I’ve no godfather, says Agbaje

• Promises redress for Makoko evictees 

GOVERNORSHIP candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has stated that he has no godfather that would influence or hamper service delivery to the people if elected as governor, just as he vowed to reverse all illegally acquired properties in the state.

   In a related development, Agbaje promised to review the ejection of Makoko residents from the community by the government of Mr. Babatunde Fashola.

   Speaking during the weekend at a media interaction, Agbaje, who contested for governorship in 2007 under the defunct Democratic People Alliance (DPA), noted that his campaign for next month’s election is predicated on change in the affairs of the state.      

   To buttress the point that he has no godfather, Agbaje explained: “They said they didn’t make you governor in one place because you cannot be bullied or forced to do things you don’t want to do, then on the other hand they now said you have gone to another godfather, so its now a case of saying I ran away from one godfather to go and work with another godfather, but such an issue didn’t arise. I don’t have a godfather in the way that they have put it. 

   “When it was time to choose my running mate, nobody chose her for me. The issue of godfather hampering whatever service delivery is not even on the table. I want the people to believe me that it won’t happen.

   “We have a vested interest that is affecting the social, economic and political life of our state. You cannot have any big project in Lagos unless you take into consideration vested interest and we are saying that it is time to remove Lagos from this bondage.

   “The properties acquired by the vested interests, the ones we can take back, we will take back, those ones that had been acquired illegally and cannot be properly accounted for, we will take back. The ones we cannot take back and had been done in a way that the people have been shortchanged will be addressed. That is why I said the election is about continuity or change,” he said.

   The PDP candidate also allayed fears of being abandoned by leaders of his party in the campaigns.

   He said, “People said that they haven’t seen Chief Bode George behind me, he is an elder of the party and he is not the one that is going to run the campaign.”

   During an interactive town hall meeting at the Nigerian Army Officers’ Mess at Sabo, Yaba in Lagos Mainland Local Council, Agbaje assured representatives of the evicted residents of the shantytown of justice, even as he asked them to be patient until after the polls to see justice done under his administration.

   Agbaje had earlier visited Badary and Mushin as part of his tour of the 20 local councils, which commenced on Friday.

Refuting insinuations that he lacks requisite experience in public office, the trained pharmacist noted that that assertion was only a political vituperation aimed at undermining him. 

   He explained, “Even the national leader of their party (APC), the only experience he had before he became governor was probably thee months as a senator, he had no government experience, so we should keep the politics aside and come in with fresh ideas. The issue is whether I am qualified or not.”