The governorship candidate of the People’s Democratic Party, PDP, Jimi Agbaje, has announced Safurat Abdulkareem as his running mate for the 2015 election in the state.

Mr Agbaje made the announcement in a statement, signed on his behalf, by his Director of Publicity, Felix Oboagwina.

Ms. Abdulkareem was running mate to the late PDP governorship candidate in 2003, Funso Williams.

Ms. Abdulkareem, a trained teacher and an accountant, holds an MBA degree.

The statement quoted her as saying that she would complement her principal, and assist in ushering into Lagos “a refreshing atmosphere, devoid of state-brewed intimidation and human rights abuses”.

“I feel humbled about being chosen for this noble responsibility.

“Mr. Jimi Agbaje is an amiable personality. He is a complete gentleman. I hope I can really, really complement him and assist him in winning the 2015 election because Lagosians strongly desire a change in government,” she said.

Describing PDP’s chances in the governorship polls as very bright, the deputy governorship candidate said she and Mr. Agbaje were entering the race at a time when Lagosians wanted to break the shackles of subjugation that had held them bound for 16 years.

“Our chances are very bright. Everybody wants a change in Lagos. They want personalities who can bring positive programmes to their lives.

“We want to usher into Lagos a better way of governance, devoid of coercion and intimidation,” she said.

Born June 23, 1961 to the family of Abdulmananu Mofolorunsho Layode and Risikat Ayinke Layode, Ms. Abdulkareem began her educational life in Ansar-ud-Deen Primary School, Badagry, Lagos, between 1966 and 1972.

From 1975 to 1980, she attended Government Teachers’ College, Badagry, where she obtained a Teacher’s Grade II Certificate.

She, thereafter, proceeded to the Federal Polytechnic, Ado-Ekiti, from 1985 to 1987 for an Ordinary National Diploma (OND) in Accounting, followed by a Higher National Diploma (HND) from the Kano State Polytechnic (1990).

In 2006, she completed a Postgraduate Diploma in Financial Management from the University of Ado-Ekiti.

Starting out in her working career as an Accounting Officer with Bintu Binta Trading Company, Kano, in 1987, Mrs. Abdulkarim later returned to the South-West, where she rose to become the General Manager of the Ikeja-based Disk Engineering Limited (1990 to 1996), and later Managing Director of Transmit Network (1996 to 1999).

(NAN)