Elders ‘smuggled’ Agbaje into PDP —S’West leader DECEMBER 2, 2014 BY ENIOLA AKINKUOTU AND TOBI AWORINDE The Peoples Democratic Party’s Organising Secretary, South-West, Mr. Femi Carrena, has accused some elders in the party of “smuggling” a governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, into the party to contest in the party’s primary election this month. In a statement made available to our correspondent on Monday, the party leader responded to a newspaper report (not The PUNCH) in which a chieftain of the party, Mr. Kamal Giwa, was quoted as saying another PDP governorship aspirant in the state, Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro, was no longer popular in the party in Lagos. But Carrena, in a statement, said, “Giwa is speaking on behalf of the PDP in what capacity? These are elders who, rather than preach peace among party loyalists and spread unity, love and justice to all members and stakeholders, now choose to divide the party by inciting the electorate against an aspirant who equally has the moral and constitutional right to contest for the governorship seat of Lagos. “The fact on the ground is that a couple of leaders in the state recently smuggled Mr. Jimi Agbaje into the Lagos PDP for the sole purpose of contesting the Lagos State governorship election. It was also arranged that Agbaje would pick the party’s ticket on a consensus arrangement. Unfortunately, this did not fly in Abuja, hence the forthcoming primaries.” Carrena, in the statement, further questioned the grounds on which Giwa had “advised (Obanikoro) to withdraw from the governorship race.” According to him, if the leaders of Lagos PDP want to win an election that had been lost four consecutive times, the tactics should be changed. “It is uncharitable and un-African for elders in the party to undemocratically foist a new and unpopular aspirant in the party on the members, and then blackmail a particular aspirant. I strongly believe these elders are afraid of their shadows, at the detriment of other qualified members.” Meanwhile, the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress has berated Agbaje for describing the APC as a “sinking ship”. The Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said in a statement that Agbaje lacked political experience and was not as good as any of the APC aspirants. The party said Agbaje’s campaign lacked substance as he had no plan for the state and that was why he was focusing on the APC instead. “Now who is Jimi Agbaje? He is a pharmacist. He owns retail drug store in Apapa. This is what he has been doing since he left the university. “He has never been a councillor. He has never been a local government chairman. He has never been a State House of Assembly member. Agbaje has never been a National Assembly member. He has never been a Special Adviser nor a commissioner. “Even in the larger economy, Agbaje is not a big player. He has been dreaming to rule Lagos but the man has not prepared himself for leadership. He has been contesting every election and losing woefully and now he is perching on the back of Bode George.”-Vox Populi News. Copyright PUNCH
Posted on: Tue, 02 Dec 2014 10:16:42 +0000
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