Demola Olarewaju, a top member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, on Monday described as “a sham of the highest order” the endorsement of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu by the Governance Advisory Council (GAC).
POLITICS NIGERIA reports that the GAC, the apex decision-making body within the state ruling political class of the All Progressives Congress (APC), agreed and gave the approval for the second term of Sanwo-Olu at its meeting this afternoon at State House, Marina.
The APC governorship election primary election is scheduled for May 27, and Governor Sanwo-Olu is expected to declare his intention to contest for the governorship poll in 2023.
Reacting to the GAC’s endorsement of Sanwo-Olu, Olarewaju said in a statement: “The confirmation of Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu to run for a second term by the Governor’s Advisory Council by the Lagos State Commissioner for Information today on social media is akin to an endorsement of Bola Tinubu by Bola Tinubu himself.
“The GAC in Lagos is nothing but a charade to mask the control of Lagos by one man at the head of the Bourdillon Cabal. The so-called Council which has no place in the constitution is composed of elected representatives of Lagos State at the National Assembly and former Governors but conveniently excludes former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, while keeping his deputy and other former Deputy Governors. The rest of those who make up this phantom body are co-travellers of Bola Tinubu since 1999 who now have an avenue to sip from the purse of Lagos State while Tinubu himself milks the larger portion. It totally defies logic that Ambode who performed better than Sanwo-Olu was humiliated out of office. Obviously, the only thing that ruled Ambode out of a second term was his reluctance to feed the master while also feeding the GAC family of the master.”
He added: “Indeed, nothing whatsoever recommends Babajide Sanwo-Olu for a second term other than his absolute availability to facilitate the use of Lagos funds for Tinubu’s lifelong presidential ambition. Is the GAC unaware that Lagos under Sanwo-Olu has continued with the trajectory of stagnated public development whereas anything good from here can only be linked with the private sector, from education to maintenance of roads? Is the GAC unaware of an April 2022 report by an international organisation of repute, the Brookings Institution released this month which shows that since 2000 till date, 167 buildings collapsed in Lagos with property worth $3.2 Trillion lost in the process? Is the GAC unaware of the numbers of lives lost to various fracas among the transportation unions, leading to the final handover of Lagos commuters to MC Oluomo? How can the GAC then claim that Sanwo-Olu is endorsed for a second term on the basis of his fidelity to a fictional Lagos Development Masterplan which nobody has ever seen?
“They say Lagos is working and we agree that it is working for Bola Tinubu, the GAC and their families. The Lagos that works for the majority of us Lagosians is the Lagos that works by the effort of ordinary Lagosians. A Lagos where Lagosians build and manage everything for themselves while Government continues to constitute itself as a hindrance.
“The endorsement of Babajide Sanwo-Olu is however an inadvertent blessing to the people of Lagos State as it finally gives us a chance towards respite as the PDP will form the next Government in Alausa. Our political machinery has fully researched the Sanwo-Olu administration and found it wanting. With his presentation as candidate, the APC is surely going to be defeated as we will remind Lagosians of the deadly Lekki Massacre of October 20, 2020 which remains fresh in the minds of our teeming youths. If the GAC which is in charge of the puppet APC insists on dancing on the bloody graves of those brutally murdered, we will remind voters that everything done in the dark on that unfortunate night was done with the connivance of Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
“We urge every Lagosian to go out and register to vote in the next gubernatorial election. The PDP has heard your cry and will field a formidable candidate to confront your oppressors. Go out and register to vote out the APC at all levels – enough of failure is indeed enough.”
