- The Lagos PDP chapter has accused Jimi Agbaje of hijacking funds meant for campaign
- The chapter's chairman, Adegbola Dominic, said Agbaje ruined PDP's chances by running a solo campaign
- Dominic also accused Agbaje of having a less regard for the leadership structure of the party
Following a woeful performance in the just concluded Lagos governorship election, the state chapter of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has attributed his defeat to the sickening attitude of its governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje.
Daily Independent reports that the chairman of the Lagos state PDP, Adegbola Dominic, accused Agbaje of siphoning the money meant for campaign, thus ruining the party's chances in the March 9 Lagos guber election.
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According to the aggrieved PDP chairman, Agbaje ran a solo campaign with low regard for the leadership structure of the party coordinated by the former PDP national deputy chairman, Chief Olabode George.
Legit.ng gathers that Dominic's outburst was a reaction to Agbaje's statement in which the PDP candidate accused the leadership of Lagos PDP of sabotaging the chance of the party because he failed to share with them the money meant for election campaign.
Agbaje had also claimed that he became the subject of growing attack because he refused to jeopardize PDP's reputation and leave the structure of the party in the hands of self-centred party chieftains.
He also vowed to seek a legal redress against those in the party trying to malign him and destroy his hard-earned reputation.
However, Dominic accused Agbaje of obtaining funds from Atiku Abubakar, the PDP's presidential candidate, without the knowledge of the party elders including Bode George.
He alleged: “I didn’t want to talk about the issue of money because I don’t like getting myself involved in issues like that, based on my record of integrity.
“But this was a presidential election. It has nothing to do with Jimi Agbaje. Only the presidential candidate and National Assembly candidates were involved in that election held on February 23.
“The funding came from the presidential candidate of the party himself for his own election. As the state chairman of the party, I was called by one of the aides of our presidential candidate who said I should meet him at a location in Lagos because he had some money to give us for the election.
“He told me that he was instructed to handover the money to the governorship candidate, the state chairman, a representative of the senatorial candidates, and two representatives of our House of Reps candidates. He asked me to call the other people which I did, and we met at the hotel where he lodged.
“We had to break because on that night, President Buhari was going to make a broadcast to the nation and we feared that he might postpone the election. So, we deferred our meeting till after the broadcast.
“By the time we got back to our meeting place, after we discovered that the election will not be postponed, we didn’t meet Jimi Agbaje.
“I was there with the state publicity secretary and two other persons. The fellow who was to hand over the money to us had told us Jimi Agbaje will soon be around. So, we all kept waiting. After some hours, I had to call the fellow that we had been waiting for more than three hours without him or Agbaje in sight.
“He now told me that he was sorry, that he didn’t know we were still waiting and that he had handed over the money to Jimi Agbaje. I stated all these during the open meeting that Agbaje was talking about and he couldn’t refute my claim. We all can see guilt written on his face that day.
“The man who brought the money said he was instructed to handover the money to five of us, including our leader, Chief Bode George, who said that he didn’t want to have anything to do with the money, that we should go and sort it out and use it for the purpose it was meant. But now, he was telling me that he had handed over the money to Agbaje and that he had gone.
“When I called Agbaje, he told me he was in another hotel disbursing the money, without the state chairman’s knowledge and other leaders of the party.
“He just called in 24 House of Reps candidates, about 24 of them, and gave them what pleased him after he had kept a larger percentage of the money to himself.
“I am suspecting there was a deal between him and the fellow who brought the money, because if you are instructed to hand over the money to six people, why will you hand it over to just one person?
“This is money for election campaign and party leaders should be involved, but Jimi Agbaje personally shared the money the way he liked.”
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that a former chairman of PDP in Lagos state, Tunji Shelle, had attributed the loss of the party in the state governorship election to the All Progressives Congress (APC) to its governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje.
Reacting to the humiliating defeat of the party, Shelle alleged that Agbaje’s inability to foster unity among aggrieved groups within the opposition party was responsible for PDP’s slim chance in the March 9 Lagos guber election.
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Election not a do or die affair - Sanwo-Olu| Legit TV
Source: Legit.ng
