Abdul-Lateef Olajide Adediran, aka Jandor, was on Wednesday night elected as the governorship candidate of the Lagos State chapter of People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Jandor polled a total of 678 votes, to beat his main challenger, Dacova Vaughan David Kolawole, who scored just 20 votes to a second position.
Ten void votes were recorded in the exercise.
A total of 696 delegates were accredited to vote out of 755 delegates that were assigned to the state chapter of the party.
Voting which commenced around 5pm, with delegates called out to vote local government by local government ended at 7:07pm, followed by sorting and counting, that ended by 8-30pm.
Earlier, four out of the six governorship aspirants namely Ade Dosunmu, Deji Doherty, Jimi Kamal and Rhodes Gbadebo withdrew from the race.
Read also: 2023: Jandor battles Doherty, Dosummu, three others for governorship ticket
Their withdrawal was announced by the Chairman of the Lagos PDP Electoral Committee, Emmanuel Ogidi, while addressing journalists at the venue of the governorship primaries in Ikeja.
Adediran, who addressed a tumultuous crowd of delegates, as two aspirants were allowed just two minutes each to address the delegates, said the day was one that was being awaited and the moment PDP had set aside for total emancipation of Lagos.
The aspirant, who noted that all those he met in the party, and all the aspirants were qualified to be governor of Lagos State, saying his aspiration would unite Lagos PDP.
Adediran, while further appreciating the leaders and members of PDP for keeping the party’s spirit alive before he and his group came to join the platform, said he needed their votes not for himself, or the party alone, but for the entire Lagos and Lagosians.
“Today is the day we all have been waiting for, the moment the PDP has set aside for total emancipation of Lagos State.
“My fellow party members. I have always been saying that all of us are qualified to be the Governor of Lagos State. I want to acknowledge the level of the sacrifice of other aspirants for Lagos and keeping the hope of PDP alive before my arrival.
“Our aspirations is one which is to rescue the state of Lagos. That is why we have decided to speak with one voice to put the party forward,” he said.
“I want to beg you, I need this vote for the entire Lagosians. If you give me the ticket today, it will be a ticket for the soul of Lagos to enable me lift the state to greater heights,” he added.
In his short speech, Dacova thanked the party’s election committee and party members as well as co-aspirants for their understanding, saying his passion was to take Lagos from the opposition, take children off the streets, build standard railway which he noted had continued to drag for years.
According to Dacova, “I am the David of our time. I will be very brief and I thank all party members, including all my co-contestants. My passion is to take over Lagos from the opposition, to take children off the streets, we will provide you job.
“I will build and complete standard railway as we have it in Ethiopia in record time. I will build hospitals, our hospitals will be of standard and will be fantastic. I will slay that Goliath for you. I am not looking for your money, I want to be your hero.”
