The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Olajide Adeniran, has described his running mate, Funke Akindele the needed balance to defeat Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Mr Adeniran, popularly known as Jandor, said Ms Akindele, who is a popular Nollywood actress, can connect to the grassroots and those in cyberspace.
Mr Adeniran disclosed this on Tuesday while appearing on “Politics Today”, a political Programme on Channels TV.
“People have forgotten that the purpose of a political party is to win an election. For the past seven years, we have built foot soldiers at the grass-root level and my running mate is someone that connects with grassroots and my people in cyberspace. Combination of these forces already spelt doom for Lagos APC in 2023,” he said.
Mr Adeniran, who has been at the forefront of Lagos4Lagos campaign, said Ms Akindele, who is from Ikorodu area of the state, will help in delivering restoring Lagos State back to indigenes
He also harped on the need for an independent governor that is not beholden to anyone.
“For us, nobody asked us to run, we spoke to each other. Lagos needs an independent governor, not the one that will be following somebody around,” he said.
Ms Akindele was picked ahead of the other four nominees which include Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, Kolawole Vaughan, Adenike Shobajo, and Rasheed Teslim-Balogun.
Mr Adeniran ’s decision has generated lots of reactions on social media, as many have questioned the capacity of the ticket to dislodge the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party that has been at the helm of affairs in the state since 1999.
Ms Akindele and her estranged husband, Abdulrasheed Bello, were convicted on April 6, 2020, by the Lagos State Magistrates’ Court in Ogba, days after they held a crowded house birthday party, contrary to Lagos State’s social distancing order.
The court fined them N100,000 each and 14 days of community service, and thereafter, they embarked on a period of self-isolation.
Mr Adeniran stated that his running mate is a trained lawyer who found passion in filmmaking, adding that Ms Akindele built her business from zero level.
“I picked a lawyer who found passion in filmmaking. A lot of people feel like if you are acting, you are a filmmaker, No. A filmmaker is somebody who directs, produces, and scripts—somebody who designs sets and somebody who can identify resources to deploy in the entire production you call film.
“My running mate, beyond an actress, is a filmmaker, who has grown her business from zero to something, somebody who has been an employer of Labour for the past 14 years, someone who has won awards in her chosen career over and over again, someone who has huge followership in the process of what she is doing. And she is an Ikorodu-born diva, who I believe is going to add value to the ticket.”
