Taoheed Adedoja - PDP chairmanship: I have all it takes

Adedoja, a former Minister of Sports and Special Duties, said this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

Prof. Taoheed Adedoja, a chairmanship candidate in Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on Monday said that he had all that was required to lead the party and reposition it to greatness.

Adedoja, a former Minister of Sports and Special Duties, said this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

The PDP chieftain said the party needed a leader with the right vision, right ideas, experience and energy to move to it greater heights.

“Our party needs a leader with the right vision, somebody with fresh ideas and not recycled ideas."

“Someone who is energetic, someone who is accepted and acceptable to party members and the masses."

“Our party needs a leader who can offer solutions, someone which experience who would give everyone a sense of belonging and carry everybody along."

“I believe I have all these attributes, I believe we can do it together and that is why I am volunteering or offering to serve as chairman of our great party,’’ he said.

Adedoja said that his long years of experience in the public service as a former minister with joint portfolios and as an academic would add value to his leadership of the party.

He said that his interactions with people of various backgrounds having schooled and lived in the different parts of the country would enable him to deliver broad-based leadership in the party.

The former minister said he was the youngest of the candidates at 66 and that he was brimming with energy to work for the party and give it a new direction.

Adedoja added that he had respect for elders of the party and that he would serve as a bridge between the old and the young.

The chairmanship aspirant said he was well accepted by party members and the support for his candidature cut across the different categories of party members.

“I can tell you confidently that my decision to offer myself for service has the support of members of Board of Trustees, the youths, the women, and the physically challenged in the party."

“Party chairmen at the local governments, and in fact all stakeholders in the party support my candidacy,’’ he said.

Adedoja said that he had already started mobilising support for his candidature and that the he had been getting tremendous support from party men.

The former minister said he was running a campaign based on his vision for the party and expressed optimism that delegates would make a wise choice by voting for him on Dec. 9.

NAN reports that the party has fixed Dec. 9 for its convention where new national officers will be elected.

A former Vice-Chairman of the party (South), Chief Olabode George, a former minister, Prof. Tunde Adeniran and former governor of Ogun State, Chief Gbenga Daniel, are also contesting for the party’s chairmanship position.