I didn’t know my running mate until she was selected  —  Obafemi Hamzat

Lagos State Deputy Governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the 2027 election, Obafemi Hamzat, has disclosed that he had never met or spoken with his running mate, Damilola Sonayon-James, before the party selected her for the position.

Hamzat made the revelation on Thursday during the public presentation of Who Is She? at the Syrian Club Event Centre in Ikoyi, Lagos, where he explained that the choice of his deputy followed consultations within the Lagos APC after President Bola Tinubu asked the state chapter to determine the candidate.

According to him, he advised that the running mate should be a young woman, a suggestion the President accepted.

“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,’” Hamzat said.

The APC governorship candidate explained that the party also considered the state’s zo ning arrangement in arriving at its decision.