Accord Party, whose guber candidate, Joseph Berkley, stepped down for Jimi Agbaje, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate for Lagos State for the 2019 polls, said on Thursday that it decided to back Agbaje because of the PDP Lagos flag bearer’s potentials to sack the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) from the State House Alausa and to transform Lagos.

It said that although the party had worked tirelessly to get to where it is, it believes that it is only Agbaje that has what it takes at this time to defeat APC with the joining of forces.

Reverend Isaac Adeniyi, Accord Party’s Chairman, Board of Trustees, while welcoming the audience on Thursday in the overfull auditorium of Lagos Airport Hotel Ikeja, said that the partnership with PDP in Lagos could not have come at a better time.

Receiving the honour, the PDP flag bearer, Agbaje thanked ‘my shadow governor’, Engr Berkley, “for magnanimously stepping down so that the party can endorse me, as their governorship candidate for 2019”. “He actually looked at the bigger picture and saw that there is a problem on the ground in Lagos and for this problem to be solved he needed to give space to somebody who has a better chance,” Agbaje said, calling for three gbosas for Berkley. At this point, the song, “we have decided to follow Jimi Agbaje,” rent the air.

“This victory today is not only for Jimi Agbaje but for my party. To show that our party is fully endorsing this, our party chairman, Dr Dominic Adegbola, and other party officials are right here.

“I accept in all humility this honour that you have granted to us. This position that you have endorsed to us, we accept it on behalf of our self and myself. We want to assure you that the way you have made this possible in a very easy way, so shall we make our victory very easy. When we get to the government house we shall serve the people better than they are being served today. To all those who are still waiting on the other side, the freedom train is on the move; let them join it before the momentum gets too much for them, to catch up with. There is still room in the train, and it is time to move on,” Agbaje declared.

“And to the other people, my message for them is enough is enough. It is time for freedom for Lagos, freedom from jati jati, freedom from babasope, freedom from eko losun,” he further said.

At the elaborate ceremony, over 20,000 APC members defected to Accord party.

Prince Sunday Ajayi, who spoke on behalf of the defecting members, lambasted APC National Leader, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, for hijacking the party and marginalising loyal party members. He equally showed the anger of defecting members on the ill manner that Tinubu treated Governor Akinwumi Ambode denying a second term despite his sterling performance.

His words: “Today when you want to do your abracadabra, you said the man of honour, the man that has performed excellently well, like Raj Fashola, is not a party man. Can you imagine that hypocrisy, and you as a person, your wife is going for the third term; that will never happen in Lagos state again. In that impunity party, we have some people contesting for the National Assembly for the third, fourth fifth time and these are the people that are useless at home and you encourage them to go for the third term, and the performing governor, you said he cannot go.

“By the special grace of God after Agbaje, Ambode will return as governor, he will not die; he will continue to remain with us. I salute his courage as an honourable governor.

“By the time we formed APC the broom was big but today the broom has become very tiny. It will never live to unite again; it is gone in Lagos and Nigeria forever. APC will never see peace again because it robbed some loyal party members not to be at peace and the party will never be at peace. Look at what is happening in Ogun, Imo, and Oyo. Have you seen where a sitting governor said I will not work for this disgruntled party?

“These things are happening just because of one man who is going around the states positioning himself for 2023; he will never be there. Today is their end. We came here today to declare for the Accord party.”

Boasting of tomorrow, he said: “That Mr impunity who believes in money, should bring out the trillions of Lagos money he has amassed and we still beat him and his candidate.

“He believes in money but we believe in the grass root and come 16 February and 3rd of March 2019 we will floor them.”

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