PDP clashes with Agbaje over management of 2019 campaign funds

The Lagos PDP spokesman, Taofik Gani, told The Nation on Monday, April 15 that Agbaje sidelined the leadership of the party in the disbursement of funds for the elections.

He said Agbaje single-handedly distributed the campaign funds released by the PDP presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, without the knowledge of influential party chieftains.

He said, "As the image-maker of the party, I'm still struggling to defend the issues surrounding the disbursement of the election logistics because the action is such that can undermine loyalty, commitment and selflessness to the party.

"I will advise Agbaje to accept that he made a big blunder to have unilaterally disbursed logistics provided by the presidential candidate to the extent that not even the state chairman, Dr. Adegbola Dominic or the party leader, Chief Bode George, knew anything about the manner of disbursement.

"The money in question was not near what we knew the All Progressives Congress (APC) spent in Lagos, but that sum was enough to compliment the ready-made votes for PDP in Lagos. The manner of disbursement by Agbaje leaves a lot of doubts."

Gani blamed the party's poor performance at the polls on Agbaje's management of its campaign funds and demanded a public apology to the party and its supporters.

"The post-governorship election in Lagos PDP is such that the national headquarters of PDP must act swiftly to forestall any complete disaffection for the party.

"Lagosians were disappointed. Efforts must be made to re-boost the love and confidence of Lagosians in PDP.

"I will reiterate that Agbaje should find a forum to publicly apologise to the party for the manner he influenced the last actions on the presidential election. But for the fact that Agbaje was the governorship candidate, one would have hastily declared him as a saboteur in Lagos PDP," he said.

Jimi Agbaje has lost in three governorship elections, twice with the PDP [Sahara Reporters] Pulse Nigeria

Agbaje's spokesperson, Modupe Ogunbayo, dismissed Gani's allegations, noting that the governorship candidate sourced for funds and disbursed them to all that were involved in the election process.

"Agbaje is a noble party man, who will never embark on a road that is inimical to the development of PDP.

"He is a true democrat who took part in the party primary and won. He had always abided by the party’s rules and regulations.

"It will not be fair to denigrate him for selfish reasons. We should move beyond this level," he said.

She said Agbaje regularly consulted with relevant party stakeholders throughout the campaign and didn't sideline anyone as alleged by Gani.

Agbaje has lost three governorship elections

Agbaje lost his third governorship election to Babajide Sanwo-Olu last month [Guardian] Sanwo-Olu always checked in with his young team before his debates Pulse Nigeria

Even though the March 9 governorship election had been expected to be a close contest, Agbaje lost to Babajide Sanwo-Olu of the All Progressives Congress (APC) with a margin of 533,304 votes, according to the result announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Sunday, March 10.

The pharmacist failed to win in any of the state's 20 local government areas and finished with 206,141 votes while Sanwo-Olu, a former commissioner, polled 739,445 votes.

Agbaje, who's now lost in three governorship elections, attributed his loss to low turnout of votes which he said was as a result of violence allegedly sponsored by the APC during the presidential election that took place two weeks prior.

He also lost governorship elections in 2007 and 2015.