Politics

Viral Video: My campaign bus was hijacked by APC thugs- Jandor

Published

2 years ago

January 30, 2023

Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor

The PDP Governorship Candidate in Lagos, Abdul-Azeez Adediran (Jandor), has claimed that the PDP campaign bus seen in a viral video where some hoodlums shot in residential areas of Surulere was hijacked by thugs.
He sated this on Sunday while explaining that his campaign tour has come under heavy attacks in the state.
He appealed to the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Usman Baba, to take measures to check incessant attacks on his campaign trains.
Adediran also called on President Muhammadu Buhari and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to intervene in the attacks.
Adediran’s campaign train had been attacked by political thugs in Badagry, Ikorodu, Agege, Kosofe and Surulere, leaving some of his followers wounded and vehicles smashed.
It was also reported that the attack on Friday in Surulere was the third attack in succession where suspected hoodlums were said to have fired guns and destroyed some of the campaign vehicles in Adediran’s convoy.
Clearing issues around various attacks, Adediran noted that his change of campaign strategies by going to the people through his ward tours to sell himself to them had exposed him and his followers to huge threats and harassment from political thugs.

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“I have constitutional backing to go everywhere to campaign for this election.
“Many of the people attacked are here because these attacks are not about me but the people, hence the account we are giving now.
“At Surulere, the moment I stepped out of the mosque, these boys came and began to shout “where is Jandor?”, and started to shoot everywhere. I quickly entered my car and we drove away.
“The thugs hijacked one of our cars. Before we knew it, all our campaign vehicles were damaged and the party secretariat was also damaged.
“We still want the IGP to take these happenings in Lagos State very seriously. Police should please live up to its constitutional responsibility of protecting our lives and property,” he said.
Adediran, who noted that his team had severally reported all the attacks to the police, said that there were video clips and pictures of the attacks.
He lamented that in most of the places, political thugs were also in the habit of harassing and dispersing people waiting to receive him.
Adediran explained that his running mate, Ms Funke Akindele, was also chased out of the Fruit Market in Kosofe by thugs while some others mounted a road block against his passage in the same council and resorted to hurling stones and bottles at him.
“We will go out there and continue with our campaign. We don’t want anybody to harass us, we don’t want to be intimidated.
“I have been speaking to the people, interacting with artisans, professional and religious groups as well as various associations and stakeholders.
“We were attacked in Badagry, Agege, Kosofe and Surulere in Lagos.
“All these happened in Lagos. Our expectation was that the Chief Security Officer of the state would have addressed the people of Lagos and condemned the attacks in its entirety. But nothing of such happened.

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“We believe that they (the ruling party) actually want to use that to scare us away from embarking in the ward-to-ward tour. We will forge ahead,” he said.
Urging no one to twist the story, Adediran said that his followers could not have attacked the people he wanted to sell his manifestoes to, as was being alleged.
According to him, his team will not succumb to any threat from anywhere but will got out and engage the people at the grassroots, telling them what he would do differently if elected.
Adediran said that political actors should not resort to violence but allow the people of the state to select their leaders.
Stressing that the party had written an official petition to the IGP on the attacks, Adediran urged the police to do the needful.
Also speaking, Mrs. Aduke Akinde, a PDP leader at Iponri in Surulere, said that party members were preparing and waiting to receive Adediran and his team when masked political thugs drove in and destroyed the rented canopies and chairs on Thursday.
In her comment, Mrs Idowu Adeniyi (Iyalaya), a trader at fruit market in Kosofe, who is a PDP member, said that since the foiled attempt of Akindele to campaign in the market, the market authorities had not allowed them to enter their shops.
“Up till now, no opportunity to enter the market. We plead for help; we are being threatened since Tuesday. Our fruits, apples and bananas must be rotten now,” she said.
In his remarks, Pastor Philips Aivoji, the Lagos State Chairman of PDP, said that there were so many other attacks on PDP members in the state not reported in the media.
Aivoji, who noted that many PDP members in rural places were being threatened, said that election should not be a do-or-die affair.
“These cannot deter us. We will continue to forge ahead because we believe we are on the side of the people. We are not going to be intimidated,” he said.
Reacting to the alleged attacks in a statement on Saturday, Mr. Seye Oladejo, the Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, accused Adediran of unleashing terror on innocent residents in the course of his campaign in Surulere.
Oladejo condemned the resort to violence on the citizens of the state in the name of electioneering campaign.

Related Topics:APC thugs Jandor PDP Lagos

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2027 election: Shehu Sani declares bid for Kaduna central senatorial seat

Published

1 day ago

March 31, 2025

Trends Admin

Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani

2027 election: Shehu Sani declares bid for Kaduna central senatorial seat

Former Kaduna Central Senator, Shehu Sani, has officially announced his intention to contest for re-election in the upcoming 2027 general elections.

Sani made the declaration on Sunday while delivering his Eid-el-Fitr message at his residence in Kaduna. The former senator, known for his vocal stance on national issues, expressed his commitment to representing the people of Kaduna Central once again and addressing key challenges facing the region.

“Any politician contesting an election depends on the political equation that determines the position to vie for. If the conditions are right and the equations are favorable, I will offer myself to contest specifically for the Kaduna Central senatorial district,” he stated.

He further emphasised that his ambition remains secondary to ensuring the re-election of Governor Uba Sani for a second term.

“For now, our priority is to see that the incumbent governor, Uba Sani, is re-elected. We will work with all our might and strength to achieve this. We know there will be challenges and opposition, but we are well prepared for all forces,” he added.

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Sani also used the occasion to urge Muslims to pray for Nigeria’s peace and unity during the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations. Additionally, he condemned the recent killing of hunters in Edo State, calling on security agencies to apprehend the perpetrators.

“If citizens cannot move freely across the country, then we are not truly a nation. If individuals take the law into their hands for any reason, it means there is no government or authority,” he lamented.

He called on all Nigerians who desire a better country to work towards peace and unity for the preservation of democracy, despite the challenges being experienced.

Sani also urged the government to uphold fundamental human rights, particularly the right to life, as a crucial step towards national stability and development.

2027 election: Shehu Sani declares bid for Kaduna central senatorial seat

Politics

Wike’s aide slams Atiku, says it’s too late to buy integrity

Published

2 days ago

March 31, 2025

Trends Admin

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Wike’s aide slams Atiku, says it’s too late to buy integrity

Lere Olayinka, Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Minister, Nyesom Wike’s Senior Special Assistant on Public Communications and Social Media has alleged that one Nigerian that can never be found in the gathering of men of character and integrity is former Vice President Atiku Abubakar.

Olayinka said this while reacting to statement by the Atiku Media Office that Atiku rejected the choice of Wike as his Vice Presidential candidate in the 2023 election of his character.

This was in spite of the fact that a committee set up by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to select a Vice Presidential candidate for the 2023 election had recommended Wike.

However, Olayinka said rather than Wike, it’s Atiku that that lacked character as attested to by his former boss, Olusegun Obasanjo, in his book; My Watch.

According to Olayinka, it was already too late for Atiku to buy ‘character and integrity that he has lacked from birth’.

He said no one could have knew Atiku better than President Olusegun Obasanjo, under whom he served as Vice President for eight years.

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Olayinka said; “One of the reasons Wike first rejected Atiku’s offer to have him as his running mate was his not too impressive character and integrity rating, until he was prevaied upon. And this, Atiku exhibited when he rejected the decision of committee the party set up to pick his running mate even after telling everyone that the decision of the committee will be bidding on him.

“Now, after his lies that he picked his running mate based on the committee report that placed the former Governor of Delta State, Dr Ifeanyi Okowa, as number one was bursted, he is now sermonising about character and integrity, which he, himself does not have.

“Funny that the same Atiku, that his boss described as a ‘blatant and shameless liar,’ is the one talking about character.

“For the records, Obasanjo said in his book, ‘My Watch’ that ‘What I did not know, which came out glaringly later, was his parental background which was somewhat shadowy, his propensity to corruption, his tendency to disloyalty, his inability to say and stick to the truth all the time, a propensity for poor judgement, his belief and reliance on marabouts, his lack of transparency, his trust in money to buy his way out on all issues and his readiness to sacrifice morality, integrity, propriety, truth and national interest for self and selfish interest.’

“Up till today, Atiku has not debunked what his boss said about him.

“Unlike Atiku, Wike does not hide or pretend on where he stands on issues. He is not one that will do a tweet on major issues and rush to delete it. He didn’t pretend about his position on the 2023 election and he won’t pretend on where he will stand in 2027.

“It is Atiku, that should start being truthful and reliable, especially now that he is old, because everything should not be about desperation to be president.”

Wike’s aide slams Atiku, says it’s too late to buy integrity

Politics

Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election

Published

7 days ago

March 26, 2025

Trends Admin

Former Vice President of Nigeria, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar

Atiku says he’s not sure about contesting 2027 presidential election

Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar has said that he does not know if he will contest the presidency in 2027.

Atiku made the remark in a yet-to-be-aired interview for a television show, Untold Stories, with Adesuwa Giwa-Osagie, scheduled for broadcast today but exclusively obtained by Daily Trust.

The former presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) recently announced the formation of a coalition of opposition leaders to wrest power from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu in 2027.

However, there has been widespread speculation about who will lead the coalition and emerge as its presidential candidate, with former Labour Party presidential candidate, Peter Obi and former Kaduna State governor, Nasir El-Rufai, being considered among its key figures.

When asked if he would be running for the presidency in 2027, Atiku said: “I don’t know because there has to be, first of all, a viable platform, more than any other time in the political history of this country, particularly since the return of democracy.”

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Atiku, who has run for the presidency a record six times, did not rule out the possibility of contesting again in 2027.

“I have not seen Nigeria in dire need of, you know, an experienced and credible leadership than this time.

“We had a similar, you know, what would I say, merger in 2014. About four of us or is it three? We all ran for president and one of us emerged, and we all supported the one who emerged, and he won,” he said.

He agreed with former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s assertion that Nigeria’s democracy is deteriorating, saying the situation is “very dire.”

“No doubt about that,” he said.

Atiku also expressed his disappointment with the country’s political leadership.

“The next generation after me, many of them had been governors, had been senators. Instead of me to see an improvement in the level of governance at the state level and so on and so forth, I don’t see it. So I feel a little bit distressed.”

Atiku also questioned the credibility of the current legislative leadership, especially as it relates to the National Assembly’s ratification of the state of emergency in Rivers State

“I am not surprised,” he said, alleging that they are corrupt.