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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
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