Jimi Agbaje, Concerned PDP memeber writes Muazu on why he can’t be Lagos PDP Canidate

In the last couple of days, there has been so much hype and hoopla about the purported defection of Jimi Agbaje, former Lagos State governorship aspirant in the 2007 election to the People’s Democratic Party, PDP. Although, I have painstakingly scanned credible media platforms for this piece of news to no avail, only blogs, especially those run by also-rans, have been ululating about the news. My candid opinion is that a man of his intimidating professional success cannot just sneak into the PDP without an official statement by the party leaders. I should know because I am an integral and card-carrying PDP member in Ifako-Ijaiye LGA, incidentally one of the biggest LGAs in the state. But if it is indeed true that JayKay as Agbaje is also known has joined the biggest political party in Africa, then, we should and would gladly, with pomp and fanfare, welcome him home. The PDP is where a man of his cerebral intellection belongs actually. And I say this without prejudice to his former party, the Democratic People’s Alliance, DPA, on which platform he ran for the governorship seat of Lagos in 2007.

Personally, I like Jaykay. I like the fact that he is now one of us. As a keen watcher of the Nigerian political scene, I must say that he ran a fantastic campaign in the run up to the 2007 elections. His slogans, radio jingles and television commercials were compelling and interesting. On his various billboards scattered across the Lagos metropolis, he cut the picture of a passionate and selfless gentleman that could make Lagos work without distractions. Like me, Agbaje got us all interested in him because of his campaign methodology, not necessarily philosophy or ideology. Perhaps for the first time in the history of elections in Nigeria, he employed the use of Bluetooth advertising, which enabled those with compliant devices to get his campaign contents like jingles, his CV and stirring manifesto. His campaign was very sophisticated, yet alienating of the majority of electorates. Despite his popularity during the elections, he came a distant third behind Musiliu Obanikoro, the PDP candidate. For more discerning Lagosians, the voting pattern reflected that as much as the electorate liked Agbaje’s campaign methodology, they didn’t know him and therefore could not trust him with their mandate. That is indeed very instructive.

Some people may argue that the eventual winner of that election, Governor Babatunde Fashola was equally unknown but those who know the workings of Lagos at that time are keenly aware that as Chief of Staff to former governor Bola Tinubu for about six years, he was the engine room of the state government. He was anonymous yet, very active in Tinubu’s government. That was the difference between Agbaje and Fashola. It beggars no questioning therefore that the best Agbaje came to the table with in terms of managerial ability and man-management was running his two pharmacies in Lagos, though, as chairman, he was not the one interfacing with the customers directly.

In retrospect, Lagosians might have elected Agbaje had he offered a compelling and substantive narrative about his suitability despite his glaring political inexperience but he did not, and that is the key underlying reason he lost the election. The electorate chose to go with somebody they knew to an extent and wilfully accepted had a mentor, an experienced politician (Tinubu) that could help the new governor navigate the arduous task of running the nerve-centre of Nigeria’s economy. For a political neophyte who was all sophistry and no substance, Agbaje had no such person.

Now, seven years down the line, Agbaje has purportedly moved to the PDP, which is a fantastic move for an adroit politician. But what has got me amused to the point of hysteria is the rumour being bandied about that he is the anointed candidate of the PDP for the Lagos governorship election in 2015. I have even seen a couple of entertainers come together under the aegis of Agbaje For A New Lagos (4NL) but they were smart enough not to include on what platform that New Lagos would come about. The peddlers of Agbaje’s candidature apparently have scant knowledge of how our great party works. Unlike the All Progressives Congress, there is no godfather anywhere unilaterally imposing candidates on the party. Our primaries are conducted in a free and fair manner. We all are witnesses to the intrigues that preceded the nomination of a PDP flagbearer in the Ekiti election. The former Minister of Police Affairs, Caleb Olubolade, had gone to the streets claiming to be the candidate of President Goodluck Jonathan and as such should fly the party’s flag. Other candidates wanted a consensus candidate which Ayo Fayose knew would not favour him so, he called for a primary for every of the contestants to test their popularity. Fayose won the primaries and the eventual election. Now, Honourable Chairman, imagine that you didn’t hearken to the voice of wisdom and went ahead to impose Olubolade or any other candidate on the party; the incumbent Governor Kayode Fayemi would no doubt, have beaten the person hands down.

The necessity of this letter therefore is to put into perspective five reasons an Agbaje candidature can never fly and why an imposition portends doom again for the PDP in Lagos. One, he is new among us and we cannot trust him after winning not to defect or try to resuscitate his dead party in a move to become its rallying figure, an overlord of sort. Two, Agbaje is still a greenhorn in politics; somebody who has never managed even a local government wanting to run for the governorship of Lagos State. Where would he start? The obvious danger in that is that he would spend the first two years at least learning the ropes, learning how to cope with the rigours of ruling over 15million people and learning to manage the affairs of the party with its vast spread. We cannot afford that luxury of time. Three, between now and the next election, and within the ambit of time stipulated by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for electioneering, how many of our wards can Agbaje get to for familiarisation and mobilisation of voters? Four, Agbaje does not have the political network needed to win Lagos; considering him is even hara-kiri for our party. Five, a gale of change is sweeping through the southwest as evidenced by Fayose’s victory in Ekiti. We do not need somebody that would make us not partake in this change. We do not want an Agbaje that would make the PDP lose traction. What we need now is a man like Musiliu Obanikoro, currently the Minister of State for Defence. A grassroots politician who is at home with the prosperous and proletariat; a man that can be the counterpoise and change that Lagos needs for its story to change; a man that has paid his dues in the history of Nigerian politics; a man that has been Local Government Chairman, Senator of the Federal Republic, Ambassador and a redoubtable and respected party man; a man that knows every ward leader by name and knows the road to their homes; and most importantly, a man that is an easy sell to the electorate. Any attempt to impose Agbaje on the long-suffering members of the PDP would spell doom for us in 2015. We need a man that has been with us through thick and thin; a man that understands our nuances and lingo. Without much ado, Obanikoro is the only potential candidate of the party who has the requisite experience and expertise, the connection and temperament to save Lagos from the destructive, retrogressive and manipulative propensity of Tinubu and his cohorts.