A former People Democratic Party Lagos State governorship candidate, Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, has alluded that his victory over Gov. Sanwo-Olu was denied as a result of the “Peter Obi effect,” which thwarted his campaign strategies.
He also expressed that he personally does not believe he needs to consult with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who is
a strong man in the politics of Lagos, before he can govern Lagos State.
Recalling the result for the governorship election, the All Progressives Congress (APC) incumbent governor,
Sanwo-Olu, was proclaimed the victor by INEC, the electoral umpire with 762,134 votes, he defeated Gbadebo
Rhodes-Vivour of the LP, who received 312,329 votes, and
Jandor, who received 62,449 votes.
However, Jandor said the election came with peculiar dynamics. “Before the February 25th general election, we were
on the streets of Lagos, and the ruling party was nowhere to be found.
We had several debates, and he (Sanwo-Olu) didn’t show up and he did say he didn’t want to share a stage with me,” he said.
He said the last election came with its dynamics, and it was a two-horse race until the presidential election.
“If you look at what happened in the presidential election, Peter Obi came first (in Lagos), Asiwaju came second, and Atiku came third,” he recalled.
Peter Obi
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Jandor noted that once the new dynamics set in, there was this belief that if we do this, we can get this state
off XYZ. So, we were victims of that.
“Each time I address my people, I tell them: look, we did everything, but that wave came and swallowed the whole thing; nobody saw that coming.”
He said if not for the Peter Obi effect, “I probably would have won the election” at the governorship level, adding that
he believed that it wasn’t God’s time yet for him to become Lagos governor at the time.
Jandor’s political history started with APC before he left the party with his Lagos4Lagos Movement, a bloc within the ruling party, in 2022.
He joined the PDP before the 2023 election and emerged governorship candidate in Lagos.
He, however, dumped the PDP recently after he accused some leaders of the party of sabotaging him.
“We were waiting to see if the party at the national level governed by the constitution of the party would look
into the provisions of that constitution and say that for engaging in anti-party activities openly, this is the sanction.
“We waited patiently for two years to see whether that would happen, instead of that,
the same person was appointed Vice Chairman of the Disciplinary Committee by the national,” he said.
Jandor, however, said he would consider joining any of the available parties to realize his 2027 governorship dream.
