Former Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, has disclosed details of a failed peace move by PDP gubernatorial candidates to resolve the bitter rift between former Vice President Atiku Abubakar and then-Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike ahead of the 2023 elections.
Speaking on Inside Sources with Laolu Akande on Channels Television, Jandor narrated how PDP governorship candidates, concerned about the fallout from the Atiku-Wike feud, decided to intervene before the crisis could damage their own electoral prospects.
“During that brouhaha, we governorship candidates at that time, met. We said ‘Look, these guys are fighting. They will crash on us. Let’s meet to two gladiators which are Governor Wike as at that time and Atiku.’ We went to Atiku and said we are going to Port Harcourt. We left for Port Harcourt and we engaged Governor Wike and he said everything. And the only thing he requested was that Ayu [the then PDP National Chairman] should resign. We left that meeting. On the plane I spoke with Atiku. I asked: ‘What will it change if Ayu step aside? Will it affect anything?’ he said ‘Jandor, I don’t have any problem whatsoever with Ayu resigning. But, should I be the one to tell him? Won’t I appear selfish?” that was his response.
“I called Ashiru [PDP guber candidate] of Kaduna, and others, I said meet General Gusau, meet Babangida, meet these people, and let them speak to Ayu to resign. This is what the principal just told me. But, before they landed in Abuja, Gov Wike had held a press conference abusing all of them and their father. So, they didn’t bother to do anything.,” he noted further.
Jandor shared his candid reflections on internal party politics, electoral reform, and the entrenched system of political control that cuts across Nigeria’s political spectrum.
“You see, if you followed what we did in Lagos, you know, it was actually centered on this topic that you mentioned. And, of course, we’re very much aware that all political parties in Nigeria do have what you call, whether you want to call it ‘baba sope’, the supreme leader, I mean, every political party,” Jandor began.
“I mean, if you mention NNPP, APC, PDP, even Labour Party, everybody, if the man who is seen as the alpha of the party decides what, I mean, I don’t think anybody would say otherwise. Actually, we were actually aware of that. But more importantly for us, we needed a platform to express our can-do ability.”
Reflecting on his political journey from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the PDP, Jandor said the move was strategic: “We were in APC at that time, and we had an incumbent on the ballot. We knew it was going to be difficult for us to see that incumbent to pick the ticket. So we needed a platform where we can express our can-do ability and which we were able to do.”
However, he was quick to note that while seeking refuge from one “babasope” in APC, he met another in the PDP:
“We confronted another ‘babasope’ in PDP. But, you know, there’s a saying that if a woman hasn’t tried two husbands, who would know which is which?”
He continued: “Eventually we found out that the previous ‘babasope’ that we had to avoid coming to PDP, for what you care, he would do everything, even if you are not the chosen one, to win for his party. But the other one would do everything to ensure his own party doesn’t win. Even if it is his candidate, it has been his stock in trade. But the party, for whatever reasons, only God knows.”
Jandor accused some party leaders of sabotaging their own platforms.
