News Release: Musiliu Obanikoro Should Accept Defeat

Musiliu Obanikoro

We have gathered here today to update Nigerians particularly Lagosians on the facts of the issues that have surrounded the conduct of the Governorship primary of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP in Lagos State on Monday and the aftermath of it particularly as it has to do with the conduct of one of the aspirants who participated in the election, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro.

We have overtime raised several issues concerning the conduct of Mr. Musiliu Obanikoro months before the eventual conduct of the election. Our organization, the Concerned Lagos PDP Youth Group had even days before the election advised the former Junior Minister of Defense to concentrate on winning the minds of delegates to the primary rather than engaging in his needless battle against the elders of the PDP in the State, many of whom were instrumental to his coming and rising to whatever position he has assumed since he joined the PDP from his old Alliance for Democracy AD/AC. Today, we make bold to say that Musiliu Obanikoro can be best described as an individual who though does not deserve the kind of grace and privilege he has enjoyed since he was brought into the PDP by Chief Olabode George, yet looks for trouble where there is none. Wanting all things to himself as if he were the only begotten son of God.

We need to remind Lagosians that Musiliu Obanikoro is a politician whose business is getting power and privilege without possessing merit. A politician who asks individuals to surrender part of their liberty, their power and privilege so he can run it as his personal estate.

He seems to be interested in people, not that this is always a virtue he possess but as simply as fleas are interested in dogs. He is a politician who wants to keep everything to himself against Organised unproductiveness. 

 In the last few days, Mr. Obanikoro has busied himself with the media war of disparaging the leaders of our great party and the candidate of the PDP in person of Mr. Jimi Agbaje owning to his inability to clinch the party ticket. Obanikoro has resorted to telling blatant lies about the events which we have well documented. On the so called allegation of over-voting at the primaries, we wish to state that Musiliu Obanikoro is not being Honorable and such a person in the first place cannot be entrusted with the destiny of over 18million Lagosians as their Governor which he has inordinately aspired to be. Obanikoro’s antecedents are not exactly ennobling. He should tell Lagosians about his involvement in the fire that gutted the Lagos City hall during his tenure as the Chairman of the Local government. Lagosians are interested in knowing if he actually finished from his claimed Ahmadiya college in Agege. Is Musiliu Obanikoro the son of the same Onikoro man who came from Idi Ape in Ibadan? Why hide your parentage? Surely, Lagosians are not gullible. Obanikoro is not electable in the general election and that is why PDP delegates reasonably rejected him. 

His conduct like we observed is also being encouraged by one Dr. Tokunbo Pearce, a failed guber aspirant of the PDP who could not even purchase a nomination form to participate at the primaries but have resorted into crying foul over a process he was never a part of .

For the purpose of records, we wish to restate that in the course of the primaries, the six Governorship aspirants contesting the election agreed that there was a clerical omission in the originally announced Delegate number of 806, as it had left out some ad hoc and statutory delegates from a few local governments, and that they should be allowed to vote. Earlier placed at 806 delegates, the total figure for voting delegates finally came to 864 after votes were cast.

Musiliu Obanikoro just like others together with their agents, were party to this agreement. There and then, it was agreed that the omitted delegates be added to the total tally. Even in a simple arithmetic, if a deduction of the 58delegates that Obanikoro is building his protest upon is made, Mr. Jimi Agbaje still remains the clear winner of the Monday primary of the PDP in Lagos State.

We need to remind Mr. Obanikoro that the outcome of the primaries may be beyond his comprehension because party faithful were genuinely interested in considering factors greater that Obanikoro’s dirty politics in making their choice. It will be unserious for the PDP in Lagos to field a candidate with questionable characters and irregular  qualifications as a challenger to the candidate of the All Progressives Congress APC, Akin Ambode who is not only a Chartered Accountant but also meets the requisite agitation in the political circle for a Governorship candidate from the East axis of Lagos and Christian Faith. 

It is quite unfortunate that there is nothing so bad that politics cannot make worse or how else can we describe the being fortunate of an undeserved apologist like Musiliu Obanikoro?

Now, Obanikoro believes, may be like he runs his home that no one else can be Governor of Lagos state but him under the platform of the PDP even when he seems to be the least qualified of all aspirants. We ask who Obanikoro is actually afraid of or has governorship of any state become chieftaincy title that is automatic?

As the Younger Generation of Party members in Lagos, we have resolved to henceforth call to order, Mr. Obanikoro and his likes whenever they are out to bring the corporate integrity of the PDP into disrepute. We have always been suspicious of the character called Obanikoro whose relationship with folks in the household of his former Principal, former Governor Bola Tinubu remain as cordial as ever. We are not unaware that until the late hours on the eve of the Governorship primaries, Mr. Obanikoro was locked in a long meeting with a Senatorial aspirant of the APC, Mr. Demola Seriki in Ikeja. This raises further concern that Mr. Obanikoro is a mole within the party and will never be allowed to truncate the prospect of the desired change that our great party is bringing to Lagosians in Mr. Jimi Agbaje come 2015.

We hereby urge our Leaders particularly Chief Olabode George not to further engage a petty mind like Mr. Obanikoro is any war of words any longer as this will further satisfy Obanikoro’s primary intentions of dragging them into a gutter fight which he is known for. Chief Bode George like many of the Elder of Lagos PDP are too civilized and polished to be involved in street brawls that Mr. Obanikoro majors in.

Obanikoro is a politician, a creature known for his propensity to lie, exaggerate, embellish, and use all kinds of hysterical or bombastic attention getting. For anyone that knows Obanikoro, may he be told to enjoy what he has while it lasts as he is getting close to the end. Never again shall we whose generation is taking over allow a misfit like Obanikoro.

Need not his unruly and lack of appreciation to what the elders has done to make him be mentioned as that will be issues for another day. Obanikoro should know and if he doesn’t, we are telling him that he has long passed being applauded as a politician of any hue. He is part of those that got us into the present mess. The best he deserves is a probationary opportunity which he has enjoyed and used to prove himself or the worst, he wants to rot in the bin of history or be hanged by posterity.

We shall not fold our arms and watch the greed of one man to destroy the prospects of our Party and the hopes of the good people of Lagos State for a credible alternative leadership come 2015.

Eko onibaje jubayi lo. 

Signed:

Olufemi Lawson

Coordinator 

Kola Salau

Secretary