…alleges state agents, sponsored hoodlums destroying, removing PDP posters, billboards
Governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Lagos State, Olajide Adediran, on Wednesday, accused the state government of clandestine moves to prevent the party from executing its campaign plans.
Adediran, popularly called Jandor, claimed that the advertisement agencies contracted by the PDP in Lagos had refunded the money paid to them on the alleged orders of the state government.
Adediran stated these while speaking on the Arise TV Morning Show programme on Wednesday.
The PDP governorship candidate alleged that his campaign posters were constantly being defaced and removed by some hoodlums allegedly sponsored by the Lagos State Government in its efforts to prevent the main opposition party and its candidates from selling its programmes and manifestos to Lagosians.
He, however, noted that plans were being put in place to enable him to sell his candidacy and that of his running mate, Nollywood actress Funke Akindele, to the electorate in Lagos inspite of the alleged plots by the state government.
He said, “I know them. I was coming from them. We will not sit and fold our arms and be complaining.
“Why I have decided to bring this to the court of public opinion is to let people know what was going on. They cannot stop us from pasting posters. We will turn it to guerrilla warfare and we will begin to go out and paste our posters.”
Expatiating, Adediran said, “The moment that of Afromedia happened in Falomo here, I placed a call through to the Lagos police commissioner myself and I said to him, ‘TP, this just happened. It was removed.’ We didn’t even know, we thought it was the hoodlums who removed it. It was after investigation that we realised that it was the state government, through LASAA that removed it. The company in question did say to us, ‘They have asked us not to take anything from you. We will refund your money.’ Just like JCDecaux did refund our money.
“The next day I went to the office of the police commissioner with all our team and told him, ‘Look, if you don’t step in, we may be sitting on a keg of gun powder in Lagos. We will never be allowed to be put in the defensive.
“We will continue to paste our posters. Last week on the Third Mainland bridge, which is even a Federal Government road, our people put some A4 boards. They were removing it in broad daylight. After paying for all of these. We won’t allow this, we will find a way to put our campaign materials out there.
“It is our constitutional right to vie for this office. It is our constitutional right to let the people know that we are here and ready to do things differently. Engaging in such activities on their part meant that they know it’s doom for them already and that is why they are doing everything to make sure they stop us and we won’t allow it.”
The PDP flagbearer further clarified his choice of running mate, saying his choice of Funke Akindele was to solidify his ticket and galvanise the needed upset to unseat the ruling APC government in the state.