The leader of the apex Yoruba socio-cultural organisation, Afenifere, Pa Ayo Adebanjo, has appealed to Nigerians and political parties to be united and work together for the success of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, LP, Mr Peter Obi, this Saturday’s presidential election.
This is as the Boot Party, BP, governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Wale Oluwo, has stepped down for the Labour Party Candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour to form an alliance in the upcoming elections in the state.
Adebanjo spoke at an event to declare an alliance between the LP and the BP at his residence in Lekki, Lagos, on Tuesday.
The elder statesman said Obi must win the presidential election to put to rest the clamour and insinuations that Igbo are being marginalised. He insisted that it was the turn of the South-East to produce the next president of Nigeria.
Speaking on the coming together of the two parties, LP guber flag bearer, Rhodes-Vivour, said the alliance would redefine governance in Lagos State.
He said: “These are two men that are very passionate about Lagos, indigenes of Lagos that want to see opportunities be presented to the people of the state because, we have seen a situation where state resources have been captured for the interests of one man, his friends and family.
“We wants a situation where we create a Lagos that everybody is going to be able to benefit from. These are the things that both of us share and are passionate about. So it was a natural alliance. We’ve been talking about this for a very long time and I’m very happy at this announcement today. We are going to work together especially on our desire to create funding that will be available for majority of the Lagosians”.
Also speaking, the Boot Party candidate, Oluwo, said the alliance was not about personal ambition but about the interest of the state and the people. According to him, “it is going to be a great alliance for Lagos. It’s going to be a winning alliance. We are going to make this happen, and it’s about the people.
“Gbadebo and I have been discussing about the Lagos struggle and how to free this state from the stranglehold of the APC in the last two and half years. We have had meetings. So, it’s something we’ve always believed in, something we are committed to and is something that we believe by doing it, we’ll reduce and limit the options available to Lagosians to pick from.
“I said this from the beginning of my campaign that it is not about my ambition. The way Lagos is today, if anybody is still pushing personal ambition, then, it means the person does not understand what is at stake. It’s not about ambition, but it’s about the state, our state and the people of our state.
“Our people are going through a lot, spending six hours in traffic to work and back. The roads are not okay, a lot of problems, but nobody is thinking about these problems or trying to solve it. I have been in government before. I know how government runs and people benefit. So, when I see a government that is not working well, I know. And we know how to solve this, how to solve the problems working with Gbadebo under the Labour and Boot party alliance”, Oluwo explained.