Lagos PDP Guber Primaries: Agbaje Blasts APC For Refusing To Congratulate Him

The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has lampooned the All Progressives Congress for refusing to congratulate him since he emerged as the winner of the PDP primary in the state, last Monday.

The APC spokesperson in Lagos, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, had said that the party would not congratulate the PDP because of the controversy and allegations of rigging which greeted the outcome of the primary.

In the PDP primary, 806 accredited delegates voted but the number of ballots cast turned out to be 863 and the runner up in the primary, former Minister of State for Defence, Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, who has openly rejected the outcome of the primary describing it as a sham, has dragged the PDP to court.

The APC, therefore, said it will not congratulate Agbaje because doing such “implies that we are supporting an illegality”.

However, in a statement by his director, media and publicity, Mr. Felix Oboagwina, Mr. Agbaje described the APC as a bunch of hypocrites.

The statement read in part, “We had wondered why neither the APC candidate nor the party had deemed it fit to congratulate Agbaje in line with the finest tenets of democracy. But it is now clear that they were in shock at the emergence of a credible and powerful candidate for the PDP in Lagos State.

“The APC lacks the moral standing to point fingers because its own primaries had glaring flaws. For example, the APC only released the delegates’ list on the day of the primary, while the PDP released its delegates’ list a week before the first primary and two weeks before the governorship primary. Also, the APC candidate came through imposition, the method it has always used from time immemorial.

“The APC has hinged its history on the imposition of candidates. And, in keeping with this undemocratic tradition, the APC ensured its governorship candidate emerged strictly through imposition”.