obanikoro was too controversial and it would be in the best interest of the party if Obanikoro was not given the ticket.
He recalled that Obanikoro had been accused of setting the Lagos City Hall ablaze and also complicity in administering funds meant for Muslim pilgrims when he was Commissioner for Home Affairs during the administration of former Governor Bola Tinubu.
He said, “In 2015, people will not vote for party but the candidate, that is our fear in the PDP. Perception is very important in politics. We must do what is expedient, what people will be happy about. The party will play a very little role in who will win the election."
While addressing journalists at his home on Saturday, Obanikoro said events had shown that he was contesting against George and Ogunlewe and not Agbaje.
He said it was unfortunate that the party leaders would try to impose a candidate on the party but said he was confident that he would win. He had earlier told journalists that he would have to fight two godfathers in order to become governor of Lagos. One in the PDP and one in the APC.
Strangely, at Obanikoro’s formal declaration last week, top executives of the party were conspicuously absent. But the chairman of the South-West PDP, Chief Makanjuola Ogundipe, openly declared support for Obanikoro.
However, Obanikoro could also win. In what could be described as a pre-governorship primary victory, Obanikoro’s candidate in the Lagos-Central senatorial election, Ade Dosunmu, beat George’s candidate to clinch the ticket of the party.
Obanikoro and George are from the same senatorial district – Lagos-Central. If Obanikoro could convince 130 out of 230 delegates to vote against George’s candidate, it could imply that Obanikoro would be able to convince the 1,000 delegates that will be voting to once again vote against Agbaje.
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