Former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro has lost the governorship slot of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to newcomer, Jimi Agbaje.
The PDP primaries held on December 8, and Agbaje defeated “Koro” with 434 votes to 346.
Obanikoro had already been pegged by many as the winner due to his political experience and longer membership of the PDP. However, here are three likely reasons why he lost to Agbaje:
He didn’t have the support of the party leadership
The leadership of the Lagos State branch of the PDP was against Koro’s emergence as its governorship candidate. A chieftain of the party, Adeseye Ogunlewe had stated before the elections that Obanikoro could not emerge as the Lagos State governorship candidate of the PDP and he urged delegates to vote for the person that could deliver Lagos to the party.
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“We will never pick him, we will never return to Babylon. We will do what the electorates want. We will never, never, never pick him. I have answered you, we will never return to Babylon, never,”
Ogunlewe said of Obanikoro.The PDP Elders’ Council of Lagos State, headed by Chief Olabode George, Ogunlewe, among others also stated that said Obanikoro was not electable.
He is too controversial. Obanikoro has been severally described as a thug and Ogunlewe said that he could not be chosen as the PDP’s flag bearer because he is too controversial.
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“It is the candidate that will be able to convince the people and they must be able to appreciate the candidate. The time is too short and the aspirant will not have time to be answering questions about allegations.”
“Questions like what happened in City Hall. What happened to the pilgrimage funds, what is your date of birth? Is it 1960 or 1954? Where is your school certificate? What is your proper name, is it Obanikoro or Onikoro? All those things we don’t have time to be answering them anymore…”
“Nobody is saying the allegations are true but they are questions that are unanswered and a political party should not spend too much of its time answering questions that are already in possession of the opposition.”
“Questions like what happened in City Hall. What happened to the pilgrimage funds, what is your date of birth? Is it 1960 or 1954? Where is your school certificate? What is your proper name, is it Obanikoro or Onikoro? All those things we don’t have time to be answering them anymore…”
“Nobody is saying the allegations are true but they are questions that are unanswered and a political party should not spend too much of its time answering questions that are already in possession of the opposition.”
Bode George also accused Obanikoro of bringing thugs to the venue of the primaries in a bid to tamper with the process. “You asked me who was responsible for the thugs who nearly marred the situation this morning. Who else can that be? It is Obanikoro of course. He has penchant for doing so,” George said.
He has lost once before
Obanikoro contested in the Lagos governorship elections of April 2007 on the platform of the PDP but lost to incumbent Governor, Babatunde Fashola of the Action Congress, now All Progressives Congress (APC).
Ogunlewe also stated that the PDP would not choose a candidate who possessed qualities lower than Fashola’s saying that the lucky candidate would be a professional with appropriate pedigree, among others.
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“We don’t want hooligans again that will be carrying guns and fighting on the streets. We have passed that stage. We must move forward, Lagos is the centre of economic activities,”
he added.For more scintillating and juicy stories, follow the official Naijapals accounts On Twitter- @Naijapals and Facebook - www.facebook.com/naijapals
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