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By Sunday Ani, Lagos
Barely two weeks to the gubernatorial elections slated for March 11, the struggle to take Lagos State away from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has commenced in earnest.
In a bid to achieve that, the Boot Party collapsed its structures on Tuesday to form a strong alliance with Labour Party (LP).
Receiving the Boot Party executives and members in Lagos, the Lagos State LP gubernatorial candidate, Mr Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, described the move as a major alliance that would redefine governance in Lagos.
He said parties were very passionate about Lagos State and its citizenry and would want to see opportunities created for them.
“We have seen situations where the state has been captured for the interest of one man, his friends and family.
“We want a situation where we can create a Lagos that everybody is going to be able to benefit from rather. These are the things that both of us share. It’s a natural alliance and we have been talking about this for a very long time, and I’m very happy about this announcement today,” he said.
On the party’s plans for Lagosians, he said LP has a N200 billion empowerment scheme, codenamed ‘Project 1 for 5’ initiative, primarily designed to take back the wealth of Lagos State from the godfather for the upliftment of over one million Lagosians from poverty.
“It’s a programme of the Boot Party and Labour Party. It is to empower the people of Lagos. By the time you calculate the amount of money that will be made available to them to do their business, it is 200,000 per person.
“The programme is a N200 billion that will be put aside. Lagosians will group themselves into five people and five of them will get N1 million each.
“We are going to work together moving forward, especially on our desire to create funding that will be available for the majority of Lagosians,” he stated.
In his comment, the former gubernatorial candidate of Boot Party, Mr Olawale Oluwo, described the alliance as timely and great, even as he expressed optimism that it would turn out to be a winning alliance.
Oluwo, who was a commissioner under former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode in the state said: “This is going to be a great alliance for Lagos State. We are going to make it a winning alliance. We are going to make this happen and it’s about the people.
“It might interest the Lagos people to note that Gbadebo and I are not just meeting for the first time. We have been discussing about Lagos struggle and how to free the state from the stranglehold of APC.
“In the last four and a half years, we have had over 40 meetings. It is something we believe in and we are committed to it. By doing this, we will narrow the race and limit the options available to Lagosians to pick from.
“It is not about my ambition. The way Lagos is today, if anybody is still pushing ambition, 1y66then it means the person does not understand what is at stake.
“It’s not about ambition but our state and the people of our state. Our people are going through a lot, spending six hours in traffic to work and back; roads are not okay.”
He added: “Please don’t be intimidated, don’t let anybody intimidate you. This is your election, you have the power and nobody can stop it. Vote, defend your vote let it counts,” Olowo tasked Lagosians.
Also speaking, Labour Party Lagos State Chairman, Pastor Dayo Ekong said: “There’s no doubt that this alliance is a right step in the right direction. We have here the Boot Party gubernatorial candidate and his party members taking the right step. He is a man of integrity.
“Lagosian should go out there and do the right thing with their PVC. It is their civic responsibility. Nobody should stop them or intimidate them from doing the right thing in Lagos State because so far, APC has failed us and the people are tired and we need a change. That change, come February 25, will definitely happen,” she said.
