Lagos State may be in for a fierce political battle between the ruling All Progress Congress (APC) and the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in the 2023 governorship election, as Abdul-Azeez Adediran has joined the race.
Adeniran, leader of Lagos4Lagos Movement, who is popularly known as Jandor, on Monday purchased the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) nomination and expression of interest forms to vie for the governorship of the state which has been under the control of APC since 1999.
Speaking with newsmen after obtaining the nomination forms at the PDP national secretariat in Abuja, the former APC chieftain said he was in the race to win and run a government that would impact the masses.
According to the journalist turned politician, his team had been strategising for the race for the past seven years to take over Lagos and return it to the people.
“What Lagos needs right now is that breath of fresh air, and that is what I represent. A breath of fresh air in the sense that I haven’t been appointed before.
“I have not been elected before. I have been on the sideline, watching and studying the situation and whatever you see us doing today, I want to tell you, it’s a result of thorough research on how to play the game.
“That is why we consider ourselves in a very advantaged position to winning the state of Lagos for PDP. And this is largely due to the amount of work that we have put into this.
“We know it is not just going to be a tea party to win Lagos from those that have held onto power for the past two decades.
“This is why we devised our strategy of starting early, that strategy of long-term planning,” he said.
Adediran believed that his defection alongside his supporters on January 21 from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP would help the opposition party to secure the needed percentage of votes to claim Lagos State.
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He said that the defection of his team to PDP which had been 34 and 36 percent in every election would bring the 20 percent the PDP needed to cross that threshold.
“Everybody in Lagos is just waiting for us to be on the ballot. The moment that happened, then you can rest assured that on May 29, 2023, I will be sworn-in as the governor,” he said.
Adediran said that, if elected, he would manage the resources of Lagos to make it visible on the streets for people to see, while also making education to be compulsory.
“You see Lagos State government pays lip service to primary education. “We are going to do a free and compulsory primary education, free and compulsory. You can’t make it compulsory if you have not provided all those little things that will make your children stay back home.
“You don’t have any excuse not to send these children to school.”
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