2015: Lagos PDP unites for victory

At the end of the December 8, governorship primary of the Peoples Demo­cratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, everyone thought that the party would once again approach the main election as a divided house.
The outcome of the party’s guberna­torial primary, won by Mr. Jimi Agbaje had generated controversies; with the former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musilu Obanikoro, who came second in the contest, vowing that the result would not stand.

To make good his words, Obanikoro first petitioned the party Gubernatorial Appeal Committee in Abuja, asking for a cancellation of the exercise on the ground that it was marred by irregu­larities. When he did not hear from the committee forty eighty hours after, the former minister filed a suit before a Federal High Court, Abuja, praying the court to compel the party to cancel the gubernatorial primary and order a rerun.
Apart from Obanikoro, others who contested the Lagos PDP governorship primary were Ambassador Tokunbo Kamson, Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi and Mr. Deji Doherty.
For about two weeks after the governorship primary, the party was di­vided. There were altercations between Obanikoro and the leader of the party in the state and former deputy national chairman of the party, Chief Olabode George, and former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, on the outcome of the primary. Obanikoro be­lieved the duo played unpleasant roles in selection of the party’s governorship flag bearer.
However, on December 24, the Lagos PDP proved bookmarkers wrong, as all the warring party leaders decided to bury the hatchet in the interest of the party. The truce, it was gathered, was brokered by the Presidency.
At a meeting to announce the out­come of the various trouble shooting ef­forts to sooth all frayed nerves, the Vice President, Mr. Namadi Sambo, declared that the state chapter of the party and all the governorship aspirants had agreed to work together to win the governorship election in the state in the 2015 general election. Besides, he said the party’s gubernatorial candidate in state has been humble enough to acknowledge that he needs all hands on deck to make a meaningful impact in the election.
For the Vice President, with the rec­onciliation of all the aggrieved members of the party in the state, the victory of the party the time for PDP to take over the reins of governance in Lagos State has come.
“The Lagos State PDP and indeed Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, Engineer Deji Doherty, Ambassador Tokunbo Ka­mson and Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi, who were our governorship aspirants have agreed to team up together and work to win Lagos this time around in 2015.
“Mr. Jimi Agbaje, our governorship candidate, has signified interest all along to work with our party members to deliver Lagos State.
“He is indeed humble to know the enormity of the task in delivering Lagos State and therefore appeals for total support by putting all hands on deck to realise the challenge that lies ahead of us.
“The PDP is confident that it will win Lagos State, its presidential and gover­norship elections and all other elections across the board in Lagos state,” Sambo stated.
Speaking at the event, Obanikoro said despite the inadequacies experienced in the governorship primary, they have all agreed that Agbaje is the PDP guberna­torial candidate in Lagos State for the 2015 polls. He said the task ahead of the party was to sack the All Progres­sives Congress (APC) from the Lagos State Government House, Alausa.
He expressed appreciation to Presi­dent Goodluck Jonathan and Sambo for brokering peace in the Lagos PDP and stated that the only way to show appreciation to them is to win the state for them at both the presidential and governorship elections, noting that win­ning the elections were tasks that must be done.
In his words: “ There is time for everything and that is why I want to im­plore all of you that yesterday belongs to yesterday. My passion for Lagos State is known to all of you and that passion will trigger a level of sacrifice that will ensure victory.
When you do that talk, you must do the walk because success and failure have a very thin line. A lot of us must be prepared to sacrifice and we should also bear in mind that there is no winner and there is no loser in this endeavour we have just ended. We must be ready to dislodge the APC in Alausa. It is time to do that and when that is done, PDP will be the winner in Lagos State. It is time for the APC to go.”
Responding , an obviously elated Agbaje stated that the party had done what Nigerians asked them if they must win Lagos in 2015.
He said: “We listened to the voice of Nigerians, Lagosians in particular. Nigerians asked us to give and take and compromise. We have given and taken and compromised. Nigerians challenged us to put our house in order. And we have put our house in order. We can tell you that today, PDP is one big, happy family.
“All differences, all animosities, all divergences, all factions, are hereby declared dead and buried. All the different voices in PDP Lagos have come under this big, strong and formidable PDP umbrella. We are together, and the opposition party should tremble with fear .And by the grace of God, in 2015, PDP will record resounding victory in Lagos.”
Agbaje added that while the crisis lasted, the party chieftains could not sleep well, while some other people were having a good sleep. He said the new peace in the party means the PDP leaders would all sleep bet­ter, while some other people will no longer sleep well.
As the PDP leaders were concluding the peace deal, the 2015 campaign of the party received another big boost as members of the Justice Forum, in Lagos West Senatorial District moved enmass into the party. Justice Forum is an cau­cus in Lagos APC.
The leader of the group, Chief David Abidakun, said that they dumped APC because it is no longer accommodating to all interest groups in the state. He said about 70,000 members of the group decided to pitch their tent with the PDP ahead of the general election.
Analysts say the reconciliation of all the warring interest groups in the Lagos PDP is a big achievement by the party in its quest to win Lagos State next year.
Since its inception in 1998, the party has never gone into an elec­tion as a united front. The result has been humiliating defeats, so much so that for sixteen years the PDP has not been able to win the gover­norship seat in the state.
Consequently, not a few believe that all the party needs to win the governorship seat is to be united. And with this new unity, it is expect­ed that the Lagos PDP will walk the talk and make impressive outing in next year’s general election, particu­larly in winning the governorship of the state that has eluded it.
The PDP chairman in the state, Mr Tunji Shelle strongly believes that the development is the fillip the party needs to win Lagos, especially as Agbaje is the choice of the people of Lagos.
“This will translate to the PDP win­ning in Lagos State. The challenges are there and we have to work together as a party,” Shelle said, adding that “this peace should be enduring.”