 Tonight on PLUS Politics we discuss the Lagos governorship race as PDP, APC and LP and others battle for the soul of the state. Delta PDP governorship candidate Oberewary escapes gunmen attack. This is PLUS Politics. My name is Nyam Gul Agadji. It's still PLUS Politics and my name is Nyam Gul Agadji. The race for the governorship election in Lagos State has reached a crescendo. The main combatants are the incumbent governor of the All Progressive Congress, APC, or Lagidi at Dediuron, aka Jando, of the People's Democratic Party, PDP, and Mr. Badebo Road's Vival of the Labour Party, LP. The Lagos State Guba candidate of the People's Democratic Party, PDP Abdul Laziz, or Lagidi at Dediuron, has revealed that he had a discussion with Peter Obi of the Labour Party and his principal, Atikwa Bubaka on forming an alliance with his counterpart in the former party, Badebo Road's Vival. He said he couldn't agree on the alliance because he didn't want to gamble going into the election, claiming that Badebo Road's Vival had two pending court cases bordering on his candidacy. Well joining us to discuss these, to confirm or refute the claims, is Woli, or Woli, or Lagundoye, a member campaign strategy team, Jando for governor campaign organization. Thank you for joining us, sir. Thank you very much for having me. Okay. That thing he talked about, Jando talked about the alliance, was a bit of a few days ago, and how far so far right now? Are you going into this election with any alliance whatsoever, not just the Labour Party? As things stand currently, unlike you heard him say earlier this morning, we're open to the alliance. He's very open to the alliance, but I think it has to be an alliance that will make sense at the end of the day, and the point we're making is, for us to go into an alliance must be one that will allow for the objective for the alliance to be met. And as it stands today, his candidacy is clean, he didn't have any litigations after his primaries. I'm talking about Jando, and everybody knows that. But we have a couple of litigations that are encumbering the candidacy of GRV, of the Labour Party. And so we're saying if there's going to be an alliance, let's put our best foot forward if such an alliance is going to, I don't know whether that's going to come up tomorrow or not, but as things stand today, given the way things are, those ideas that that alliance hasn't come together yet. I don't seem to understand why GVR's court cases would be a problem, except the alliance was to make him the governor instead of Jando. Was that what was on the table? So the conversations that we're having is, if you're going to have an alliance or whatever it is, whose own platform would that be? You have two different political parties. You have Labour Party, you have PDP. So on whose political, because they have to go, they can have both of them going to separate their platforms. And that's where it is. If you're going with the Labour Party platform, the Labour Party candidacy is encumbered with litigation. What does that mean? It means that should that go through, it will be now absorbed via the courts at the end of the day, which will make the whole exercise futile. And that's what the argument is that we're putting on the tables. If you're going to go into an alliance, go with one that you're sure of that has no encumbrances, that is clear of litigation, that will definitely deliver on the mandate and the purpose for the alliance in the first place. And that is where the conversation is. What if it had gone the PDP way? How do you mean? Yeah, because if it had gone to the Labour Party, the candidate had some issues. What if it went to the PDP? No, that's what we're saying, we're open to that. So at this moment, you're open to that? Of course, we've always been open to that. If the platform that we're putting in for this alliance, the PDP platform, of course we're open, it is not encumbered, it will definitely deliver on the mandate. And that's what it is, because what that means, and like you heard him say earlier on today, as things stand now, maybe we're weighing by not that much of a heavy margin. But with that alliance, I feel that we'll not have a landslide, basically like what he said. So we feel that the chances are better together, you know what I mean, but it has to be based on us achieving the aim in the first place, with a candidate that is not encumbered. And that's how we believe this will be achieved. As opposed to now going with an encumbered platform that will only mean that we're going to court next time, and then we need to now be absorbed, particularly given the fact that at the centre, you have, you know, we have at the federal government level. So I mean, you understand what we're saying. Okay. Well, there's also this talk that in some parts of Lagos state, PDP has more or less collapsed its structures into the Labour Party. I give you an example in a way. We heard some time ago, or a few days ago, that one of the chief teams of now Labour Party, because it was a boot party, was there was an attempt on his life. And one of the things that he said was supposed to be part of the campaign, or the reason they went to a court was to make sure that the PDP that had said they were going to join forces with Labour Party will come out to declare that. We don't know whether they did that declaration or not, but we'd like you to confirm whether there's a crack in the PDP in Lagos state as you go into the elections. So I mean, to the best of our knowledge and what we know, PDP has not collapsed its go-virtual structure into any party. We have no such a line, no such agreements on the table, and I can confirm that to you. Jando, our candidate, is going head on into the elections, because we believe in his candidacy. You will be clear, and let me state this, this journey did not start yesterday. It did start on the 25th of February, either, all right, and he's not riding on any wave. He began this journey eight years ago, he had a vision, and that's the first time, and that for me is why we're passionate about his candidacy, because it's a candidacy entrenched in pure vision and passion to want to lead a state properly and deliver the true dividend of democracy. You talk to some people, particularly people, elites, and they say Lagos is working. I have no doubt Lagos is working, but Lagos can be much, much more than it is today, particularly given the kind of revenues that would generate on a monthly basis, and that's the point that we're making, and for someone who has put a vision together and who has driven this vision, there isn't a grassroots support base for himself for the past eight years. You can understand what this means. He's transversed every single word in this state. It's something that no political gov. candidate has ever done before, and he's done that with the means of getting to meet the people that he intends to govern, understand the terrain, the lay of the land. He knows where he should pinches the common citizen. He's done all of this. I mean, for us, we believe that that is the man for the moment, and the guy who understands the structure, and he understands the political machinations of the ruling party as it is today. Why? Because he was there. He understands. He studied the whole terrain. He's a guy that will get you to that promised land and get you and ensure that we turn things around properly and governs properly. He understands that he has that street smartness. You see him. He's not one. He's not a self-made person. I mean, the guy that was born in Moshe, to a liberal family, a Muslim father, a Christian mother, and you understand, he practically weighs himself up with the help of his mom, a self-starter. And that's the kind of person you want to keep behind, somebody who knows how to build things and get things done. And that for me is the kind of choice that we have on the table today. Someone who has ambition. If you check it, since 1999, every single governor of this state has been handpicked. They woke up one morning, they got a phone call and said, come on, be governor. They did not have ambition. Everybody had ambition to do what was the bar from getting there. This is the first time we'll have a truly independent candidate, a candidate that is not encumbered by any Godfather who will look at the problems of negotiations and take a decision and will lead a second-level approval to get things done. And that for me, I feel so excited about that. Once you see that, because like I said, he's not running on any wave. There's no Godfather. You see, he's the one practically speaking for himself. And as you heard him explain this morning, there are a couple of political dynamics within the PTB. But he's been able to sort of arrive that wave and he's weighs today purely on his own merit. And those are the kind of attributes I believe you want to see in your own leader. You want to be proud that my governor has this kind of thing, he's a self-made man, self-starter. Those are the kind of things that I want to see in a very progressive state like Lagos. A formal state, a state that we claim has the fifth largest economy in Africa. That for me is the kind of person you want to lead. Not people who just jumped on a wave or who are not properly ready for this. I get the sentiment about the wave and all that and everything, but this is about preparation. And something has to be said for being prepared, having that vision and that drive to want to achieve. Preparation is one thing. But let's take Lagos state as a garden now. He wants to be that seed that will germinate in this garden. In this garden there are all the grasses. There is manure that was given to other grasses as well. And he has to feed from there. How does he intend to be this one man island that will break away from the establishment and make Lagos the Lagos of his dream? Because now from 1999, as you have said it, Lagos has been ruled by a particular set of people. We all agree that a particular set of people, maybe one man, but maybe a lot of people that are sitting together and drawing the strings, it happens anywhere anyway. But maybe the one of Lagos is annoying to some of the people. So how does he intend to survive, especially the first four years, in a Lagos that has been ruled by the people who know the corners of the room to sweep? You recall I said that he cut his political teeth in the APC. So he understands the inner machinations of that political path. So which means the godfathers of APC by extension is godfathers as well? So you don't understand, you don't have a godfather until you are in the position of power or there's something. He's never been elected before. He's never had any appointments in the political space. So he couldn't have had a godfather. So I mean godfather was not applied to him in this case. And we need to be very clear about this. At least somebody who by the virtue of his profession at the time was very close to the corridors of power in Lagos as it were there. And he used that as opportunity to understand how the political terrain in Lagos was. That's where he understood, that's why he understands how the politics goes. So he understands that. He understands the ups and downs of how those things move. And that is perhaps the biggest advantage that he's got today. He has that in his palms. And he can use it to the point that he made about how will he navigate and survive. That is how he intends to. And he's not doing this alone by the way. He has the structure of the PDP behind him as well as you know. And the PDP is only one man. It's a structure. It's as old as APC in this state. So all that is what he plans to leverage on. And also he has is the best team of people who understand how Lagos works, who have the experience that he is going to work with as he moves into governance of the state. All that is in the plan. Like I said, he doesn't jump into this. It's something that he's carefully thought about. Something that he's deliberated on and is taking this time to plan over the years. So there's no rush. There's nothing happening. He's ready for all things that have been thrown at him. We've known that it was going to be. It's not going to be easy. I mean, we've known that. But talking about Lagos state. I'm talking about a monopoly that has been there for nearly 24 years. You just can't go there and expect them to hand you. But you have to go there and fight for it. And he has resilience to do this. And that for me is perhaps the best you can put forward. He has resilience. He's his own man. And like I said, that's what you need. Like I mentioned earlier, Lagos can be much more than it is today. Particularly given the revenues that come to us on the monthly basis. But where are we? We're tittering. Our real system has been up and start, up and start. And it's still not even started until today. I mean, that's something that Dubai and all the Ethiopia and all that did in less than three, four years. They had that thing up and running. Why is it going to be this much time? And with these revenues coming on the monthly basis, you are not seeing exactly where this thing is going to. And people, we can't be comfortable with that kind of situation. And that's the point that we're putting on the table. For me, I believe that this next Saturday is a time for negotiations to make the true claim of wanting a state that they can truly call their own. And this was the promises on the table. Okay. Well, let me go back to the United Front or the divided front of the PDP that I asked you earlier on. Okay. There is rumor. I will always call it a rumor no matter where we hear it from until you confirm or deny it. Okay. There is this rumor that the leader of PDP in Lagos State, as far as we know, who is body judge, seemed to be backing a different candidate from the candidate of the party. Maybe because of some wranglings within the party when just after the primary elections and all that. So is this true or if it is true, how are the chances looking like for the PDP with some of the chieftains of the party against the candidate? So, I mean, we know things have happened and we can see it's out there for everybody to see. We've seen this support from body judge, like you mentioned. We've seen that. We've seen the Lagos-Bataki people come together and so on. We've seen all that. So it's no longer news, not a rumor either. And he went through a clear narrative of how that journey went. I mean, for everybody that wants to interview this one, you saw him say all that. But for us, it's even beyond that. That's on one side. The major conversation on the table is about the candidacy of this young man. He's 45 years old, by the way, and a man who is determined, who has focused, who is self-driven. That for me is a story here that we need to tell. Politics, we're always in politics. You know, there are always different dimensions of politics. And it will always be played. So you need to expect that. Anybody that thinks it's going to walk into political space and expect things not to happen, you should go back home and sit down. So you would expect all these intrigues to play out. But the major focus, we shouldn't take our eye off the prize. Put our eyes on it. And the prize here is that the leadership of Lagos State is at stake. And we have a very golden opportunity to turn things around. This monopoly that has been upon our backs for the last 24 years, we have the opportunity, Lagos, to change that and turn the narrative for the better. We can be much, much, much more than we are today. And that's the conversation that we have on the table. And that's the candidacy that Jando is pushing. I'm just concerned because I've seen very good men beaten by the bog of politics when they get into office. They're a good man. You get in there and you come out and we're looking at you like, was this the same man we used to know? And that's why I'm concerned about, I mean, this Jando you're saying is a good man. What is the assurance that when he gets there, he's going to continue to be that good man, that resilient person who will not play by the books written by someone else? I explain something to you. I said we took time out to look at the political terrain. Like I said, this joining start today was something that we've been building over the last couple of years. We sat down and looked at what happens to all the guys that have to rule. Where did they get it right? Where did they get it wrong? What were the things that they needed? What happened to all of them? And we did all this critically, did workshops, sessions on all of this. Got people to give us their comments. So we understand where the pitfalls are. We understand what you need to stand on the pedestals to stand on and those things we understand. The guarantee that I'm putting on the table is we know, this is something that we know, something that we've been with and for people that know him know how strong-willed he is. And that for me are the ingredients that you need to get things done. He promises and he delivers. And he understands that it will be easy, let me not say different, but as long as you have a focus and you have a destination and we will be answerable, for me one of the biggest things that he comes on to this table with is the fact that he's an independent candidate. No go further asking him to do something otherwise. What are some of the antecedents that he has that people will have confidence in that he will be a good leader? He's a self-starter. That's somebody that he's self-made. That for me is, we're not talking about someone that was born with a silver spoon or that went to an Ivy League school and everything and all that. We're talking about somebody who was self-made. He was born in Mushi. So if you understand, he went through that and came out to be who he is today. He owns a media empire, call me, I'm sure you have that. I mean he built himself up to that point. And these are little things. He's been an employer for a long time. He has a lot of people that he's trained. He has the philanthropic foundation that ensures he empowers people on a regular basis. I'm thinking about somebody who understands the year end. He has seen where the truth pinches for a lot of gentrifying people. The people that have forgotten and he understands that. So he's the one that will come out and forget where he's from. And that empathy that he has is one of his major, major attributes. And to me, once you have that, what we demand of our leaders and if our leaders can have this, we'll be a much better nation is what is called, what I call compassion. And that's something that he has. Once you have compassion, you have that consciousness in you. You're definitely going to be a leader that you definitely will deliver on your promise. The most important part of this is the fact that he's not encumbered. No godfather that will tell him to do otherwise. Once you have that you're your own man, you'll take your own decisions. It is clear, you've put together a blueprint. You have a manifesto. One manifesto is there online for people that want to see. Those things are things that we'll hold him up to. And guess what? He has that corporate experience, having run the business. He understands governance. He understands governance at that point. He'll ensure that people are brought up to speed. He'll carry everybody along. He's a unifier. He's bring across all the divides. He's at home with the guys from the south. He's at home with the guys from the north. He's at home for all the people who sent them. Everybody that makes Lagos, Lagos. He's at home with everybody. And that is who you want to lead you in unifier. As long as you are in this state and you are part of contributing to his prosperity, you're a friend of Jandong. Well, I don't know. When you use the word unifier, we're wrapping up anyway. When you use the word unifier, a lot of things come into my mind because your principal at the national level used the unifier and the party was in disarray just before the unifier. And in River State, the governor was not there. We had the G-5 and all that. The unifier became a is there a word like disunifier? Right now I hear that two ministers, former ministers and three other persons in Kevin State have been suspended by the party and in River State we heard that the party didn't really go. There is a word on Saturday but just a final word to Legoshians. You've been talking to me. Talk to them in like one minute. For me, I think Legoshians is important to look at the candidates that you have before you. Who amongst the candidates is a self-starter? A man that understands what needs to be done. This is a man who has put all the ingredients needed to build a movement. He has raised the movement. You've heard of Legosh for Legosh movement. It came from him putting things together. He has a grassroots followership across all the 20 local governments of Legosh state where people are willingly some godfather or there's a wave that is right now. He's a self-made and that for me is very, very important and I'm talking about Legosh state politics. How it's been played. Once you remove the encumbrance of a godfather and we need to pick that point I can't overemphasize it. Once you remove that encumbrance, you become a man that you are now focused on delivering for the people and totally for the people. You can open up Legosh economy so that other players can also of that of that move. That is what we need to do. This is the man that can do that. He's ready and he's the man for the moment. Again we say you need somebody who is not easily cowed or you push over or it doesn't understand where it is. He's a true Legoshian. He understands what's going on. He understands how to communicate in a local dialect as well. I mean he doesn't need to. Don't bring that. I'm not saying true Legoshian. True Legoshian. True Legoshian. True I'm true This is something that you need that is a man for the moment and I kind of emphasise enough a true self-starter who is ready to lead who has all the the ingredients that he's needed for him to lead at this moment because you can go and want to take power and think that it will serve to you. You have to be determined enough. You have to have all that needs to happen. He knows all the things that needs to be done and the fact that he understands how the ruling party operates from the inside it's a major plus and whatever antics or tricks he'll be right there waiting for them and that for me is something that you need if you vote for PDP on Saturday your vote will be protected and they will count. That is the man that we need for this stage to move us forward. Okay. Well like I said we say good luck to Jando good luck to PDP and all the people who are contesting on the platform that's all we can say now and we can also say to the people that Saturday is a major decider in Lagos State. Well we've been talking with Wally here on the program and we do hope that people will turn out on that day because there was so much fear. I know I know I need to put if you will there's been conversations that have gone on we've gotten assurances from the police and other security agencies as well people shouldn't have any fear they should come out and vote. Thank you. Thank you so much we can take from him like I said we wish him well and we're going to take a short break and when we return we'll be talking with the candidate of the People's Democratic Party far in Delta State who said that he escaped assassination a few days ago stay with us.