PDP presidential flag bearer Governor Ifeanyi Okowa and gubernatorial candidate Abdul-Azeez Adediran have vowed that the party will “conquer” APC presidential standard-bearer and free Lagos from “bondage.”

Mr Okowa stated this on Sunday while receiving hundreds of defectors from the African Democratic Congress (ADC) to PDP in Lagos as ADC ward and local government executives officially announced the collapse of their structures in Lagos ahead of the February 25 and March 11 elections.

Making the declaration at Ikeja, deputy primate Adewole Ijaogbomo, the chair of the ADC committee of LGA chairmen, said, “We must free Lagos state from bondage. There is the need to make Lagos state work again. No amount of criticism can solve the problem rather than for all the concerned people to come together to defeat the ruling party.

Mr Ijaogbomo added, “Based on the aforementioned submissions, we, the LGA chairmen of the African Democratic Congress in Lagos state, including the ward chapters, hereby collapse our structures and through this medium direct our entire structures to mobilise, campaign and vote all PDP candidates from Atiku/Okowa ticket for the presidential election on February 25, 2023, and Dr Abdul-azeez Olajide Adediran (Jandor) for governor of Lagos state on March 11, 2023.”

Receiving the defectors, Mr Okowa noted that “I know you are very eager to take over Lagos state and for Jandor to become governor of this state, but the easiest pathway is to ensure that Atiku/Okowa ticket wins the election next Saturday.”

The Delta governor added, “Once that election is won, there will be a ripple effect here, and the so-called ownership in Lagos would have crumbled, and you can now freely take over the Government House in Lagos.”

Mr Okowa explained that the PDP would reverse the trend of poverty and hardship, stressing that “we are ready to work will all Nigerians to discover the Nigeria of our dreams.”

Mr Adediran stated that the defectors had come to work for the party from top to bottom to give victory for the party in the federal and state elections.

“We will conquer all of them and come up with (a) formidable team to defeat the hegemony of godfatherism in Lagos,” said the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos.

(NAN)