Lagos State Deputy Governor and the APC governorship candidate for the 2027 election, Obafemi Hamzat, has revealed that he had never met or spoken to his running mate, Damilola Sonayon-James, before she was picked by the party.
Hamzat made the disclosure on Friday during the public presentation of Who Is She? at the Syrian Club Event Centre in Ikoyi, Lagos.
According to him, the selection process began after President Bola Tinubu directed the Lagos APC to resolve the issue of the deputy governorship candidate.
“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.
He explained that the party also considered the state’s zoning arrangement, noting that he is from Lagos East while Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is from Lagos Central, making Lagos West the appropriate zone for the deputy governorship position.
Hamzat said he had no prior relationship with Sonayon-James before her nomination.
“Until Damilola was chosen, I didn’t know her phone number. I got her phone number from somebody,” he said.
He added that her emergence was based on her competence, commitment to the party and contributions to her community.
Sonayon-James, a native of Badagry, currently serves as the Lagos APC deputy state chairman. She previously held the positions of state assistant woman leader and supervisory councillor for agriculture and social services in Badagry West Local Council Development Area. She holds a master’s degree in Social Work from Ladoke Akintola University of Technology and a degree in Business and Human Resources Management from the University of Hull.
