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| Olabode George |
The dispute
over Lagos PDP chairmanship, what is it all about?
The
last time we were fighting over the chairmanship of the Lagos PDP, we ended up
resolving it through reconciliation by the national body. If you look at it
very well, there was a judgment that sacked the Ali Modu Sherrif-led national
executive. That judgment did not sack the Lagos State PDP chairman. So, those
who took over merely wanted to control Lagos PDP. That is why we kept fighting
over the party leadership in the state. When the national body resolved the
problem on the Sherriff issue, it was an opportunity for Lagos PDP to right the
wrong. Lagos is the only state where the PDP has not won governorship election.
This is because of the leadership of Chief Bode George. He has never won election
in his ward or local government, not to talk of the state. At the end of the
day, the party’s performance is getting worse. This is because the same set of
people has been the ones running the show in Lagos PDP. They collect billions
of naira from the national body every four years and always fail to deliver
during elections. They make money through the sale of forms for local
government election and others elections which run into millions of naira. I am
the only chairman that has ever won six councillorship seats for the party in
local government election. At the time, Bode George took Lagos PDP to Labour
Party (LP). If not for personal agenda, why would he not call me and address me
like a son: Adewale you cannot be chairman, but for the sake of our party let
us unite. I even went as far as calling Moshood Salvador and relinquished the
chairmanship to him for the sake of our party during the council election.
Will the present
battle resolve the problem?
My
battle with some elements in the party is that my tenure will end in 2021. The
election that brought me in was transparent. But, after so much fighting, the
national leadership reconciled us; they said Bode George should still be the
PDP leader. For crying out loud, must they continue to give him the chairmanship
every time? Under him, the party has never won any election in Lagos.
Leadership should be based on performance and merit. With the number of years
he has spent in the party, what is his performance? He has never achieved
anything; they collect billions of naira every four years and share the money.
They are not interested in whether the PDP wins election or not. But, we don’t
care; let them continue to collect the money. Things cannot continue this way,
because Lagosians are tired. The PDP has put itself forward as opposition, yet
they are not doing their job because they are aware that the people are really
gullible. When South-south, Southeast people resident in Lagos vote for us, we
waste their votes. These people are not compensated at the end of the day. The
leadership of the PDP will not even call them to say we are sorry for trading
your votes. I don’t want this thing to continue, that is why I am fighting. I
stepped down for Salvador after the reconciliation; there was no congress because
the man who would have conducted the congress died. It was agreed that Bode
George should provide 50 per cent of executive composition, I take 10 per cent,
Aduke Maina 20 per cent and Agbaje 20 per cent; that was what happened. But, I
gave my 10 per cent to Bode George, because I have reconciled with him. I did
that because I was sure the party will not win as long as Bode George was in
control. I had to move to Ekiti State to contest election there.
So, what transpired
in Ekiti?
In
Ekiti, I met another Bode George in Ayo Fayose, who insisted I could not
contest election under the PDP. He said I could not contest, because I came
from Lagos. But, I told him that my father is from Ekiti. He maintained that it
was only Eleka that will fly the banner of the PDP in the state. At the end of
the day, I had to contest on the platform of the Action Democratic Party (ADP).
But, immediately after the election, I returned to the PDP with some of the
people that went with me to the ADP. When I came back I gave those who went
with me N1 million and said it was part of my contribution to the campaign for
Atiku. I want to say that the selection of Adegbola Dominic as the chairman of
our party is against our constitution.
Is the PDP likely
to overcome its challenge in Lagos?
The
party is united against Bode George. I make bold to say that he cannot win his
ward and I am ready to put one million naira, if he wins his ward and N100
million if he wins his local government. He is working for the APC. I want to
say that the moment he produces the next chairman, I will personally lead the
campaign to support the APC in any coming election, because he is not serving
the interest of those voting PDP in Lagos. Even when those supporting the PDP
are facing persecution, but the party has never come up with any statement to
denounce such uncivilized conduct meted out to its supporters.
There has been
accusations and counter accusations on why PDP failed in the 2019 governorship
election…
I
am not saying that I was told, I witnessed it. Dominic himself came out openly
to say that we did not work for Jimi Agbaje, because he did not give us money.
The issue of money is the reason why we have been losing elections in Lagos.
The money they were expecting did not come to them directly, so they decided to
frustrate the election efforts of Agbaje. Agbaje on his part said I lost
the election because they did not work for me. But, is that an excuse? He
should have worked harder; his performance is getting poorer with each
election. We must send Bode George on compulsory retirement. Let him collect
all the billions and give us our freedom. I am making plans to seal the
secretariat, because I am the authentic chairman.
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