Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, the Lead Visioner of Lagos4Lagos, and a gubernatorial aspirant of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has predicted an implosion in the Lagos chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of the 2023 general elections, saying that the undemocratic structure of the party in the state would lead to it further disintegration leading to members dumping the party.
Jandor, recently dumped the APC for PDP after a running battle with the leadership of the party in the state. He had consistently complained over the undemocratic nature of the party.
Amid opposition in some quarters, the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the Apex decision making body of the ruling APC in Lagos, at its meeting last week endorsed Governor Sanwo-Olu for a second term.
Jandor stated this while hosting a group within the party, Reset Lagos PDP, headed by Adetokunbo Pearse, a former governorship aspirant in the party, who came to his Ikeja office to endorse him as the party’s candidate for the forthcoming party primary and governorship poll.
The governorship aspirant said his endorsement by several groups within the PDP in Lagos since he joined the party was an indication of his popularity and acceptability among members of the party in the state.
He described PDP as a democratic party compared to the ruling APC, which had been hijacked by some individuals, adding that in the next weeks several aggrieved members, including some sitting members of Lagos State House Assembly would dump the party for the PDP.
“You can see from what happened a few days back with the endorsement of Governor Sanwo-Olu, some aggrieved chieftains and members, we are aware of, are going to leave APC and join PDP. We have among the members of the Lagos State House of Assembly. APC in the state is about to implode,” Jandor said.
Read also: #NotTooYoungToRun: Youths say APC N100m form sickening
He further stated that the defection of the group’s former chairman, Sunday Ajayi, to the APC would not have any significant impact on his success at the primary election because no key member of his group across the state went with him, stressing that Ajayi was neither a voting delegate at the primary.
According to him, “Ajayi called a meeting of our state chairmen and said he is taking them back to the APC and we need to strike. Ajayi vindicated us; he already told us that Tinubu came to his house.
“If the primaries are held today we are going to win. Give me an aspirant that parades what we have today.
“PDP is a democratic party. It is not what you see in APC. We are able to walk freely in PDP and more freely with local governments taking our campaigns there and interacting freely. That’s what we never saw in APC.
“In APC, one is always waiting for somebody to blow the whistle. There is room in PDP. If you see what we parade here, they are forebears of PDP. These are people who understand the party. We have all of them, and then what do we need again?
Speaking earlier, Pearse said the group he led took the decision to endorse Jandor for the coming primary and gubernatorial election in the state because having looked critically at all the aspirants in the party he was the most qualified to help transform the state.
He stated that he was confident that Jandor had the financial strength and structure across the state to defeat any candidate from the APC.
“Having looked at previous elections, I said before that it is until someone from the APC moves to the PDP that we can defeat the APC.
“We have looked at the aspirants, Jandor is the most qualified among them, and we want to assure you that our group is behind you. I hereby appeal to the party delegates to join me in endorsing him,” Pearse said.
