PDP vows to win Lagos in 2015 by force or fire.

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The Lagos State chapter of Peoples Democratic Party has kicked off some strategy sessions aimed at winning the 2015 governorship election in the state.

At a seminar, with a theme: Demystifying the energy of incumbency, organised by the Alimosho Local Government chapter of PDP, leaders of the party said they'd all it will take to defeat the All Progressives Congress in Lagos, but had suffered electoral losses due to disunity.

Speaking at the big event, the Chairman of PDP in Lagos, Capt. Tunji Shelle, said members of the party had gathered to weigh their alternatives for 2015 governorship election in the state and identify factors that had sabotaged their efforts during election.

He said, 

“PDP has been in Lagos since 1998 but we've not won the state. We're here to locate the cause of the problem. We must be focused and interact as a team. I think APC is surmountable.”

Shelle added that being the largest local government in the state, Alimosho was very strategic and pledged that the leadership of the party can do everything possible to aid its members in the neighborhood government to make sure victory come 2015.

Guest speaker at the big event, former Speaker, Ogun State House of Assembly, Mrs. Titi Oseni, said PDP in Lagos and the most states of the South-West had been plagued by factionalisation and poor internal democracy.

She said,

 “A very important factor that is painfully true about our party, in Lagos State last years, is the undeniable fact that individuals lack cohesion, discipline, unity and therefore at every past election worked at cross purposes. We have prosecuted our electoral battles previously as people at war against itself. The seed of this issue, in itself, is sown by insincere leadership. We run leadership structure that is incompatible with this political nature. Imposition of candidates and ‘take it or leave it'attitude are very contradictory and self-defeating in a political organisation where freedom and democratic ethos are created.

Oseni added that Lagos electorate are becoming disillusioned and they want change from the APC government “that is anti-people; a government that is intolerant of the folks on the reduced rung of socio-economic ladder; a government that is waging war against the poor, as opposed to poverty.”

She also advised the Lagos PDP to reconcile all factions and embrace openness, especially when selecting candidates.

Also speaking at the seminar, former Minister of Works, Sen. Adeseye Ogunlewe, stressed the need for unity in Lagos PDP, stating that the move to reconcile with former Deputy National Chairman of the party, Bode George, could be in the interest of the party. Ogunlewe added that there clearly was significance of the party to produce a powerful house-to-house campaign strategy.

“Find the candidate for the voters and not for the party. The question to ask is: would you the electorate love?” he said.

Earlier, the chairman of PDP in the neighborhood government area, Prince Ayodele Adelaja, welcomed chieftains of the party and a huge selection of party loyalists who'd gathered for the event.