Lagos: I never knew my running mate until her selection – Hamzat

Lagos State Deputy Governor and All Progressives Congress, APC, 2027 governorship candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, has said he has never met or talked to his running mate, Damilola Sonayon-James, before the party chose her for the role.

Hamzat shared this revelation during the public showing of “Who Is She?” At the Syrian Club Event Centre in Ikoyi area of the state.

He said that the choice of his deputy governorship candidate was made after discussions within the Lagos APC, following President Bola Tinubu’s request for the state chapter to select the candidate.

Hazmat said he suggested that the running mate should be a young woman, and the President agreed with that idea.

According to Hamzat, the president called and suggested that the matter be resolved.

He said: “The president called me and said, ‘You guys go and sort it out.’ I said, ‘Sir, I think it should be a female.’ He said, ‘It’s okay.’ I said, ‘It should be young.’ He said, ‘It’s okay.”

The APC governorship candidate said the party also took into account the state’s zoning plan when making their decision.

He said since he hails from Lagos East and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is from Lagos Central, people expected the deputy governor position to go to Lagos West.

Hamzat said he didn’t have a personal connection with Sonayon-James before she became the party’s deputy governorship candidate.

“Until Damilola was chosen, I didn’t know her phone number. I got her phone number from somebody,” he said.

He said that Sonayon-James, who is the deputy woman leader of the Lagos APC and comes from Badagry, was picked based on her abilities.