Ayodele Olalere
As the October 31, 2020 Lagos East Senatorial by-election draws closer, the battle for who replaces the late Senator Adebayo Osinowo in the Federal House of Representatives has begun.
The coast is clear, the war drums are beaten, as the two gladiators from the two major political parties, Tokunbo Abiru of the All Progressives Congress, APC, and Babatunde Gbadamosi of the People Democratic Party, PDP, are set to slug it out in the coming election.
However, it is not doubt that based on popularity, the two opposing candidates are well known in the political circles in the state. Therefore, their individual chances of winning the seat is not in doubt.
The emergence of Abiru as the APC’s candidate was full of intrigues, as he had to contend with other prominent gladiators on the platform of the party such as the former speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, who occupied the position of speaker for 11 years, representing Epe.
Others were the immediate past Governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode, who also hailed from Epe, Dr. Tola Kasali, and Chief Lanre Razak.
Kasali had occupied a Commissionership post twice in the state; he’s also a party chieftain and a close ally of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. Though the above individuals are heavy weights among APC stalwarts in the state, yet several arguments were canvassed against choosing them to fly the party’s flag in the coming election.
While it was argued that the corruption charge currently hanging on the neck of Ikuforiji by Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, was a dent to his possible emergence, Ambode, since the end of his tenure, has not been in the good books of the party. He is also facing some corruption allegations, which the state assembly is currently investigating.
Seventy-year-old Kasali was argued to be too old to represent the party at the federal level and was advised to settle for leadership post in the party, paving the way for only Abiru, as the preferred choice.
Abiru is not new to politics, having served as Lagos State Commissioner for Finance between 2011 and 2013 under Babatunde Fashola’s administration. It was during his tenure that the state floated an N80 billion bond, opened up discussions on taxation in the state, following discovery of over 5.5 million tax evaders.
The state was also able generate N6.2 billion revenue from Land Use Charge.
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After Fashola’ s tenure, Abiru was appointed GMD, Skye Bank, which later became Polaris Bank, and if his performances while at the helm of affairs of the bank were to be considered, he stood a good chance of coming top at the election.
In his farewell message to staff of the bank, Abiru enumerated some of his achievements.
He said: “There can be no better statement to the much improved state of the bank than the full year 2019 results in which the bank posited Profit After Tax, PAT, of N27 billion . To buttress the fact that this is sustainable, the bank’s first half 2020 results showed a PAT of over N18 billion , despite the tremendous headwinds brought on by the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
“We also commenced the refreshment of the bank’s IT infrastructure, which had largely become outdated and dilapidated due to years of under-investment. In addition, by introducing and commiting resources to the Agency Banking model, we have contributed in no small measure to deepening financial inclusion for the unbanked and under-banked throughout the length and breadth of Nigeria.”
Apart from piloting the affairs of Polaris Bank, his achievements were also noticed while serving as board member of companies, such as Airtel Mobile Networks Limited, FBN Capital Limited and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc, NIBSS.
Stakeholders have also argued that flying the flag of APC, which is the party in government in the state brightens his chances of winning the poll as well as being a loyalist of APC chieftain, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu. He is also said to have the backing of the Governor’s Advisory Council, GAC.
Moreso, he’s also young, having been born on March 25, 1964.
On the part of Babatunde Gbadamosi, the candidate of the People Democratic Party, PDP, his experience as a seasoned politician stands him in good stead.
Gbadamosi was a former governorship aspirant of the party. He became the party’s candidate by defeating other contestants during the primaries.
Gbadamosi scored 529 votes to emerge the winner in the primary election, while Saidat Odofin Fafowora, the closest, got 59 votes to come second.
The other two aspirants were Babatunde Olanrewaju and Yetunde Oyefusi, who scored 21 votes and seven votes to place third and fourth, respectively.
Gbadamosi had joined the Action Democratic Party, ADP, in October 2017 after leaving the PDP where he was a governorship aspirant in 2011 and 2015 but lost the ticket to Dr. Ade Dosunmu and Mr. Jimi Agbaje, respectively.
He later returned to PDP, according to him, “to contribute to efforts to wrest power from the All Progressives Congress (APC) and provide governance to improve the lots of residents.”
According to him: “Presently, there are problems in Lagos. In fact, we have serious problems but we shall solve them together. We are going to solve the problem as one house and not as a divided house.
“As the party chairman and other excos have kindly given me a free pass to re-enter the party, I am telling you right now that my job in PDP is to help the efforts to build a winning team that would knock out those people in 2023.”
Experienced, popular, Gbadamosi had been a member of National Conscience Party, NCP, UK, which culminated in him becoming a member of the National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, which fought for the actualisation of June 12 .
Gbadamosi is also a seasoned estate developer. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, of Redbricks Homes International Limited, the renowned developers of the iconic Amen Estate, Ibeju-Lekki, in the eastern part of Lagos State.
With APC being in the saddle of governance in the state since 1999, there have been clamour among some sections of Lagosians for a change in governance to allow PDP take over the state. Gbadamosi is seen as one of the party’s hopes of achieving such feat.
If he wins, it could be the beginning of the expected change some Lagosians have been clamouring for.