The leading aspirant for the gubernatorial ticket of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat has promised to build on the THEMES+ agenda of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu upon his emergence.
Hamzat, the incumbent deputy governor of the state, gave the promise on Sunday at an event in Lagos, where all 57 council chairmen in the state, under the platform of Conference57, formally threw their weight behind his aspiration.
The event, held at the Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja GRA, was attended by all the council chairmen, who unanimously declared their outright support for Hamzat ahead of the party’s upcoming gubernatorial primary and, ultimately, in the general elections.
Hamzat appreciated the grassroots managers while promising to justify the confidence reposed in his capacity by building on the THEMES+ agenda of his current principal, Governor Sanwo-Olu. He assured that his administration will be people-centric with development cutting across all areas of governance.
“In terms of what to expect. Our party, the APC is the only party that knows the geography of this state, so we know where the problems are. We know what we are doing. We know where we are. We are making progress but are we there yet, of course not! But we are making progress. Our state is developing. People are coming to our state at different rates, and our population is growing. They are saying that by 2030 our population will be about thirty million people. So, we must be ready for that in terms of housing, in terms of infrastructure, in terms of education so what we bring to the table is knowledge. The ability to build our people.
“How do we remove our people from poverty. How do we increase the capacity of our children? So that’s, it. It’s about humanity. It’s a people-first government. To build on the THEMES+ Agenda. Humanize it a bit more so that Lagosians, Nigerians can actually benefit from the organ of the president,” he said.
Earlier, the chairman of conference 57, Hon. Sesan Olowa raised the motion for endorsement of Hamzat’s candidacy while his counterpart from Eti-Osa LGA, Omoba Adeola Adetoro seconded it to reflect the collective decision of the 57 council mayors.
Rationalizing the endorsement, Olowa explained that the chairmen are happy with the decision of other critical party leaders to support Hamzat’s gubernatorial aspiration as he expressed confidence in the incumbent deputy governor’s decision to solidify Lagos’s status as a megacity.
“We are not in doubt as to the capacity of KOH. He has been a part of the progress of Lagos State for more than a decade. He worked with Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Governor Babatunde Fashola, and Governor Sanwo-Olu, for the past eight years. Together they have moved Lagos to where it is today. And it is only natural for the transition to be seamless. And the only person who the cap fits right now is Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat,” Olowa declared.
“He’s a very cerebral person. He’s an administrator, and he’s very innovative. He’s agile, very agile mentally and physically, and he understands Lagos 100%.
“At this point, you don’t want to experiment. Lagos has gone beyond experimentation. I make bold to say that what we have in Lagos today is the outcome of several decades of work that a lot of people have put together and fortunately, KOH is part of that team. So we are very, very confident that he will bring all these experiences to bear as we move into the future,” he added.
Corroborating Olowa, the spokesperson of the Conference57, Olasoju Adebayo described the endorsement as an assurance of the grassroots’ support for Hamzat’s candidacy stressing that with the deputy governor stepping up, Lagosians can remain assured of continued development at the state level and across the grassroots.
The endorsement is the latest for Hamzat and it has put him in a greater position to defeat his only co-aspirant Samuel Mayuwon Ajose for the party’s ticket.
