By ADEYEMI ADELEYE

Otunba Segun Adewale, a former Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, has blamed the repeated electoral defeats of PDP in the state on lack of unity in the party.

Adewale, popularly known as Aeroland, expressed the view while speaking with newsmen on Thursday in Lagos.

The former PDP chairman also attributed the serial electoral misfortunes of the party in the state tomismanagement of election funds by partyleaders as well as their anti-party activities.

Adewale, who was the Lagos West Senatorial District PDP Candidate inthe 2023, said unless these leaderschangedtheir ways, it would be difficult for PDP to defeat the ruling APC in the state .

“How LagosPDP leadership mismanage election funds each election year will not allow the party to win elections in the state. This happens every election year.

“It happens every four years. The one of 2023 general elections was higher.

“Out of all the money releasedto Lagos PDP to prosecute the 2023 election, less than 50 per cent got to the state and to the party foot soldiers.

“It was the one that I brought in to the state to fund election that party’s foot soldiers got, others collected the money and pocketed it,” the PDP chieftain said.

According to him, many top party leaders engagedin anti-party activities , alleging that some members of thePDP Presidential Campaign Council also compromised in the 2023 general elections.

Adewale said that he had video evidence to prove that some PDP leaders, including some ofmembers of the Alhaji Atiku Abubakar Presidential Campaign Council, worked for the ruling APC in the last election.

Adewale added: “I saw for the first time how few Lagos PDP leaders spent election mobilisation funds in the last 2023 general elections.

“I was involved last year and it was horrible the way the money got taken away by few Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) leaders,”

Adewale, who noted that he was involved in the sharing of the funds to prosecute the election, said a particular top PCC leader personalised the funds rather than use it for the purpose of elections.

He said: “For PDP’s story to change in Lagos, national leaders should make those entrusted with election funds to account for the money.

“One of the reasons why we lose election in Lagos is that there has been no accountability for election funds by leaders since 1999.

“How much was given to prosecute elections each year? No one cares. What we see is that three or five or six people will just sit on the money and take the money away.”

Adewale said there was the need to put a structure in place to promote accountability in Lagos PDP in order to check mismanagement of election funds in 2027 and beyond (NAN)