Our Mission Is To Win Lagos, Says George

Former National Vice Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party, Southwest, Chief Olabode George, has said that the priority of the Lagos State chapter of the party is to win the state in 2015.

The PDP chieftain, who said this at the party’s Democracy Day Symposium held at 10 Degrees Event Centre, Oregun, Ikeja, Lagos, southwest Nigeria, added that the party is now a big family devoid of rancour.

“Our mission now is to win Lagos State in 2015. The state PDP is now one. There is no more group or division, we are one big family now. Anybody who wants to cause division within us should go to hell and do that.

“What we need now is dedicated people. There is nothing to fight for. Therefore, go to the nooks and crannies of Lagos and spread the gospel that we are now one big family with one mission and one destination and that is to win the state in coming elections,” he said.

Former Minister of Transport and member, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Chief Ebenezer Babatope, in his lecture titled: “Need to promote family ties in Lagos PDP: Winning election as a case study”, predicted that the Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, would no longer be in existence by 2015, adding that PDP will be the beneficiary of their collapse.

His words: “Many of these opposition parties are paper tigers, therefore, the PDP will always win if we put our house in order. They cannot form any alliance that can beat the structure of the PDP. If not because of the internal wrangling which the PDP experienced, today, the story could have been different.

He challenged the PDP to unite as a family in order for the party to form the next government in Lagos State, saying that the PDP lost the South-West due to what he called avoidable mistakes, warning that the Lagos PDP should learn from the mistakes of Osun, Oyo and Ogun states.

He said that in Osun State, individualism cost the state the governorship, as every ethnic group in the state agitated for their own man to become the PDP flag bearer, adding that before the party knew what was happening, ACN had taken over government.He said the same scenario of internal wrangling played out in Oyo and Ogun states, adding that the mistakes will never repeat themselves again.

Mr. Babatunde Gbadamosi who delivered another lecture on “Assessment of Governance in Lagos State since 1999 till date,” noted that despite the huge revenue that accrued to Lagos State in the last few years, the development on ground did not justify the huge amount.

He pointed out that it is not going to be business as usual because the PDP is ready to wrest power from the ACN come 2015 and the state will be transformed to a new haven which it actually is.

—Yisa Jamiu