The next governorship election in Lagos State will take place on 11 March 2023, according to the timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Incumbent APC Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is eligible to run for re-election, but has not yet stated whether he will do so or not as at the time of filing this report. But his party, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has left nobody in doubt of its desire to continue to govern the state beyond 2023.
But the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state says it is prepared to unseat the ruling party this time around. Since the country’s return to democracy in 1999, the PDP has remained in the opposition in Lagos State. State chairman of the party, Hon. Phillip Olabode Aivoji, recently said it is time to dislodge the ruling APC in Lagos State, and called on all members of the party to work assiduously and support him in the mission to dislodge APC in the 2023 general elections.
Aivoji however made it clear to members of the PDP that in order to attain their joint mission, there must be an end to infighting, division, personal interests and unnecessary political bickering within the PDP so that people will trust the party with their votes and give them the mandate to govern Lagos. “We must take steps to facilitate the attainment of good governance in Lagos State in 2023 by ensuring the victory of our party at the polls. To achieve this, we need unity, tolerance and mutual understanding.
“Be rest assured of my determination to do my best possible to justify the confidence reposed in me by all and sundry,” Aivoji urged. Immediate past Publicity Secretary of the party, Barrister Taofik Gani expressed optimism that PDP is currently well-positioned to take over Lagos, especially as all stakeholders in and outside the party have now come to accept that the 23-year-old APC rule in Lagos has done nothing of benefit to the state in terms of progress and development.
But the Lagos State APC chairman, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi dismissed talks of any threat from the PDP ahead of the 2023 governorship election. According to the party boss, the PDP is not on ground in Lagos and as such cannot threaten the ruling party. “The people of Lagos state are happy with the government we have in the state today. Even people outside Lagos are using the growth and development of Lagos since 1999 as good examples. So, there is no way people will change a winning team that has been delivering. PDP cannot win Lagos,” he said. Speaking on alleged crisis within the party, Ojelabi said his team is on a rescue mission and soon, Lagos APC will be crisis free.
Assuring that the misunderstandings within the party will be addressed before the elections, Chief Babatunde Aboyade, the Lagos APC Vice-Chairman (Lagos West Senatorial district) said “We have not given up on those who have defected to other parties. We are still reaching them. It may not be in the public but we are talking to them. We are making sure that whatever they want is looked at. Politics is give and take. We will ensure that all are brought back into the fold. We are working on it and we are not sleeping on it.
“There are people we started together. We will settle whatever their grievances are. They will come back, I can assure you. We want to reconcile all factions and groups within the party because united we stand, divided we fall. We want to achieve this to the letter. We must ensure reconciliation in our family. APC is the party of Lagos and no other party can take over the state. But we must remain united and strong. That is why we are paying much attention to reconciliation ahead of the 2023 general elections.”
However, aside the unending rivalry between the ruling APC and the opposition PDP which is expected, the governorship race in the state has been unusually a quiet one with less than three aspirants currently in the race officially. Observers say the debilitating crisis which started in the PDP immediately after the 2019 general elections, and the impressive ratings currently being enjoyed by incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwoolu, may be responsible for the dearth of challenges.
APC
At the time of filing this report, there is no chieftain of the ruling party that has formally declared interest in the party’s governorship ticket. Largely, it appears the entire party is waiting for Sanwoolu to return as the APC candidate. Although some were mentioned at a time when it was being rumoured that some forces within the party were bent on preventing the governor from getting another term. But such speculations failed to translate into the emergence of challengers and as such, fizzled out in no time with Sanwoolu looking good for the ticket.
Some APC chieftains bandied as possible replacement for Sanwoolu as flagbearer include Abdulhakeem Abdullateef, A former Commissioner for Home Affairs in the state who recently returned to the party after opting out some years ago; Tokunbo Abiru, the Senator representing Lagos East senatorial district in the national assembly who was also Commissioner for Finance in the state between 2011 and 2013.
Also mentioned was Akinwunmi Ambode, the immediate past Governor of the state and Tayo Ayinde, the current Chief of Staff to Governor Sanwoolu. Femi Hamzat, incumbent Deputy Governor and former Commissioner for Science and Technology was also rumoured to be in consideration for the ticket. Likewise, Hakeem Muri-Okunola, the Head of Service, had his name dropped as a potential candidate. But none of the people mentioned above has signified interest in the governorship race up till this momen
A chieftain of the party, Senator Seye Ogunlewe, insisted that the Governor’s achievements make him the candidate to beat in next year’s governorship election in Lagos State. He also said a second term is needed to avoid the disruption of ongoing projects. Ogunlewe said the governor is doing things that are pleasing to Lagosians. “What Sanwo-Olu has been able to achieve in Lagos and what he wishes to complete, it is the wish of Lagosians that he should be allowed to complete them.
“We don’t want disruption again. Breaking of policies has negatively affected Lagos State and we must avoid it at all cost. Sanwo-Olu is best positioned to return as governor. It would be an uphill task for any other candidate to defeat him at the poll,” he said. the governor, who has been bagging endorsements from within and outside the state ahead of the 2023 gubernatorial contest, is expected to declare his reelection bid in a matter of days, according to close aides. “Sanwoolu will declare his reelection bid next week. He will surely run for another term,” an aide said.
Reliable party sources also confided in The Nation that the governor has the support of the leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and majority of the members of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) in his quest fo4r another term in office. “Contrary to the rumours and speculations, Asiwaju and most of the GAC members have expressed their supports for a second term for Sanwoolu. That is what he has been waiting for. Now, he has it and he will waste no more time to tell the good people of Lagos State he is ready to do more,” a party leader said.
Recently, the leadership of Lagos State chapter of Christian Association of Nigeria, (CAN) endorsed Sanwoolu for a second term. Some leaders of the pan-Yoruba organization, Afenifere, including Chief Ayo Adebanjo, have also urged him to seek re-election. During his visit to the state, Senate President, Ahmed Lawan, also attested to the good works of the governor and urged him to continue beyond 2023. Perhaps, it is all the above votes of confidence that are responsible for the absence of serious challengers to the governor within the party ahead of the general elections.
PDP
Like the ruling party, the PDP in the state suffers an unusual scarcity of gubernatorial aspirants ahead of the 2023 race. Today, only a new decampee to the party from the ruling APC, Dr. Olajide Adediran, popularly called, Jandor, declared his interest to contest in the 2023 governorship polls against the incumbent, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu if given the ticket by PDP. He leads the Lagos4Lagos Movement, which pulled out of the APC recently. He has purchased the PDP nomination and expression of interest form to run for the office.
Before now, Adedeji Doherty, the immediate past Lagos State chairman and a former PDP gubernatorial candidate, Ade Dosunmu, who was the Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency from 2007–2009, among others, were reportedly interested in seeking the party’s gubernatorial ticket to contest the 2023 election. But neither of them has picked the nomination form as at the time of writing this report. Some of their supporters told The Nation the duo may have decided to forgo the plan.
Speaking on the chances of the PDP, Doherty said the party will win the governorship election in 2023 because it has been able to build the grassroots structure. He said the party also now has party machineries across the state capable of ensuring victory in Lagos in 2023. He blamed the lack of structure at the grassroots and candidate imposition for the failure of the party in previous elections.
“After serving as chairman in Lagos state, I can categorically say that disunity is not the problem of PDP winning election in the state but non existence of structures at the grassroots level, which has now been created in the last state congress. We have between 500,000 and 600,000 registered people now as members of PDP in Lagos. We lost elections because we don’t have the structure; if you don’t have the structure, you cannot spend money in the right place. The structure is already on ground to win election. We are working now. We are galvanizing people and everybody has to be onboard,” Doherty said.
He blamed some party leaders for encouraging imposition of candidates in the past. “In Lagos state PDP, the norm up till the last state congress has always been imposition and selection and this led to failure in 2003, 2007, 2011, 2015 and 2019. Those of us that have been in the party for over two decades, decided to come together and change the narrative because we cannot be doing the same thing, getting a particular result and believe that if we continue doing the same way, we will get a different result,” he said.
But it appears there are still some issues within the party that may affect the chances of the party at the polls. Another former Chairman of the party in the state, Otunba Segun Adewale, popularly called Aeroland, who has picked the nomination and expression of interest forms to contest the Lagos West Senatorial District seat in the 2023 general elections, is optimistic that PDP now has a very bright chance to win elections in the state in 2023 with the recent defection of some people into the party, but quickly urged the party leadership must come together and harmonise.
The Nation gathered that some prominent chieftains of the PDP in the state are still rejecting the outcomes of the last state congress of the party that produced the current leaderships across the state. The call for harmonization, which they say will help ensure all groups are catered for, is growing louder, ahead of the 2023 general elections. “It is a matter of unity and cohesion that I am fighting for. The more PDP comes together, the easier to win election in 2023. We need to change APC in Lagos across all levels.
“My fighting with those who have hijacked the party structure is not personal, I am only poised about PDP winning this election and we can only get there if we come together. It shouldn’t be the winner takes all. We will lose elections. It is clear that no single bloc in Lagos PDP can win elections alone. We have to harmonise to win. I am fighting because I want us to do the right thing that will give us victory in the 2023 polls.
“My view is that we have to harmonise and share positions so that PDP won’t be working against one another,”A single bloc cannot even mobilise party agents to man all the polling units, and moment we don’t have this, we will fail again. We have to come together and that’s why I stop fighting Chief Bode George, the leader of the party,” Adewale said.
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