The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party has lampooned Dr Abdul-Azeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor, following his return to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Adediran, who was the Lagos PDP governorship candidate in the 2023 general elections, announced his return to APC at a news conference on Monday in Lagos.
Adediran, leader of the Lagos4Lagos Movement, announced his resignation from the PDP on March 3, 2025, citing a lack of discipline in the party and betrayal by its leaders.
He was previously a member of the APC before joining the PDP.
Reacting to his defection in an interview with our correspondent on Monday, the Deputy Chairman of the PDP in Lagos, Tai Benedict, said Jandor was never “our own” and was allegedly planted by the APC to destabilise the PDP.
Benedict said, “He was never our own. He was an agent sent to our party to destroy our party. The very first time I saw him, I told him to explain – that you are an agent of the APC, sent to our party because they knew we had a bright chance to win that election.
“Although he denied it, eventually, I was vindicated. This was somebody who came to the party, and the first thing he did was to start accusing the leaders and the next thing he did was to disorganise a united party to the national level until he got the ticket of our party from the back.
“You know, it’s very unfortunate, very unfortunate. We have never had it so badly. But all I have to say is we thank God. We’re okay with his exit.
“He came, he singularly picked his running mate. It has never happened. He said because Funke (Akindele) had over three million followers on Instagram, that will make his victory (at the 2023 governorship poll) easier. But we had only 62,000 votes.”
“For me, I thank God that he has left our party. It’s not a good thing to lose membership in parties, I quite agree with that. It’s not good to lose your members to other parties. But there are some members that if they leave, you’ll be happy. One of such members is Jandor.”
Meanwhile, the APC in the state has welcomed Jandor, describing him as a vibrant young man who only traced his roots back home.
The party’s publicity secretary, Seye Oladejo, in an interview with The PUNCH on Monday, said the APC was ready to work with Jandor.
Oladejo said, “Like all politicians, Jandor came to the party with ambition. At the time, that could be realised quickly on the platform of the conservatives, which has been rejected at the polls several times by the people of Lagos.
“So, now that he’s back, we’re happy to work with him. We appreciate the fact that Lagos has been better and safer in the hands of the progressives, who have enjoyed uninterrupted trust and confidence from the people.
“We believe in our party that there is sufficient opportunity for him, like many others, to contribute his quota to the continual success of our government and growth of our party.”
He said the party was expecting more politicians to defect to the APC.
“In the days ahead, we’re expecting more decamps as we approach the next election.”
Dismissing the PDP’s claim that the APC planted Jandor to destablise the opposition, Oladejo said, “It shows how inept ideas this so-called opposition is.”
“We’re talking about a party that’s perpetually in crisis. We’re talking about a party that can’t organise itself, and they want to govern. The electorates in Lagos are informed, they are sophisticated.
“They’re just looking for excuses to justify their incompetence, and the fact that they’re incapable of mobilising whatever modicum of support they have for election victory.”
Culled PUNCH