On Thursday, the All Progressives Congress, Lagos, officially accepted at least 5,000 members of the Lagos4Lagos Movement and supporters of Dr. Olajide Adediran, also known as Jandor, the PDP’s governorship candidate in Lagos.
Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, the deputy governor of Lagos State, welcomed the decampees and described the occasion as a homecoming for them. He added that while anyone could be misled, it would be foolish to keep going in the wrong direction after finding the right path.
The APC flag and broom were flown by the decampees. Hamzat told them that in light of what they have done that they made “the right choice and decision.”
At a lavish gathering conducted at the party’s secretariat in the Acme, Ogba, area of the state, Hamzat presented the APC flags to the decampees and praised them for returning to the party at the right moment.
He said, “The state is moving in the right direction. Only the blind would say nothing is happening in Lagos. Go everywhere, Lagosians are witnessing an unprecedented infrastructural renewal in recent times. This is the right decision.
“On our Presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, he has the eye for discovering talents and ability to manage people.
“This is the time for us to vote for someone that knows the way. He has walked many paths. It is good you retraced yourselves back early enough. I must tell you that you have made the right decision.
“It is people that make towns, cities and countries great. I am excited that you have seen the reason to support Asiwaju.”
Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, the state APC chairman, earlier praised the decampees for re-joining the progressive family.
According to Ojelabi, the state’s APC-led administration has prioritised the welfare of the populace and renovated the state’s infrastructure.
“Thank you for finding it necessary to be part of the progressive family and process of developing Lagos State.
“You have made the right decision by coming home to be part of the process. This is your party. You are not going to regret this step,” Ojelabi told them.
He called on residents in the state to use their votes to fast-track more progress and development in the state by voting APC candidates in 2023 general elections.
Speaking earlier, Idowu Daramola, who led the decampees back to APC, said they decided to return back because of Jandor highhandedness, lack of accountability, transparency and over-bearing attitude, among others.
He said, “We were supporting Jandor because we believed he had a vision but we found out that it was not what we thought.
“What changed our mind again was Asiwaju’s presidential ticket. We have to move when Asiwaju got the presidential ticket of APC to support him.
“This is a great opportunity for anyone that is Lagos residents and the Yoruba nation to give support for Tinubu.
“We have told everybody that we needed to go back because we discovered that we were going the wrong direction,” he said.
Other leaders of the decampees Mr. Tunde Kazeem, the South Africa Coordinator and Mr. Ahmed Mefeola, Chairman, Jandor Legacy Forum reiterated that they had expended huge money on Lagos4Lagos Movement to the tune of over N18 million before they retraced their way back to the party.
Other leaders of the movement who made remarks were: Kunle Dabiri, Adeola Osundairo, Jumoke Fakoya, Women Leader, LagosLagos, Ikorodu Central, Fredrick Falana, Temitope Adebanjo, alias “Di-Mario” among others.