March 14, 2015
With less than three weeks to the elections, news reaching us reveals that a prominent member of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos state and a businessman, Chief Babatunde Olalere Gbadamosi, is set to dump the party for the All progressive Congress (APC).
According to This Day, investigations revealed that the APC had been making overtures to the young Gbadamosi who was viewed as force to reckon with in Lagos politics and someone that could be a plus to their campaign strategy both at state and at federal levels. A source at the party hierarchy said talks had reached an advanced stage for Gdadamosi to decamp to their party.
Gbadamosi’s decision to finally defect from the party may not be unconnected to the failure of his former party in honouring the pact at the peace meeting last December in Lagos. While the other aspirants from that meeting had been rewarded with various appointments, he was yet to receive anything from the party.
Gbadamosi who is chairman of RedBrick Homes, owners of Amen Estate in Lekki Pennisula, is said to have spent over N500 million on his gubernatorial ambition, including money spent on the party at the local level.
The APC camp is already agog with excitement and there is no doubt that his departure would boost their morale not just in Lagos but nationwide as he is viewed as being very intelligent and possessing the qualities of the kind of leader the APC needs at this time.
It will also be recalled that, Alhaji Aminu Kani, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Jigawa state, on Sunday, February 22, defected to the opposition party APC.
Babatunde Gbadamosi, popularly referred to as BOG by members of the PDP, ran for the gubernatorial ticket alongside five others in the Lagos PDP primary and lost in the process that produced Olujimi Agbaje.
Gbadamosi’s decision to finally defect from the party may not be unconnected to the failure of his former party in honouring the pact at the peace meeting last December in Lagos. While the other aspirants from that meeting had been rewarded with various appointments, he was yet to receive anything from the party.
Gbadamosi who is chairman of RedBrick Homes, owners of Amen Estate in Lekki Pennisula, is said to have spent over N500 million on his gubernatorial ambition, including money spent on the party at the local level.
The APC camp is already agog with excitement and there is no doubt that his departure would boost their morale not just in Lagos but nationwide as he is viewed as being very intelligent and possessing the qualities of the kind of leader the APC needs at this time.
It will also be recalled that, Alhaji Aminu Kani, the PDP gubernatorial candidate in Jigawa state, on Sunday, February 22, defected to the opposition party APC.
Influential United Kingdom-based magazine, The Economist, says the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Maj. Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is more competent than President Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party.
The highly respected magazine in its editorial published in its current edition and titled, ‘Former dictator is a better choice than a failed president,’ said Nigeria was unfortunate to have both Buhari and Jonathan vying for the Presidency. It, however, said that out of the two, Buhari was a better candidate.
This, the magazine argued, was because Jonathan was a huge failure and his party had mismanaged the economy of the country since it took over in 1999.
It said Nigeria was Africa’s largest economy not because it had good leadership but due to the will of the people.
It said Jonathan was highly incompetent as he had failed to address the insecurity ravaging the country.
The magazine recalled that when over 1,000 people were killed during an attack, rather than condole with his people, Jonathan preferred to condole with the people of France over the Charlie Hedbo attack during which terrorists killed 12 journalists last month.
It said, “Start with Mr. Jonathan, whose party has run the country since 1999 and who stumbled into the Presidency on the death of his predecessor in 2010, the PDP’s reign has been a sorry one. Mr. Jonathan has shown little willingness to tackle endemic corruption. When the governor of the central bank reported that $20bn had been stolen, his reward was to be sacked.
“He has shown little enthusiasm for tackling insecurity, and even less competence. Quick to offer condolences to France after the attack on Charlie Hedbo, Mr. Jonathan waited almost two weeks before speaking up about a Boko Haram attack that killed hundreds, perhaps thousands, of his compatriots.
“The single bright spot of his rule has been Nigeria’s economy, one of the world’s fastest-growing. Yet that is largely despite the government rather than because of it, and falling oil prices will temper the boom. The prosperity has not been broadly shared: under Mr. Jonathan poverty has increased. Nigerians typically die eight years younger than their poorer neighbours in nearby Ghana.”
The magazine described Buhari as an incorruptible and honest leader but maintained that the former military head of state had “blood on his hands.”
It recalled that Buhari was guilty of human rights abuse and did not manage the economy properly when he ruled Nigeria between December 1983 and August 1985.
It, however, said the fact that Buhari had been participating in elections since 2003 was evidence that he had now embraced democracy.
It said Buhari would be able to revive the demoralised military and address insecurity.
It added, “Buhari is a sandal-wearing ascetic with a record of fighting corruption. Few nowadays question his commitment to democracy or expect him to turn autocratic: he has repeatedly stood for election and accepted the outcome when he lost. He would probably do a better job of running the country, and in particular of tackling Boko Haram. As a northerner and Muslim, he will have greater legitimacy among villagers whose help he will need to isolate the insurgents. As a military man, he is more likely to win the respect of a demoralised army.
“We are relieved not to have a vote in this election. But were we offered one we would-with a heavy heart-choose Buhari. Jonathan risks presiding over Nigeria’s bloody fragmentation. If Buhari can save Nigeria, history might even be kind to him.”
