The Yoruba Self Determination Advancement Forum has said the group will
liase with other ethnic nationalities in Lagos State to rescue the state
from what it described as Asiwaju Bola Tinubu hegemony ahead of the
2019 elections.
The forum’s convener, Kunle Adesokan, said this
at an event in Lagos on Wednesday where the group endorsed the
governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in the state, Mr
Jimi Agbaje.
Adesokan said the forum, a coalition
of over 60 self-determination groups, would liase with other ethnic
groups and all categories of people in the state to convince them to
vote for Agbaje and put an end to the dominance of Tinubu in Lagos
politics.
He said the people of the state had been
pauparised in the name of urban renewal while businesses had been
paralysed for almost 20 years because of just one man.
Adesokan,
who said the people of the state had high hope in 1999 when the nation
returned to democracy, regretted that the hope had given way to
disillusionment because the state was brought under the bondage of an
individual.
He said, “Our concern, simply put is that 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.
“Consequently, we have
made conscious and dispassionate observation of the activities,
posturing and pronouncements of all governorship candidates of various
parties including the ruling All Progressives Congress and have decided
to publicly adopt the aspiration of Mr Olujimi Kolawole Agbaje as the
right and proper candidate that should be supported in the 2019
governorship poll in Lagos State.
“We are irrevocably
committed to taking the message of hope which Mr Jimi Agbaje represents
to the electorate who, for close to decades, have been desirous of
freedom from the political hegemony of one man.”
The
forum’s Secretary, Kola Are, said Tinubu had been the one ruling the
state since the days of the Alliance for Democracy to the APC and not
his party, saying that was why he had been installing and removing
governors.
Are said, “This rescue mission is not for us
alone. Lagos is under bondage of one man and not a political party but
it is going to be a fight between Lagosians and Bola Ahmed Tinubu who is
being represented by Sanwo-Olu.
“We have the mechanism
to liase with other ethnic nationalities to join hands with us to rescue
the state and we will achieve this.”
Are alleged that Agbaje won
the governorship election held in 2015 but that the result was
manipulated in favour of the then APC candidate, Mr Akinwumi Ambode.
He, however, said such manipulation would not be allowed in 2019 while urging the people of the state to support Agbaje.
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