Lagos SDP chair, excos join PDP, say ‘we find party attractive’

Dabiraoluwa Adeyinka, Lagos chairman of the Social Democratic Party (SDP), and some other state executives have defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Speaking on Monday, Adeyinka said the decision was based on the personalities of the party’s candidates in the state.

She said the group consulted widely before settling for the PDP, having considered the reality on the ground.

“We are proud of this and find it convincing. We find a lot of attractions in PDP,” she said.

“The likes of Funke Akindele are role models for us. She likes us as youths, she is accessible and a young mind, who has impacted the system in Nigeria by creating employment for Nigerian youths.

“She is doing wonderfully well and she is a sellable youth. She is a voice for women and a voice for the Nigerian youths.

“She is a motivation even without meeting her in person. We want to join forces with an entity like that.”

Adeyinka said the group was attracted to the party because of other youthful candidates like Bankole Wellington, who is the PDP house of representatives candidate for the Eti-Osa federal constituency.

“Those are people we want to reckon with because for Nigerian youth to be able to speak and make an impact, we have to come together as one force. We need a force to change the status quo,” she added.

“We want a Lagos for all, not for a few. We want a Lagos that works for everyone. We want to kill the system of godfatherism that puts our lives in danger.

“We need to find the right direction, we have a torchlight in PDP. Not because it is PDP, but because we have people of like minds like Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran and others there.

“We were not paid to do this or under pressure., It is high time for Nigerian youth to get involved.

“We want to be able to elect people into office because they merit it not because the system put them there.”

Receiving the new members, Philips Aivoji, the Lagos PDP chairman, commended them for their courage and conviction.

“I appreciate your courage. You have come to the right party. I thank you for identifying with our candidate. What I can assure you is that there is no level you cannot aspire to in PDP,” Aivoji said.

“We have broken the jinx of godfatherism. Let others rise up and join us and rally round PDP together to rescue Lagos.”

Also speaking, Abdul-Azeez Adediran, PDP governorship candidate, said there is an alignment between his aspirations and that of the defectors.

He urged them to hit the ground running to rescue the state.

“This is the way to go. It is about time we did it differently so that we can get different results. We need to combine forces together and confront the status quo,” he said.