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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State has shortlisted Nollywood actress, Funke Akindele, popularly known as Jenifa, as one of the deputy governorship candidate of the party for the 2023 general elections.
The governorship candidate of the party and Lead Visioner, Lagos4Lagos Movement, Olajide Adediran, aka Jandor, is yet to pick his running mate.
The PDP had week commenced the screening of nominees for deputy governorship positions.
According to reports,the party has pencilled down five names.
Those shortlisted include Akindele; Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV); former senatorial candidate for Lagos East; Yeye Shobajo; another governorship aspirant, David Kolawole Vaughan; known as DAKOVA; and Engr Teslim Balogun.
While a picture of Jandor and Akindele had surfaced on social media, Daily Trust reports that the party’s chairmen across the local government areas in the state have endorsed Rhodes-Vivour as the preferred choice, describing him as a young dedicated party loyalist who has an already-established electoral value.
They noted that in the 2019 elections, Rhodes-Vivour contested for the Lagos West senatorial seat and scored 37,375 votes, more than what Jimi Agbaje, PDP’s governorship candidate, garnered in the senatorial district in that election cycle.
“Considering the increasing recognition for the principle of the ‘non-indigene’ factor which plays a major role in our elections, GRV also comes in for consideration, as his mother is Igbo from Abia State, while his wife is from Anambra State – a situation that accounts for his cosmopolitan and pan-Nigerian outlook which complements his educational background, as well as his youth, personality and ability to reach across ethnic divides in no small way,” the chairmen said.
In another letter, the 15 ward chairmen of the party in Lagos Island Local Government, who affirmed that Rhodes-Vivour is from the area, noted that the Jandor/GRV ticket would serve as a direct response to the agitation for youthful leadership.
They noted that while the 44-year-old Jandor is from Lagos West, 39-year-old Gbadebo is from Lagos Central, but also has a huge followership base in Lagos West because of his contributions to the development of the area.
“We are appealing to the leadership of our party, to consider the political popularity of GRV in Lagos West, as an opportunity for the party to wrestle power from the APC,” they added.