PDP Did Not Give Us Kobo For Election – Lagos Guber Candidate, Jandor Alleges

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, has alleged that he and his Deputy, Olufunke Akindele, did not receive a Kobo from the national body of the PDP for governorship election in the state.

According to him, even the obligation of the party on agent fees have not been settled up till now.

He said that he and his deputy ran the governorship election all by themselves, stating that he hopes the party harkens to their “calls on this and help resolve as soon as possible.”

Adediran said that days leading to the March 18 governorship election, he resisted all offers from the All Progressives Congress (APC), and when that failed, PDP leaders and followers, who could not persevere were poached, just to destabilize the party ranks days to the election.

He explained that the narrative of defection of some people from the PDP to the APC, days to the election, was official unveiling ceremony of moles in the Lagos PDP, adding that this same moles went as far as discouraging the PDP national body from sending any support for Lagos governorship election.

Adediran, however, said that he is comforted by the show of solidarity he saw at the polls and the seriousness with which ordinary citizens approached the 2023 general elections.

The PDP governorship candidate accused the APC of resorting to violence and intimidation during the election, saying that the party refused to honour the will of the people.

“I am happy to report that days leading to our election, we resisted all offers from the powers that be, to back down for crumbs, and when that failed, they swooped on to covet PDP Leaders and followers, who can’t persevere for a better tomorrow, just to destabilise our ranks days to election, part of which you would have heard the Lagos State Deputy Governor owning up to on a national Television.

“They needed that to happen so as to be able to justify their election day shenanigans, and truly…it’s the excuse they gave today for PDP performance on election day.

“I am very comforted by the show of solidarity we saw at the polls and the seriousness with which ordinary citizens approached the 2023 elections. Even when the ruling government, frightened by our collective resolve and the possibility of them being exposed to not hold the will of the people, resorted to violence and intimidation, you all stood strong and protected your vote.

“It is unfortunate that the ruling party refused to honour the will of the people, but our fight is proof that things have changed for the better and I am humbled to have contributed to that change.

“I have refrained from putting out a personal statement after my press conference of Monday the 20th of March 2023. This is because I felt it was the best course of action in light of everything that happened during and after the elections, so as to be able to give a proper account of what transpired as against the narrative of defection of some people from the PDP to APC, which to us, was official unveiling ceremony of moles in the Lagos PDP.

“This same moles went as far as discouraging unsuspecting National body of our party not to send down any support for Lagos Guber election, unfortunately, our party fell for it, and not a single kobo was availed us to undertake that election,” Adediran said in a statement on Thursday.

He also said that raw data collected by his team shows that the PDP got over 40 percent of the total votes cast during the governorship election.

“Despite all, my team and I have spent time putting together all the necessary information that characterised the elections, and raw data collected indicated we have over 40% of the total votes cast during the March 18th election in Lagos State. Very soon, this will be made in public.

“Like I mentioned during my Press Conference, election is a process and not an event. At the end of my consultations, I will make public our position on the next process.

“I thank you all once again for your support and will keep you all updated as we continue to work towards a Lagos that works for all…,” he added.

Since the fourth republic began in 1999, the PDP had its worst performance in governorship election in Lagos on March 18. Adediran got 62,449 votes to trail the governor and candidate of the APC, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour who polled 762,134 and 312,329 votes, respectively.