Babatunde Gbadamosi, candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) for the October 31 senatorial by-election, has said that he was confident of emerging victorious by defeating his main rival and candidate of the ruling All ruling Progressives Congress (APC), Tokunbo Abiru in the election.
The Lagos East Senatorial seat became vacant after the death of Senator Bayo Osinowo.
Gbadamosi, a real estate mogul, was the Action Democratic Party (ADP) governorship candidate in the 2019 election.
Speaking with journalists shortly after opening his campaign office in Shomolu, Gbadamosi said the APC candidate was not his match because contesting the by-election was not his decision.
He promised purposeful representation of the constituency if elected; stressing that it was time the people of the constituency were liberated from the grip of some individuals in the state.
The PDP stressed that the constituency had not received enough attention by successive administrations in the state, while lamenting the decay of infrastructure.
According to him, “We are confident that we would take this seat because of the special dynamics that exist in Lagos East. Lagos East is one of the most deprived in terms of infrastructure, a lot of investment from people like me, Dangote, and others in Ikorodu, but all this investment has not been accompanied by infrastructure by the government.
“There is governance absence in the whole of Lagos East, but the governors have been restricted by the godfather, who is the real governor of Lagos State. The governors have not been able to make decisions without his input and when they do, it is often reversed”.
Speaking further, he dismissed calls for special status for Lagos State, saying that the solution was for Nigeria to practise true federalism and for the nation to be restructured to guarantee development.
When asked if he had confidence in the electoral system, he noted that recent elections had been encouraging; stressing that incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari may be willing to leave a legacy behind.
“Special status is not something I believe in; I am a greater believer in devolution of powers. I believe in domestication of corporate taxes, corporate governance, so that instead of having to register companies in Abuja, Lagos State should have limited liability companies where we pay corporate and consumption tax, which should be local.
“But we are operating a unitary system instead of true federalism; we need restructuring of Nigeria; we need true federalism. When that happens, every state with resources would see growth.
“It is a gradual thing, the process, right until the recent election in Edo, there was little to cheer. We saw what happened in Osun, Ekiti and other places where elections won by PDP were declared inconclusive.
“What happened to Edo is an indication that Buhari is preparing posterity and wants to be remembered for improving the electoral process, that is why he gave marching order to all agencies to make sure the election was free and fair,” Gbadamosi further said.
