Newly-formed pressure group, Progressives For Surulere (P4S) have canvassed a level playing field for aspirants angling to fill the vacant House of Representatives seat left behind by Mr Femi Gbajabiamila.
Gbajabiamila who represented Surulere 1 federal constituency of Lagos state was the immediate past Speaker of the House of Representatives, and presently the chief of staff to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has slated January 7, for the party primaries, with the election to fill the Surulere 1 Federal Constituency seat billed to hold February 3rd next year.
Already, members of the group are mobilizing towards ensuring that either Kabir Lawal or Mr. Abdul Raheem Owokoniran to roundly defeats the former Speaker’s candidate, Mr. Fouad Laguda.
Lawal maintained that there is no chance of imposing an anointed candidate to replace Gbajabiamila to occupy the seat.
Acknowledging the decision by the APC leadership in Lagos state to allow all serious aspirants to mobilize support for a vibrant party primary on a level ground without manipulations or imposition, Lawal stated that even though he was a member of Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila’s political family before evidences of betrayal made him to opt out, too many groups in the constituency are resolutely determined to ensure that an aspirant being backed by the former Speaker loses woefully.
“Even though I contested against Honourable Gbajabiamila for the House of Representatives seat before stepping down and working for his election, I became a solid member of his political family, we planned together, do outings and other things together until I began seeing signs of great betrayal that made me to leave his group.
“There is no way for Honourable Gbajabiamila to impose his unpopular candidate on Surulere when the APC leadership in Lagos state, including the Governor’s Advisory Council has opted for a level playing ground for all aspirants and in any case, there are too many party members who are determined to scuttle such imposition.
According to the APC aspirant, while outsiders may easily assume that being a top government official with access to much resources and many people means a lot, such factors cannot work for a candidate being sponsored by anyone with diminishing grassroots popularity.
“You may think assume that my resources are too little to contend against the war chest of the former Speaker but I have the backing of God and that of the people against him; if you are a Christian, you will know the story of how a mighty giant got defeated by a shepherd boy and if you are a Muslim, you may recall the story of how the Prophet of Islam and his 313 men roundly defeated a large Meccan army despite their numbers and resources.
“I have the backing of God and the support of the people and I am the David set to beat his Goliath in Surulere; we have real strength at the grassroots and we have worked with him before but he betrayed me and we will never support his anointed candidate,” Lawal said.
