SINCE the race for the 2023 governorship contest in Lagos commenced with the parties’ gubernatorial primary elections earlier in the year, the debates have all been about the chances of the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, to secure another term of four years in office. While supporters of the Governor are sure that he has done enough to earn the support of Lagosians on Election Day, critics of his administration insist he will be defeated at the polls.
The gubernatorial election in the state will take place on 11 March 2023, according to the electoral calendar of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Same day and time, elections into the Lagos State House of Assembly will also be held. The election will be held two weeks after the presidential election and National Assembly elections. The electoral body recently released its final list of candidates of the various political parties that will be slugging it out at the poll.
According to the list, which is still being challenged in Court by some political parties and guber aspirants; fifteen political parties have candidates for the governorship election in Lagos next March. These include the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), the Accord Party (A), the African Action Congress (AAC), the African Democratic Congress (ADC), the African Democratic Party (ADP) and the Allied Peoples Movement (APM).
Also cleared by the electoral body to field candidates in the gubernatorial contest next year alongside others are the Labour Party (LP), the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP), the National Rescue Movement (NRM), the Social Democratic Party (SDP), as well as the Young Progressive Party (YPP). Other political parties with flag-bearers in the race are the Zenith Labour Party (ZLP), the Action Peoples’ Party (APP), and the Boot Party (BP)
However, pundits are of the opinion that the next governorship race in the state is more likely to be a three-horse race among the APC, PDP and the LP. Unlike in the past when it was always a race between the ruling APC and the leading opposition party, the PDP, the Labour Party is putting up a strong showing as the contest progresses. Many analysts have put this down to the alleged influence of the party’s presidential candidate among the youths.
The governorship candidate of the LP, Gbadebo Vivour-Rhodes, has flagged-off his campaign last week at Ijegun area of the state in the Alimosho Local Government Area. He vowed that his party will win the election as he was ready to tackle the infrastructure deficit in the state. Vivour-Rhodes and his supporters say they want to take over the administration of Lagos from the ruling party in 2023 to show Nigerians Lagos can still work better.
Similarly, PDP’s governorship candidate, Olajide Adediran, popularly called Jandor also kicked off his campaign last Thursday. He expressed confidence to take over the rein of power from the incumbent, Governor Sanwo-Olu in 2023. “For things to really work in Lagos, we need a truly independent helmsman,” Jandor stated. For both the PDP and LP candidates as well as their supporters, Sanwoolu and the APC must be stopped from being elected at all cost.
Confident in cumbent
But in spite of the stiff oppositions from the PDP and the LP, the ruling APC looks confident ahead of the next general elections. According to the state chairman of the party, Hon. Ojelabi, neither the PDP nor the LP has what it takes to challenge the ruling party in Lagos state. “The APC is the party to beat as usual and these other parties are just trying as they do not have what it takes to defeat us. Sanwoolu’s performance in Lagos will make it easy for APC in the elections.
The incumbent governor started the campaign for his second term in office recently and also reiterated the confidence of his party. He began the campaign at the closing of the ninth edition of the Ehingbeti Lagos Economic Summit. Exuding a lot of confidence, the governor said he was the best among the governorship candidates in the state, based on his administration’s track record since 2019. He said the APC remains the darling party of the people of Lagos state.
The governor was optimistic that Lagos State residents will re-elect him. “Today is the day that INEC officially flagged off campaigns for governorship and House of Assembly elections. There is no better time for me to do my official flag-off than at an economic summit like this, where we are talking about our city, our people, and Greater Lagos. What we are talking about is real; people can feel and they can see it. Some people can come here to claim anything.
“They don’t even know what governance is all about. We have done a lot and people can feel it. People know this is a government that works for them. It is not about us; it is really to create that enabling environment for them (the citizens) to do well. Lagos State has witnessed prosperity in the last three and half years even in the COVID environment and that is the trajectory in which we want to continue. Lagosians will truly understand what we are talking about,” he said.
On another occasion, the governor added that he would be re-elected because he is more experienced than the other contestants. He said “I managed the emergency of the city. Today alone, there are emergencies that have been reported today alone. I’ve recruited over 650 fire service men. I’ve bought 64 brand new trucks. I spent over a billion to take off the refuse in Lagos. We’re creating a sanitary landfill site. That’s what we’re doing. We’re building 1618 kilometres of rigid pavement road that runs to tens of billions.” Sanwo-Olu added that Lagos cannot be left in the hands of someone who “cannot run a business that has 100 people.
“This is not a tea party. We’re talking about real governance. We’re talking about the lives of 20-plus million Nigerians. So you know, like I said if you have an emergency, who would you call? What are your chances? Do you call the man that has the experience that has gone through the trenches before that has lived with it that understands what the issues are? That appreciate what challenge you have even at 3 a.m. or will you leave your chance to someone that doesn’t know where the dial is or that doesn’t even know what the issues of governance are? This is Lagos,” he said.
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