Dr. Adegbola Dominic is the Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Lagos State chapter. In this interview with TEMIDAYO AKINSUYI, he speaks on the preparations of his party towards the forthcoming governorship election in the state, saying Lagosians are determined to end the reign of the All Progressives Congress (APC). Excerpts:

The elections are just few weeks away but some people are saying that your party is not serious about the forthcoming governorship election in Lagos state based on your level of preparations. What is your perspective on this?

That is not true. What are the parameters for saying we are not serious about our preparations for the elections? For me, a lot of things goes into preparations for elections. Elections go beyond pasting of posters. The real work of electioneering campaigns has to do with the grassroots. Elections are going to be won or lost at the polling booths and INEC is not going to count the number of posters pasted by candidates. They are going to count the votes by the electorates. So, let Sanwo-Olu keep flooding everywhere with his posters with the belief that some godfathers will secure victory for him. If that is the yardstick that some people are using to judge our level of preparation, then that is erroneous. On our part, the posters are coming but that is not what is important. To the average people, the number of posters they see shows the level of preparations, but to a seasoned and experienced politician, it goes beyond that. I can tell you that the Lagos PDP under my leadership is preparing very hard to win the election and free Lagosians from the grip of these scammers who pride themselves as progressives. We are silently working underground and by the time we come out fully; everybody will know that we are prepared. We will still do the normal things like pasting of posters, but that to us is not the most important thing.

You sound so confident about winning, but do you think it is possible for the PDP to win Lagos, a state that is the homebase of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, APC’s National Leader?

In fact, Tinubu’s presence in Lagos will make the governorship election an easy one for us. Lagosians now know him for what he is. He has corruptly enriched himself with the resources of Lagosians. He has appropriated all the wealth of Lagos State to himself. So, we in Lagos PDP see Tinubu as an advantage to us because of what people know of him. Lagosians are now wiser and daily, you keep hearing people say ‘enough is enough. We are tired of this one man rule for almost 20 years in Lagos’. Now , the PDP is ready to free Lagosians from this yoke. Tinubu has been lucky all these years, but this time around, we are going to drown him completely.

How do you cope with the threat of influential people in the state such as the Oba of Lagos who has never identified with the PDP?

That is unfortunate. But just like the case of Tinubu, the Oba of Lagos is now known by Lagosians for what he stands for. The people of Lagos know that anybody supporting or aligning his or herself with Tinubu is an enemy of Lagos state because Tinubu having converted all the resources of the state into his personal use is an enemy of the state. So, if the Oba of Lagos wants to continue aligning himself with Tinubu or APC, the people of Lagos will also deal with him the same way they will deal with Tinubu. They have placed them in the same boat now and they are going to drown together.

Winning the governorship election in Lagos has been elusive to PDP since coming of democracy 1999 unlike other states where power alternates between both APC and PDP. How confident are you that things will change in favour of your party in 2019?

Right now, we are going down to the grassroots. We are talking to the people and giving them the message of hope. The APC are master riggers. We all know they rigged the last governorship election in Lagos state but that will not happen anymore. So, we are telling Lagosians to get their PVCs, vote wisely and shine their eyes. On our part, we will tighten all loopholes and ensure every vote counts. We will make sure APC didn’t succeed with their rigging this time around. I am very positive that this time around, the time is up for APC in Lagos. The good people of Lagos are determined to kick them out. Look at what is going on in the town; bad roads and filth everywhere yet people are being heavily burdened with tax. People are unhappy with APC rule in Lagos and they are seeking a credible alternative. I can assure them PDP will provide that credible alternative in 2019.

The incumbent governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is not contesting, do you see that as an advantage to your party ?

It makes it easier for us. Just as we know that the power of incumbency has some advantage and impact, we are however not bothered about that . We are confident of winning the election. Of course, the APC is still the ruling party but at least, it is not the current governor that is contesting. That makes things easier for us. But whether it is the incumbent governor that is contesting or not, we are sure of victory because the APC has lost its value. Moreover, we are tired of non-indigenes coming to rule us in Lagos. I can tell you that Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the governorship candidate of APC is from Ogun state. That is the truth. His running mate, Obafemi Hamzat is also from Ogun state. It is an established fact that his father is presently a monarch in Ogun state. It is a fact that they cannot deny. The question we should ask is ‘Why is Tinubu always interested in imposing non-indigenes on Lagosians?’ Every election year, he will impose foreigners on us, and because these ones don’t have any serious stake here or the interest of Lagosians at heart, they end up messing up the state and go back to their state. Rauf Aregbesola was Commissioner here in Lagos for eight years. After that he went to his state in Osun to contest for governorship election. One Yayi who is the senator for Lagos West wanted to contest for governorship election in Ogun. When he was rejected in Ogun, he ran back to Lagos, the same with the likes of Opeyemi Bamidele from Ekiti and others. For how long will we continue to do that? Lagosians are tired of foreign rule and I know that the cup of APC is full and anybody who associates with them including the Oba of Lagos will have the people to contend with.

https://www.independent.ng/pdp-determined-to-free-lagosians-from-tinubus-yoke-dominic/

I even thought it was Rita Dominic.

ok

that will be lagos's greatest miracle in this century

Rita koo, Mercy Aigbe nii

GavelSlam:
I even thought it was Rita Dominic.

what God has join together nobody should put asunder. lagos is tinubu's wife

K

Pipe dream

D

Africa

But sorry o, Lagosians are dumb and will vote for Tinubu for the 6th term. They so much enjoy slavery

hisexcellency34:
Rita koo, Mercy Aigbe nii

Lol

Then do it now

let the war begin

a

Like seriously?

Useless country

APC is Nigeria,Nigeria is APC,from north west to south west,from North east to South South and north Central, who give a damn about some inconsequential 5%ers?