The Nation Newspaper Can Lagos PDP rise above its multi-dimensional crises?
The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party is doing a post-mortem of its electoral defeat in last year’s governorship poll and trying to reconcile aggrieved members.examines the causes of consistent failures as the party projects into the future
It appears that Lagos PDP leaders have only attributed the poor performance of the party to disunity in the fold. The candidate of PDP for the 1999 election, Chief Dapo Sarunmi, lost to Tinubu. It was ironic because the eminent politician was Tinubu’s leader in the Third Republic Social Democratic Party and Primose, the highly influential caucus that rubbed shoulders with Lateef Jakande’s ‘Ase Group.’ In fact, the former governor later tried to sincerely woo Sarunmi with the Lagos East senatorial ticket in memory of the good old days. But, Sarunmi declined the offer.
Last year, Lagos PDP boasted that the end had come for the APC in the Centre of Excellence. Again, it was obvious that the party was in want of a candidate. Although Gbadebo Vivour, a former senatorial candidate, applied for the flag, certain considerations made the leadership of the party to gravitate towards another defector from the APC, Adediran, who had warmed himself into some grassroots people in Ojo Council through some philanthropic activities.
Thus, it is now part of the political history of Lagos that in all the seven periodic governorship elections in Lagos State, Lagos PDP lost because it could not withstand the arsenal of the ruling party. According to party elders, last year’s election result was the worst for PDP. The party lost its deposit. It came third, trailing LP, which came second.
As crisis continue to ravage the opposition party, its members started seeking refuge in the ruling party. Defetors, and indeed, other notable chieftains, , including Obanikoro, the late Ademola Adeniji-Adele, the late Demola Seriki, Pa Amingo, Remi Adikwu-Bakare, Olufemi Pedro, the late Pa Rafiu Jafojo, Yaya Dosunmu, Sesan Olanrewaju, the late Tunde Braimoh, the late Tunde Salau, Enoch Ajiboso, Dr. Wale Ahmed, Ogunlewe, Mrs. Kafilat Ogbara, and Bode Oyedele, left for the APC.
PDP performance in the local council elections has also been poor. Their councillors could be counted on finger prints. Where it had claimed victory, the ruling party has always dismantled its claims whenever the battle shifted from the ballot box to the tribunal. It is an understatement. Many leaders of AD/AC/ACN/APC have paid their dues. They have served the state meritoriously, either as key functionaries of previous progressive governments, actors in the days of the defunct Action Group and Unity Party of Nigeria , pro-democracy fighters under the banners of Afenifere and National Democratic Coalition , or as gerontocratic monitor of the Lagos administrations from 1999 to date.
Whether the PDP is tapping from the ideas of the ruling party or not is not certain. But, the main opposition figures, led by George, agreed that they should put their house in order ahead of 2027. “How we collectively address the issues at stake will be a major determinant of the fate of this party in months and years to come.
“I want to state clearly that as one of the founding fathers and a former Deputy National Chairman of our party, I will never do or say anything against the interest of this party. But, I abhor and hate injustice at al levels.” “We must change the narratives now so that we don’t embark on a suicide mission, a self-destructive journey for our party in 2027. Lagos residents are waiting for us in 2027 to kick APC out of Alausa.”
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