The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Mr Jimi Agbaje, has restated his desire to free the state from what he called “pseudo-democracy” and the domineering influence of an individual in the state.

Speaking when the British Deputy High Commissioner to Nigeria, Ms Laure Beaufils, paid him a courtesy call on Wednesday afternoon, the PDP gubernatorial flagbearer seized the opportunity to update the envoy on the activities and hopes of his campaign, including areas of collaboration between Lagos, the commercial nerve centre of Africa’s most populous country, and Britain.

Responding to Ms. Beaufils’ question on his conviction of winning the election, Mr. Agbaje told the envoy that he is confident of unseating the ruling party in the state at next year’s election because his campaign message resonates more with the Lagos masses who believe he is the best qualified to free the state from pseudo-democratic rule.

“If a survey is conducted today, you will discover that the outcome will reflect that the campaign message resonates soundly with the ordinary people who are the majority voters. They yearn for freedom from the old order of doing things in Lagos. They want to cast their ballots to ensure a people’s Lagos, not a one man’s Lagos. This will guarantee an electoral victory for us at the polls,” he said.

Besides, he assured the envoy that he is pushing out the message to the electorate in Lagos to protest their vote. This is needful because the presidency has consistently refused to sign the electoral act.

Additionally, Mr. Agbaje told the Deputy High Commissioner the challenges before him, which he hope to utilise as nuggets of wisdom to turn the political tide of state around for the benefits of all Lagosians in the 2019 gubernatorial poll.

The PDP governorship flagbearer enjoined the British government to collaborate with relevant agencies to protect the security and privacy of the voter while casting their ballots on election day. Doing this, he said, would safeguard the voter and thwart intimidation tactics being put in place to discourage the electorate from voting for him on election day.

These include blocking market traders and artisans from accessing their places of avenues where they eke out a living at market stalls, bus stops.

Though Mr. Agbaje promised to eschew violence in his campaign and since his foray into politics expressly forbid his supporters from doing so, he warned that the will of Lagosians should be allowed to reign supreme in this election or the people could react violently if pushed to the tipping point. Moreover, he advises Lagosians, “eschew violence, do not attack but defend yourself.”

Also speaking, his running mate, Mrs. Halimat Yemisi Busari, explained that the campaign message “Freedom for Lagos” represents freedom from tyranny, bad roads, poverty, poor health, hopelessness and frustration with the system.

“It encapsulates the desire to emancipate Lagos from the throes of these negative indices that forces the campaign to rest on a tripod of livability, aimed at bettering education, health, culture, infrastructure; geared towards making the economy targeted at generating employment opportunities through empowering small and medium scale industries in order to drive employment and ease of doing business in Lagos so that the state can continue to attract investors and, the future which are ideas and programmes targeted at empowering the youth for the challenges of the 21st century,” she said.

In her remarks, Ms. Beaufrils expressed Britain’s appreciation to Mr. Agbaje for his desire to run an issues-based and peaceful campaign.

She expressed her readiness to discuss Mr. Agbaje’s concerns with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) when she meets with them soon.