Before his unannounced visit to the Presidential Villa recently, there were tell-tale signs that the 2023 Lagos State governorship candidate, Adediran Olajide, popularly known as Jandor, was on his way back to the arms of his first love, the All Progressives Congress (APC). KEHINDE OLATUNJI reports that the days ahead will affirm this suspicion and its implications for the PDP in the state.
The fact that there was no collective post-mortem on the party’s performance in the 2023 governorship election, which he came a distant third, must have compelled Mr Olajide to blame the Obidient wave caused by the Peter Obi phenomenon on the Labour Party (LP) for his dismal outing.
But what he could not confess, at least publicly, was that the hold of APC on Lagos State politics was near impossible to dismantle. The former 2023 PDP governorship candidate recently began his journey back to the ruling party suggestive of a bid to be part of the winning side in the 2027 poll.
The Guardian gathered that while PDP chieftains at the national level visited him to ensure his return to the party, the state’s APC bigwigs were offering a carrot to woo him back. However, as of the time of filing this report, it was not clear the set of agreements or concessions that he bargained from the APC power brokers before consenting to return.
Fault-finding
Well-informed sources disclosed that Jandor’s decision to leave PDP was premised on persistent anti-party activities, internal sabotage, and lack of discipline within the party.
But personally expressing his disappointment and frustration with the party’s leadership, he was said to have accused the party leaders of failing to uphold the principles of democracy and good governance.
The former PDP governorship candidate had alleged that the party pulled the rug from his feet on the eve of the state’s gubernatorial poll, accusing the Lagos State Chairman of the party, Mr Philip Aivoji, of issuing false statements on all PDP platforms, claiming that he had withdrawn from the election.
Additionally, Jandor accused Chief Olabode George, a leader of the party in Lagos State, of openly declaring support for the gubernatorial candidate of another party and advising Lagosians not to vote for the PDP.
Recall that after polling 62, 449 votes in the election, Jandor finished third, behind Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who secured 762,134 votes and Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour of LP, the first runner-up that returned 312,329 votes.
Nonetheless, PDP leaders led by the National Secretary, Ude Okoye, including prominent party chieftains, such as former National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbodiyan, and former member of the House of Representatives, Shina Peller, have pleaded with Jandor to rescind his decision to quit the party.
According to Jandor’s spokesperson, Gbenga Ogunleye, the delegation acknowledged the reasons behind Jandor’s resignation, but urged him to reconsider his decision, citing his value to the party.
Jandor was, however, said to have weighed his options carefully, considering his possible chances of playing strategic roles in the ruling party, as well as the potential consequences of his move. After all, in 2021, Jandor’s decision to leave the APC along with his Lagos4Lagos movement was driven by his desire to break free from the control of an unnamed single individual.
But the fact that his exit from the APC and entry into PDP, where he picked up the party’s governorship ticket candidate, shot up his political profile and ended up creating the same divisions he was complaining of within the party.
Some insiders claim that Adediran’s performance in the elections was the worst the party had seen since 1999, because he carried on more of a mole than a committed gladiator. Yet, Jandor attributed the poor record to the “Obidients wave” that favoured the Labour Party’s candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour.
The Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Seye Oladejo, told The Guardian that even though he was not aware of the possibility of Jandor returning to the APC, he couldn’t dismiss it. Describing Adediran as a vibrant and energetic politician, who is full of ideas that could move the state and country forward, Oladejo stated: “Jandor has always been one of us. He is versatile, ambitious driven, full of ideas to make the country better. If he decides to come, we welcome him.”
Over-bloated ego, self-sabotage
On his part, while responding to the accusation of anti-party activities levelled against him, Chief George dismissed them as “an insult,” stressing that mere attention from him would politically take away Jandor and his acclaimed popularity from the streets of Lagos.
The PDP chieftain criticised Jandor’s lack of understanding of the party’s inner workings, despite being given the opportunity to run as the party’s candidate, remarking that Jandor’s candidacy led to more credible candidates, like Rhodes-Vivour, stepping down and defecting to the opposition party.
George stated that Rhodes-Vivour was persuaded to step down and take the second slot, as he would have otherwise defeated Jandor. George claimed that he had to intervene to convince Rhodes-Vivour’s father, Wale Rhodes-Vivour, to accept the decision.
George further alleged that Jandor had no respect for the party’s hierarchy and had been working against its interests, adding that Jandor’s decision to run for governor was driven more by personal ambition than a desire to serve the people.
While insisting that Jandor was not only “insolent,” but someone that had never worked in the party’s best interest, George declared: “I am in my 80’s, he is a child, this little rat that you are talking about, what does he know about this party? Let me be frank, I consider it as an insult, a complete insolence.
“This boy, my children are much older than him and like I learnt in my Latin class in secondary school, it is an infra dig for me to respond to that clown. It is absolute rubbish.”
George added that Jandor had no idea of how the party ran, yet he was allowed a chance to be the party’s candidate, prompting people like the Labour Party’s candidate, Gbadebo Vivour-Rhodes, to step down and defect to the opposition party despite being a more credible candidate.
“Somebody I have regard and respect for and cannot say no to, brought him (Jandor), recommended him and he competed with a highly experienced, brilliant, well educated, one who went to the best university in the world, got his degree from MIT, from a very resound family background, who had contested before in the West Senatorial District of Lagos, which contains 10 local governments, while the Central is five and the East is also five.
“So, West Senatorial District is about 50 per cent of Lagos State and he contested and obviously won, but the manipulations of the electoral commission didn’t just start today.
“This candidate is outstanding, with a very well-respected family background. We asked them to step down for one another, while the other deputise, but immediately after that, he said ‘eh sir, someone told him before that in case he wins, he should go and take one woman from Ikorodu (Actress, Funke Akindele)’.
Also speaking, Adetokunbo Pearse, a chieftain of PDP, said Jandor was the architect of his defeat in the 2023 elections, saying he picked a comic actress as his running mate after rejecting the advice of party leaders.
Pearse accused Adediran of isolating the Lagos PDP leaders after winning the party’s governorship ticket, even as he alleged that Adediran won the “fabricated” PDP governorship primary using the members of his Lagos4Lagos political group as delegates.
According to Pearse, Adediran was accepted by Lagos PDP leaders, because he got the support of former President Olusegun Obasanjo and former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar, adding that after Adediran won the governorship primary, he was called by Bode George, a PDP chieftain, to allow party leaders to pick his running mate for the election.
“Jandor declined the request of the party leaders and isolated them from his governorship campaign. He did not win the primary election in the legal way. It was all a sham from the beginning. He came into the party, and six months later, he got the ticket,” Pearse said.
“Unfortunately, national leaders (of PDP) bought his lies. When he (Bode George) endorsed Jandor, he said, ‘now you are going to be our candidate; as we organise this primary, you consider Rhodes-Vivour as your deputy.’ Jandor accepted.
“It was on that basis that Bode George said, ‘let’s go; we will support you’.
“After he won the party primary, the party leaders approached him, particularly Bode George, and said, ‘let’s give you a deputy to balance the ticket if you don’t want Rhodes-Vivour’.”
