By Rasaq Adebayo
On February 25, 2023, no less than 28 candidates will be on ballot papers competing for the three senatorial seats in Lagos State. And for the 24 Seats allocated to Lagos State at the Federal House of Representatives, no fewer than 162 candidates will be competing with one another through ballot to secure a seat in their various constituencies.
The analysis of the candidates by ECHONEWS indicated that while APC and PDP have candidates in the three senatorial districts, Accord Party presents only two candidates for Lagos West and Lagos East; it has no candidate for Lagos Central. Labour Party on its own has no candidate in any of the three senatorial districts.
LAGOS WEST
In Lagos West Senatorial District, 10 political parties present candidates which include Accord Party with James Charles
Kolawole; ADC presents Ogidi Muhammed
Mutairu; ADP – Olaojo Olufeyikemi; APC – Adebule Idiat Oluranti, BP – Ogunlegan Akintomide Olumide; NNPP – Dabiri Mustapha
Oladapo; NRM – Olokor Anthony Nelson; PDP – Adewale Segun Sunday; SDP – Osundolire Tolulope; and Emereole Anthony of ZLP.
Kolawole of Accord is a 58 years old candidate and holds a Bsc. Education according to the data he submitted to the INEC. His detailed profiles could not be traced.
The APC candidate, 51-year old Dr Idiat Adebule, was born in Ojo Alaworo in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State. She is a writer, Educationist, and a politician.
She began her working career as an academic at Lagos State College of Primary Education (LACOPED), Noforija, Epe as a lecturer in the department of Religious Studies and later transferred her service to the Lagos State University as a lecturer in the department of curriculum studies and later language Arts and social studies in the faculty of Education.
While at the university, she served as a member of various university committees which included, “committee on establishment of LASU International Secondary School”, “LASU staff school monitoring committee”, member, Association of Learners, and was the coordinator, LASU Sandwich Degree Programme, Osun State College of Education, Ilesha Campus.
Her political experience and sojourn began when she was appointed as a commissioner 1 in the Lagos State Post Primary Teaching Service Commission (PP-TESCOM), now Teachers’ Establishment and Pensions Office, by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu from October 2000 to February 2005 and later as board member of the Lagos State Scholarship Board from February 2005 to November 2005.
Dr Adebule was appointed and sworn in as the Secretary to the State Government by the Governor of Lagos state, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN) in July 2011.
Having been duly elected by the people of the State and sworn in on May 29th, 2015, she became the Deputy Governor of Lagos State and superintend over the State’s Ministry of Education.
During the APC party primaries in 2022, she was elected to represent the party to contest for the Lagos West Senatorial seat in the 2023 general election coming up this week.
A consummate writer, Dr Adebule, has several local, national and international publications to her credit. These include, “Reading The Objective Of Universal Basic Education in Nigeria”, “The Imperative of Religion and peace in the Quest for Sustainable Development in Nigeria: The Plateau State Experience”, “The Effective Use of Educational Technology for Religious Teaching: Learning amongst Secondary Schools in Lagos State, Nigeria” to mention a few.
Another prominent candidate in the race is Adewale Segun Sunday of PDP. Otunba Segun, popularly known as Aeroland, born on May 15, 1966, is a Nigerian entrepreneur, philanthropist and grassroot politician. A native of Ipoti EKiti in Ijero Local Government Area of EKiti State.
His father was a police officer. He had his Primary Education at the Seventh-Day Adventist School, Abule Oja Lagos between 1972 and 1978.
In 1979, his parents decided that their first child must return to Ekiti so he could be groomed and well-grounded in the Ekiti norms, values and tradition; this he was admitted into Ipoti High School the same year. He eventually concluded his secondary school education at Oriwu College, Ikorodu, Lagos State in 1983. He attended University of Ibadan between 1986 and 1990 where he bagged a Bachelor of Science Degree in Geography. He proceeded to obtain his Master’s Degree Certificate in Public Administration at the Lagos State University in 1995.
He equally obtained a Certificate in Airline Management and Operations in 2012 and got a requisite Certificate in Flight Operations from the Institute of Flight Operations and Dispatcher (IFOD), Texas-USA in 2013. He possesses other professional qualifications in Management and Public Relations from reputable Institutes.
IN 2015, he contested for the Lagos West Senatorial election under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
The 48-year old Tolulope Osundolire is another female candidate contesting under the platform of Social Democratic Party (SDP). Much is not known about Osundolire and her profiles are not available.
LAGOS EAST
In Lagos East Senatorial District, nine candidates will be competing for just one seat who include Imumolen Ehijele Benedict of Accord Party, Ashiru George Olalekan Honey of ADC, Abiru Mukhail Adetokunbo of APC, Olowolayemo Temitope Temitayo of BP, Lawal Nurudeen Folohunsho of NNPP, Ediale Christopher of NRM, Akobada Nicholas Adekunle of PDP, Oluwaranmilowo Mayowa of SDP, and Obadiaru Charles Imuenoghomwen of YPP.
The prominent among the candidates based on their level campaign activities includes Tokunbo Abiru of APC.
Senator Mukhail Adetokunbo Abiru, FCA, popularly known as “Tokunbo Abiru” is an accomplished Nigerian Banker, Chartered Accountant, and now a Public Servant. He is currently the Senator, representing Lagos East Senatorial district in the 9th Nigerian National Assembly, after 32 years of corporate experience (of which 29 years was spent in the banking industry).
He was the pioneer and former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Polaris Bank Limited. He led the turnaround of erstwhile Skye Bank Plc, as Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, under a CBN-induced take-over of the Bank, in a bid to avoid its collapse and also preserve the stability of the overall Nigerian Financial System.
His banking career was in top Nigeria Financial Institutions such as First of Bank of Nigeria (2002–16), where he rose to the level of Executive Director, Corporate Banking; and Guaranty Trust Bank (1991-2000).
Tokunbo Abiru also served on other notable boards as Non-Executive Director: FBN Capital Limited (now FBN Quest Merchant Bank Limited); FBN Bank Sierra–Leone Limited; Airtel Mobile Networks Limited; and Nigeria Inter-Bank Settlement System Plc (NIBSS).
During the course of his professional career, he also had the privilege of serving as the Honourable Commissioner of Finance, Lagos State (2011 -2013), under the transformational leadership of Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola (SAN).
He holds a B.Sc. Economics from Lagos State University, and he is a Fellow of The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Nigeria (ICAN) and a Honorary Fellow of The Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria (FCIB). He is an alumnus of both Lagos Business School (LBS) and Harvard Business School (USA).
Tokunbo Abiru retired from banking in August 31, 2020 and decided to go into Public Service. He contested for the bye-election of Lagos Senatorial East under the platform of All Progressives Congress (APC) Party, and won the election on December 5, 2020 with 89% of the total votes cast to become a Senator of The Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Akobada Nicholas Adekunle of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), a 54 years old candidate is a political scientist and business man. His mother is from Ibeju-Lekki and his father is from Epe, but he grew up in Shomolu, He had served as the Supervisor for Health in the local government
Honey George Olalekan Ashiru of ADC is a Lagosian born in 1966.
According to Wikipedia, Ashiru was born to a royal household in the southwestern part of Nigeria. His father became an international diplomat, working in Brussels with the African Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) Group. His mother was a successful entrepreneur and one time president of the Nigerian-American Chamber of Commerce, Kaduna. She was a US “Visitor”, having participated in the International Visitor Leadership Programme (IVLP) of the US Government.
George was educated in Nigeria and Britain and studied in diverse schools like Irwin Academy (UK), Ijebu Ode Grammar School, Nigeria, Federal Government College, Kaduna, Nigeria, University of Lagos and Middlesex University (UK), and became a professional Fellow of Institute of Consulting and a Chartered Fellow of the Chartered Management Institute of the United Kingdom. He earned the qualification of Certified Management Consultant.
Seven times Ashiru was Nigerian Taekwondo champion in the light and welter weight categories and won a silver medal at the 4th All Africa Games in Kenya in 1987.[1] He has been named Best National Player, Best National Referee and then Team Manager to the Beijing 2008 Nigerian Taekwondo Olympic Team.
Additionally, he became Africa’s first ever 7th Degree Black belt International Master Instructor & International Referee Class A, certified by the International Taekwon-Do Federation (ITF), and 8th Degree Taekwondo, issued in Korea through Taekwondo Jidokwan Korea, named “Taekwondo Ambassador” by Taekwondo Jidokwan Society, and is listed in the World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) Hall of Fame. He is Technical Advisor and two time Inductee of the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame and a Special Correspondent with the US Taekwondo Times magazine. In 2011 the President of the Kukkiwon awarded him the “Commendation Certificate” for promotion of Taekwondo all over the world. George Ashiru is also an International Referee by the World Taekwondo Federation as well as a graduate of the Kukkiwon Foreign Masters Training Course, 2012.
He was appointed Regular Member of the Kukkiwon 2012 Seoul World Taekwondo Leaders Forum. He is also distinguished as a certified Master of Tang Soo Do by the World Tang Soo Do Association and one of the world’s leading exponents of Korean Kempo. In Nigeria, he was at various times, an Executive member of the Nigeria Judo Federation, Chairman, Grading Commission of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, Chairman, Ogun State Taekwondo Association and a member of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, Marketing Commission.
In December 2012 he was “Outstanding Achievement” Awardee of the Korean Ambassador to Nigeria and was in the same period appointed the Continental Director for Africa by the Official Taekwondo Hall of Fame. In May 2013 he was elected the 7th President of the World Taekwondo Federation member national association (MNA), the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation. In 2013 George Ashiru was elected Vice President of the Commonwealth Taekwondo Union.
In 2014 he was appointed by the Honourable Minister of Sports in Nigeria as a member of the National High Performance Task Team. He is a board member of the Nigeria Olympic Committee, and vice chairman of the Technical Commission of the NOC.
George Ashiru was appointed the International Technical Advisor of the Sierra Leone Taekwondo Association in 2018. In 2017 and 2021 he was International Expert for Olympic Solidarity programmes in Sierra Leone. In February 2022 he was promoted to 9th degree black belt by the World Taekwondo Jidokwan Federation, based in Seoul, Korea.
George Ashiru, in addition to his exploits in sports is also highly accomplished in several other areas. He was elected the Lagos State Chairman of the African Democratic Congress Party in May 2017. In 1988 he was named “Mr Nigeria” and represented the country at the 11th Mr & Miss University Pageant in Tokyo, Japan.
He was a delegate to the World Student’s Festival in the UK in 1990. He was a national television presenter on Nigeria’s NTA Youth Scene between 1988 and 1990. While studying at the University of Lagos, Nigeria, he founded the Ultimate Gold/Love Foundations and the University of Lagos Taekwondo Club, both of which have endured since the mid-1980s till today. In recognition of his varied achievements, Nigeria’s Vanguard Newspapers named him one of the “40 Young Leaders of The Future” in 1995. In 1997 he was awarded with the prestigious “Men of Achievement Awards” at the Lagos Sheraton Hotels. In 1998, the Comet Newspapers also named him “Leader of the Future”. He also produced a television programme for DBN Television in Lagos and was a regular columnist for several magazines, since the then popular but now defunct Classique Magazine, back in the late 80s.
In 1997 he led a delegation of business men members of the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce (Kaduna) to the World Trade Expo, in Detroit, USA. Later that same year, he organised, with the same Chamber, the National Seminar, “Nigeria Can Compete”.
George is an ordained Minister of the Gospel, with his own Transformation Ministries. In 2003, the Federal Government co-opted him as an official Chaplain for the COJA 2003 All Africa Games in Abuja. He also coordinates the NGO, Town Hall Meetings Project (THMP).[4] He also runs his own IATA Accredited travel business and is an official representative of the London School of Business and Finance (LSBF) in Nigeria.
He was, at one time the Vice Chairman of the Tourism Group of the Nigerian American Chamber of Commerce, Lagos. One of George’s keen activities is mentoring emerging leaders and giving inspirational talks, to youths, government personnel and the general citizenry, on personal development, entrepreneurship, and nation building. He is also a member of several national prayer intercession groups.
LAGOS CENTRAL
Also, nine candidates from different parties wIll be contesting for the seat at the Lagos Central Senatorial District. They are Idowu Abayomi Omotayo of ADC, Sanni Wasiu Eshilokun of APC, Bolarin Tunde of BP, Oloke Raphael of NNPP, Owobiyi Francis Adekunle of NRM, Gomez Adewale Francis of PDP, Adelaja Adeyinka of SDP, Oladeji Blessing Tunde of YPP, and Oji Princess Blessing of ZLP.
Idowu Abayomi Omotayo, a 65 year old is contesting under the platform ADC.
Hon. Wasiu Eshinlokun Sanni who is contesting under the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) is the incumbent Deputy Speaker of Lagos House of Assembly but now contesting senatorial election in Lagos Central Senatorial District.
Sanni was born on March 24, 1961. He obtained Bachelor of Agriculture (Honours) with Specialisation in Agriculture Economics and Farm Management 1988. He also has Certificate in Negotiation and Leadership, Harvard Law School, Cambridge, USA. 2014. He bagged Masters Degree in International Law and Diploma(MILD) University of Lagos 2001.
In was elected to the Lagos House of Assembly in 1999-2003. He was the chairman, Lagos Island Local Government between 2008 and 2014, State Secretary, All Progressive Congress Lagos State 2014, Senior Special Assistant to the Governor of Lagos State, His Excellency, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu on Political and Legislative Matters 2005-2007
He was the Secretary, Lagos State Microfinance Institution from January to September 2008.
Gomez Adewale Francis, a 65 years old is contestong under the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Much information could not be got about Francis even on his social media handles.
Olajide Blessing Tunde is the one of the youngest candidate contesting under the platform of YPP. He is 39 years old.
GOVERNORSHIP ELECTION
On Mach 11, the voters in Lagos will again troupe out to vote for 16 governorship candidates but only one will eventually emerge the winner to become the next governor of the State.
Among those who are to be voted for are: Dickson Hakeem Olaogun of Accord Party, Balogun Tope Abdulrazaq (AA), Olayiwola Akeem Olaide (AAC), Doherty Olufunso
Adeshina (ADC), Bamidele Ishola (ADP), Sanwo-olu Babajide Olusola (APC), Kupoliyi Funmilayo (APM), Adeyemi Abiola Roseline (APP), Oluwo Olawale Wasiu (BP), Rhodes-Vivour Gbadebo Patrick (LP), Jim-Kamal Olanrewaju Olalekan (NNPP), Braithwaite Akinwunmi Ishola (NRM), Adediran Azeez Olajide (PDP), Uthman Olakunle Taofeek (SDP), Ajayi Wasiu Adebayo (YPP), and Adenipebi Mode Adekunle of ZLP.
Based on their popularity and campaign activities, political analysts believed that the contest will be between the ruling APC and the major opposition party, PDP. However, they said Accord Party and Labour Party may also make headline after the election.
The primaries, held on May 25 and 26, produced Sanwo-Olu as the APC candidate and Adediran as the PDP flag bearer while the Accord Party’s primary was held on May 30 where Dickson was unanimously picked by the party as its candidate.
Though the Accord Party is trying to put its popularity and that of its candidate to test, with little or no action from the other political parties in the state, political analysts still believe that the 2023 governorship election in Lagos State will be, as has been the tradition for about two decades, a contest between the two major parties – APC and PDP
SANWO-OLU
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who is flying the flag of APC, is running for his second term in office. He won the election against the candidate of the PDP, Jimi Agbaje in 2019.
He was born on June 25, 1965, and holds a B.Sc in Surveying and an MBA from the University of Lagos. He is an alumnus of the John F. Kennedy School of government, the London Business School and the Lagos Business School.
Sanwo-Olu became an associate member of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management (CIPM) and a fellow of the Nigeria Institute of Training and Development (NITAD).
He was the treasurer at the former Lead Merchant Bank from 1994 to 1997 after which he moved to the United Bank for Africa as the head of foreign money market. He then proceeded to First Inland Bank, Plc (now First City Monument Bank) as deputy general manager and divisional head.
He was the chairman of Baywatch Group Limited and First Class Group Limited and a board member of the Department for International Development (DFID/DEEPEN) Fund and Audit committee of Caverton Offshore Service Group, Plc.
Sanwo-Olu began his political career in 2003 when he was appointed a Special Adviser
on Corporate Matters to the then deputy governor of Lagos State, Femi Pedro. He was later appointed acting commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget until 2007 when he became the commissioner for commerce and industry under then Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
After the General Elections of 2007, Sanwo-Olu was appointed commissioner for Establishments, Training and Pension by Governor Babatunde Fashola. He was later in 2016 made Managing Director/CEO of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC) by Governor Akinwumi Ambode.
Some of Sanwo-Olu’s notable public sector achievements include the supervision of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE) Privatization projects. He set up and was the pioneer Board Chairman of Lagos Security Trust Fund. The LAGBUS System and the Control and Command Centre in Alausa, Ikeja, were subsequently established under his directives.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu was elected governor of Lagos State on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the governorship election held on March 9, 2019.
He scored 739,445 votes to defeat Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) who polled 206,141 votes, according to official results declared by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). Sanwo–Olu also won in all the local government areas in the state. He has obtained a variety of awards in his career, some of which include: Platinum Award from the Lagos State Public Service Club; 2009 Best in Human Capital Development Award from the Industrial Training Fund (ITF); Merit Award from the Association of National Accountants of Nigeria; Merit Award from the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management in Nigeria (CIPMN); Merit Award from the Association of Personnel Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN); LSDPC Impact Leadership and Recognition Award.
JANDOR
Abdul-Azeez Olajide Adediran popularly known as Jandor is a Nigerian politician, journalist, entrepreneur, and technocrat. He is the chairman of Lagos4Lagos movement and the Lagos State Gubernatorial candidate under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) with his running mate, Funke Akindele.
He is a recipient of the 2021 Honorary Doctorate in Leadership and Governance by South American University, Lagos, Nigeria. Jandor was born into the family of Alhaji Adeniran and Late Mrs Ruth Oluwafunmilayo Adeniran on November 25, 1977 in Mushin Area of Lagos State. He is a graduate of The Polytechnic Ibadan; Modul University, Vienna; the Howard University School of Business, Washington DC, USA; and Oxford University, Oxford, United Kingdom
He started his career with Journalism and he was a journalist for more than twenty years. He eventually ventured into politics as a member of APC. He was the convener of the movement of Lagos4Lagos, a movement under the APC. He eventually defected to PDP and he is currently the gubernatorial candidate of the party for 2023 Lagos gubernatorial election.
DICKSON
Olaogun-Dickson, who is contesting under the platform of Accord Party, was formerly a member of the ruling APC party. He is a former chairman of Surulere Local Government. He was appointed in 2017 by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as the Director General of the Lagos State Safety Commission.
In May, 2022, Accord Party (AP) unanimously unveiled him as its governorship candidate for Lagos State for the 2023 gubernatorial election. He had earlier been nominated at the party’s primaries which was held at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja.
Reacting to the nomination, Dickson tendered his acceptance speech. “With a grateful heart and the sole obligation to devote every effort of my body, mind and spirit to lead our party to victory in 2023 and our State back to greatness, I humbly accept the nomination.”
According to the candidate, with this kind of a unity among members of Accord, “We are ready and eager to take on the APC, PDP and other 15 political parties next year 2023.”
He added that it would be a year of concern, quiet and sober reassessment of “Our State’s” character and purpose.
However, ECHONEWS had earlier reported that Dickson might defect to APC if his negotiation with the party is fruitful. It is still expected that he may formally declare for APC before the election going by the information gathered by ECHONEWS.
RHODES-VIVOUR
Recently, the candidate of Labour Party, Rhodes-Vivour came to the limelight and boasted to weather all odds and come out victorious at the poll on Saturday, March 11, 2023.
At 39 years, Rhodes-Vivour, the adjudged youngest guber candidate in Lagos State, started his political career in 2007 when he contested for the Ikeja Local Government Chairmanship position under the umbrella of the KOWA party.
In 2019, he came out to contest for the Lagos West Senatorial seat under the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) but lost to Senator Adeola Olalekan (Yayi), an All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate.
He headed to the tribunal to challenge the result. Citing incidents of widespread violence and discrepancies in the result, he requested a rerun, which was not granted.
He later sought PDP ticket to contest for the Lagos State governorship seat in 2023 but again, could not secure the ticket due to the internal politics which played out to produce Olajide Adediran, popularly known as Jandor as the party’s candidate.
Apart from Rhodes-Vivour, Ade Dosumu, David Kolawole, Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal, and Adedeji Doherty were other aggrieved aspirants under the PDP.
Following the emergence of Adeniran, some other aspirants felt cheated and showed their grievances.
Adediran, a former member of APC, joined the PDP in January, 2022 and declared his intention to run for governor on the PDP platform two months later.
Rhodes-Vivour, thereafter, pitched his tent with Labour Party where he was given the ticket to run for the governorship position in Lagos State.
He emerged the Labour Party’s candidate for the Lagos State governorship election after decamping from the PDP.
In a chat with ECHONEWS, Rhodes-Vivour has expressed determination to become the next governor of Lagos State with assurance of winning the election in March, this year.
He said despite all the propaganda by the opposition parties, his Labour Party will still coast home victory, having the strategy to canvass for people’s support.
Meanwhile, it was reported that coalition of 29 opposition parties and groups in Lagos State has endorsed the APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, for the February 25 election.
The group also pledged support for the re-election of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The endorsement followed the inauguration of 10,000 Eko O ni Baje vote canvassers for the ruling party in the state by the Minister of Works and Housing, Babajide Raji Fashola last week.
Among the parties that endorsed the APC candidates AD, UPN, UPP, NPC, ACPN, CPN, BNPP, PPP, PPA, NUP, UP, LM, MMN, FJP, NCMP, GDPN, APA, AGAP, RPN, ID Party, Mega Party, Green Party, Hope Democrats, DA, C4C Party, NPM, and Independent Democrats.
