AGBAJE DENIES DUMPING PDP
Governorship Candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party PDP, in Lagos State, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has denied dumping the party, declaring that no one will force him to jump ship.
Agbaje also opened up on allegations of embezzling campaign funds, saying that resources deployed for the presidential and National Assembly elections were disbursed as per instructions received, and the source had shown satisfaction with the exercise.
He made the clarifications in a lengthy statement issued by his Director of Media and Publicity, Felix Oboagwina.
That was the first time Agbaje spoke publicly on the internal wrangling in the party which dragged throughout the electioneering and partly led to the dismal performance of the PDP in the governorship election.
It would be recalled that during the campaign, there was never a rally held jointly by Agbaje and the PDP leadership with some chieftains accusing him of running a one-man show.
But Agbaje, while debunking the rumour of his defection as the handiwork of mischief-makers determined to soil his reputation, vowed to remain in the party, “despite the campaign of calumny being waged against him in the media by a few leaders.”
“For a party that has twice accorded me the honour of running on its platform, it should be regarded as uncharitable to say I am abandoning PDP now,” he said.
The PDP flag bearer also clarified that he incurred the wrath of some leaders because he stopped the “Lagos PDP tradition of sharing money to them.”
“I was not given one kobo by the party or the PDP presidential candidate for the gubernatorial elections. We ran our campaign from beginning to end on a shoe-string budget. You cannot steal or divert what is not given,” he said.
[DAILY TRUST]
