The victory of Labour Party in Lagos during the last presidential election where its candidate, Peter Obi defeated the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate, Bola Tinubu is causing serious panic within the ruling party as the country prepares for governorship and State House of Assembly polls this Saturday.
Though Bola Tinubu won the national poll on February 25, he lost Lagos to Peter Obi, the LP standard bearer, who many insist won by a wider margin.
Peter Obi’s triumph in Lagos caused panic within the APC which has stepped up meetings, consultations, and electioneering across the state.
One of the last-minute pushes was the government’s alleged directive to civil servants to post campaign messages in support of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s re-election.
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But the party is confident of retaining power in spite of the LP phenomenon, noting that it enjoys widespread grassroots support.
According to the Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Seye Oladejo, APC remains strong in Lagos.
“You mentioned the LP wave; the wave is a fluke… a flash in the pan. Lagosians are knowledgeable people who know Governor Sanwo-Olu has done well and will re-elect him.
“Yes, there was low voter turnout the last time. It was because many were aggrieved about the naira redesign which the Supreme Court has overruled.
“People were also not happy about the scarcity of petrol, those issues brought about anger. Again, some voters were against the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Now without these issues in the governorship election, we are looking at victory. It makes a lot of sense to retain Lagos to be with the centre.
Incumbent Sanwo-Olu joined politics when he was appointed as an aide to ex-deputy governor Femi Pedro and later Tinubu’s special adviser on corporate affairs.
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At different times, he was Commissioner for Commerce and Industry, Commissioner for Budget and Planning, and Commissioner for Establishments and Training.
The 57-year-old governor is an alumnus of the University of Lagos, UNILAG, the London Business School and the Lagos Business School.
Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, 40, holds a Bachelor’s degree in Architecture from the University of Nottingham and a Masters’ degree in the same field from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, MIT.
GRV holds another Master’s in Public Policy from the University of Lagos, UNILAG, founded Spatial Tectonics, and serves on the boards of Al Huda Construction and Delta Commercial City Ltd.
The other frontrunner Azeez Adeniran (Jandor), of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, studied at The Polytechnic, Ibadan; Modul University, Vienna, and Howard University School of Business.
The 45-year-old Chairman of Core Media Group, Datanet Project Services, and The Floral Consult, is also the Lead Visioner of Jandor Foundation.