Lagos State gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr. Jimi Agbaje, on Wednesday evening lashed out at his All Progressives Congress (APC) counterpart, Mr. Jide Sanwo-Olu for claiming that Lagosians are not under bondage and, thus, do not need the freedom which Agbaje is promising them.
Sanwo-Olu had earlier in the day said while appearing on a TV Continental interview programme: “For anyone to imply that Lagosians are slaves is just plain mischief. Lagos is a land of opportunity. We will rank high in parts of the world where you can arrive without knowing anyone and succeed. We are not in the 16th century and we are not under any bondage.
“Let us not trivalise our lives and make negative assertions about ourselves. Slavery was a reality that our forefathers had to live through. The can-do spirit of a Lagosian is phenomenal and anyone that refers to Lagosians as slaves is doing this great state a disservice.”
However, responding via a statement, Modupe Ogunbayo, Director, Media and Publicity/Spokesperson of the Jimi Agbaje Campaign Organisation, dismissed Sanwo-Olu’s claims as being feeble and diversionary.
She said: “When Mr. Olujimi Kolawole Agbaje talks about “Freedom for Lagos”, the PDP gubernatorial candidate is not referring to physical chains and hooks of bondage but a strangulation of the public economic space in Lagos by one man who has turned Lagos coffers to an extension of his piggy bank and the political space in Lagos to a mere metaphor for the realisation of his fantasies.”
Continuing, Ogunbayo said: “The Jimi Agbaje Campaign Organisation is aware that the sentence, “Freedom for Lagos” is making the opposition party in Lagos very uncomfortable. We wish to remind them that “Freedom for Lagos” is an accumulation of the needs and yearnings of Lagosians themselves. Lagosians desperately wants emancipation from a modern day tribute taker. They are the ones shouting for freedom for their dear Lagos. Mr. Olujimi Kolawole Agbaje is simply marshalling and disseminating the message which the mandate given to him as the gubernatorial candidate of PDP in Lagos, empowers him to do.”