The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State has said that its governorship candidate in the upcoming March 11 elections, Abdul-Azeez Adeniran, popularly known as Jandor, will not step down for any candidate.
The PDP also clarified that it is not officially discussing with the Labour Party any possible alliance ahead of Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections.
This was made known in a statement by the Publicity Secretary of the Lagos State chapter of PDP, Hakeem Amode. He described the report that Jandor is considering stepping down for Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Labour Party (LP) governorship candidate as “false”.
Recommended reading: Lagos Governorship election: Jandor rules out alliance with Labour party
The statement is a reaction to a comment credited to Rhodes-Vivour that the LP is “talking to the real owners of the structure of PDP” ahead of the March 11 governorship election.
Lagos PDP accuse Labour Party’s candidate of disrespect: Amode said that it was imperative to debunk such claims, noting that the statement credited to Rhodes-Vivour came as a disrespect to PDP, saying no one could lay claims to the ownership structure of the PDP. The spokesperson said:
- “Lagos state chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has debunked claims by the Labour Party Candidate PDP Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour that he’s talking with what he called “the real owners of PDP structure in Lagos State”, saying the statement as credited to the Labour Party candidate came as a disrespect to PDP, as no one can lay claims to the ownership structure of the PDP.
- “PDP is a proper democratic party and it’s only the state executive of the party as recognized by the national body can be described as the custodian of the PDP under the leadership of the party’s governorship candidate Dr. Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor).
- “So whoever Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour is talking to is only representing themselves and not Lagos PDP, as no official conversation across the two-party lines at the moment, and Jandor is NOT planning to step down for any candidate.
- “It is important at this time to issue this statement due to a recent statement credited to Mr. Rhodes-Vivour and purported message broadcasted on a Twitter handle @zuccinille who claimed that Jandor will collapse his structure to work for a certain political party.
- “Jandor as a candidate in this election achieved making the Jandor brand a household name in Lagos on his own merit due to his immense hard work, and he’s not riding on any sudden waves.”
For the record: Since the defeat of the former governor of Lagos state and president-elect Bola Tinubu, in the state by the Labour party (LP) candidate, Peter Obi, in the just presidential election, there have been speculations that the LP and PDP in Lagos might ally to defeat the ruling party — the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state.
The LP governorship candidate in the state, Rhodes-Vivour, had during a recent media interview said that he was discussing with the real owners of the structure in PDP for a possible alliance towards the upcoming gubernatorial and state assembly elections.