Lagos PDP Lauds Obanikoro’s Nomination

THE Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has described as well deserved the inclusion of Senator Musiliu Obanikoro in the ministerial nominees’ list sent to the National Assembly last week for consideration by President Goodluck Jonathan.

   In a chat with The Guardian Saturday, the party’s secretary, Alhaji Wahab Owokoniran, said the president has made the right choice. “We members of PDP in Lagos State are fully in support of Obanikoro’s nomination. This is someone who has been tested in public service.

   “In the past, he has served this country as a High Commissioner to Ghana and it is noteworthy that during his tenure as ambassador, there was improvement in the relationship between Nigeria and Ghana. He was a minister after that, a duty which he performed meritoriously in the sense that by the time he was leaving after just seven months in office, the entire Defence ministry gave him a resounding reception to bid him farewell.”

 Reacting to the claims by the All Progressives Congress (APC) to stop Obanikoro’s nomination at the Senate over his alleged involvement in a recently released recording on the Ekiti State election, the Lagos PDP Scribe said the APC is only behaving as a bad loser and hiding behind a tape, which authenticity is yet to be established to beat a dead horse.

   “We are talking here of a tape that has been doctored to reflect their negative opinion about an election they lost freely and fairly, but they are being bad losers. More so, I learnt that the case is in court and any matter in court cannot even be discussed or a pronouncement made on it. It is glaring that they are just afraid of Senator Obanikoro because they know he is a man of action,” he said.

   Speaking in the same vein, the National Ex-officio of the Lagos PDP, Chief Jide Damazio, said there is no substance to their claim. “All these claims are unfounded and the APC is only doing that to discredit the president’s nomination, which has the blessing of all members of the party in Lagos. 

   “There has not been any protest to the nomination from the PDP or any non-political group in Lagos. The only group mounting opposition to the nomination is the APC, which is well understood, we don’t expect anything less.” 

   On the chances of the party ahead of the governorship election in March, Damazio said the party is united and working as a team to achieve success. “What is happening now in Lagos PDP has not happened in the past. We are going into this election as one entity unlike in the past when we go into elections divided. We have all come together and we intend to win. 

   “The people of Lagos interestingly enough are ready for a change. It is their slogan that will bury them because people are tired of their heavy taxation and unnecessary propaganda they have use in the past to deceive people. The roads in the suburbs are in deplorable state. The only places you see good roads are maybe in Osborne, Lekki, Ikoyi, Ikeja and Surulere.”