Omoniyi Salaudeen
The aspiration of the Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) for the 2019 general elections, Mr Olujimi Agbaje, got a boost yesterday as a group which identified itself as Yoruba Self-determination Advancement Forum (YOSEDAF) declared its support for his candidature.
Addressing a press conference at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, Convener of the Forum, Evangelist Kunle Adesokan, said it had become imperative for all stakeholers to work together to liberate the state from the political dominance of one man, who has constituted himself as a threat to participatory democracy.
His words: ”It is the conviction of Yoruba Self-Determination Advancement Forum that a victory for Mr Olujimi Kolawole Agbaje on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the forthcoming governorship poll will effectively translate to popular empowerment for Lagosians. We are irrevocably committed to taking the message of hope which Mr Jimi Agbaje represents to the electorate who, for close to two decades, have been desirous of freedom from the political hegemony of one man, that shackling albatross, which has become a threat to the popular quest for genuine democracy and good governance.”
The Convener, who also lamented the poor quality of education, collapsing infrastructure as well as pervasive poverty in the face of primitive accumulation by a privileged few, said ”the 2019 governorship election in Lagos State offers a golden opportunity for the actualisation of the rescue mission towards popular democratic inclusion and good governance.”
The Forum further noted that the policy of urban renewal characterised by arbitrary demolition, multiple taxation, endless construction and rehabilitation of roads and other infrastructures under the successive administrations in the state had brought more hardship than relief to the ordinary people who constitute the bulk of the population.
On his own part, Mr Kola Are, the Forum Secretary, described Agbaje as a genumine democrat who had paid his dues, saying ”there is no way you can write the history of democracy in Nigeria without mentioning Agbaje. “As a former member of the Afenifere, he participated in the fight against military rule after the annulment of the June 12 presidential election,” he added.
Earlier, Mr Francis Abayomi, the Publicity Secretary of the Forum, called for concerted efforts of all concerned stakeholders in the bid to ensure ethronment of participatory democracy.
The event had in attendance participants from the six states of the South-west as well as other stakeholders from Kwara, Edo and Delta states.