…Says APC Is Twisting Facts
The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Dr Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor) has said that no amount of attack allegedly by the All Progressives Congress (APC) would stop his tour to all political wards of the state.
Jandor said the APC intentionally twisted the facts on Surulere attack to paint him black, adding that there had been constant attack on his team by the agents of the APC since the commencement of his ward tour.
Narrating his ordeal at a World Press conference held in Ikeja on Sunday, Jandor said the whole thing started when outdoor advertising agencies commissioned to produce billboards for his campaign returned money paid to them and his posters destroyed in strategy areas of the state.
” This whole thing started when the advertising agencies we commissioned to produce billboards for our campaign returned our money, claiming there was instruction from the State government not to render service to us. I took this issue to the court of public opinion by going to the media to let the world know what the State government did”, said Jandor.
Speaking further, the PDP governorship candidate explained that he started his campaign tour on October 19, 2022, adding that 192 wards have been visited so far, but that his team has suffered several attacks from the agents of the APC.
“We started with Alimosho area before moving to Badagry. We visited the riverine areas in Badagry on the first day of the visit, but on the second day, when we visited the other side, we were attacked by the hoodlums of the APC.
“We thought the Governor, who is the Chief Security Officer of the state, would address the matter, but he did not.
“Similarly during our visit to Agege area on January 21, 2023, our team was attacked. We reported the matter to the police. This also happened in Kosofe area of the state few days ago.
“What they do is to tell the people that wanted to receive us not to do so. They attacked our Deputy Governorship Candidate, Ms. Funke Akindele, when she went to the Fruits Market in Kosofe on our first day there.
“On the second day, Wednesday January 25, they attacked us in Oworonsoki area. I called the state Commissioner of Police and told him that I would go in no matter what happened. Many of our people were wounded in the process.
“We went to Surulere the next day, but I was called by 2am before we visited that thugs were already around. We still went there and on Friday, as I was praying in the mosque, being Jumat, they were calling my name that they wanted to attack me and some of my people were wounded in the process.
“Our campaign vehicles were destroyed and they also destroyed our officeQ there. But the APC members are turning and twisting it that they were attacked by our people. We will continue to go ahead with our campaign despite what they are doing.
” What they don’t know is that the campaign is beyond me. It is the people of Lagos State that wanted a breadth of fresh air which i am prepared to give them”, said Jandor.
He however, thanked the Lagos Commissioner of Police, Mr Abiodun Alabi who he said had always been responding to his complaints, and that he always inform the police about his itinerary.
Jandor then called on President Muhammadu Buhari, the Inspector General of the Nigeria Police and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intervene in the attacks, adding that it was his constitutional right to campaign in the state.
Also speaking, a PDP leader in Iponri Estate area of Surulere, Mrs. Aduke Akinde, said that at about 11:30pm of the day before Adediran’s visit, some thugs came searching for the home of the PDP Ward Chairman who hosted the party’s flag and posters of the governorship and Assembly candidates but they could not get him.
She added that as the party supporters were expecting Jandor on the next day, some thugs masked and armed with guns came with four vehicles and two tricycles to destroyed the chairs and canopies that were arranged to receive the campaign team.
Narrating the Ketu attack, Mrs. Adeniyi Idowu ( Iyalaya) from Ketu Fruits Market, said that as soon as she heard that the PDP Deputy Governorship candidate, Ms Funke Akindele was approaching the market on Tuesday January 24, she tried to organise other traders to meet her team, but that the secretary of the market said that she would not be allowed into the market.
“Later, we saw some boys with guns and other items. They destroyed our stalls and threatens us with guns.
“We have not been able to go to the market since then. We reported at the police station, but there is little they could do. They have destroyed our stalls and we have not been able to sell since then or go to our homes,” she said.
Mrs. Tawa Alimi from Agege also alleged that she and others were sent away from their shops in Agege because they openly say they would vote PDP instead of the APC.
Alimi alleged that agents of the APC sent them away from the market and told them that it belongs to the APC and not to the PDP.
The PDP Ward Chairman in Kosofe Local Government, Mrs. Titilayo Adetayo, who was also present, narrated how they were confronted with thugs, when they were trying to receive the Jandor Campaign team into the area.
Adetayo said that she was nearly killed by the thugs, adding that when she visited the DPO of the police station in the area with some of the wounded members of the party, they were arrested by the police but that they were later released.
