Banky W acknowledged that PDP members were responsible for some of the current issues affecting Nigeria’s youth.
Olubankole Wellington, more commonly referred to as Banky W, a politician and music executive from Nigeria, has acknowledged some of the difficulties that his party, the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), posed for Nigerians.
How did it happen?During an interview on Arise TV on Wednesday, October 12, 2022, Banky W, the PDP candidate running for the House of Representatives in Lagos’ Eti-Osa Federal Constituency in 2023, made this admission.
According to Pulse, the music executive also ran for the same position in the 2019 elections, but he lost to Jide Obanikoro of the All Progressives Congress (APC), who emerged victorious.
After the MDP was de-registered by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the EME boss later switched to the PDP.
Banky W explained why he chose the PDP, saying that it was the party that best reflected his values and had a structure that could win elections.
Banky W’s word: “And concerning the choice of PDP: politics is local, and you need structure to win elections. We ran in 2019 on a party called MDP. But MDP was literally myself and my friend (called) BK. He was running in Ondo State and I was running in Lagos. We were just a bunch of young people.
“After that election, INEC de-registered most of the political parties which I was fully in support of because they were 96. It didn’t make sense. And if you look at any functioning democracy in the world, like if you want to get into any office in America, you have to be a Democrat or a Republican. So also in the UK, it’s between Labour and Conservative.
“So, looking at both parties, I said where do I think that I can go into without losing my soul, where I will be able to stand on what I stand for, fight for what I want to fight for. And the PDP ticked those boxes for me. It’s truly a democratic party.”
PDP caused a mess:In addition, Banky W stated that, despite the fact that he is aware of some of the hardships that the PDP had in the past, which he was unable to defend, he is willing to be one of the people who can reform the party.
Banky W’s words: “But the truth of the matter is, we have to acknowledge the pains that a lot of young people feel, we have to acknowledge the frustration Nigerians feel, some of which were caused by people in the PDP, absolutely.
“But the way I look at it is that a system is only as good as the people that are involved in it. A system is just a collection of people that are fighting for it, pushing for any kind of result. So, the longer we shun the process, the longer that the system will be bad.
“The truth of the matter is that I’m not here to defend anything everybody in the PDP has ever done. That’s not my job. I’m here to reform it.”
At the beginning of next year, Lagosians will vote to select their next leaders.
