Hamzat Lawal: Why CODE boss joined partisan politics

Chief Executive Officer of Connected Development (CODE), Hamzat Lawal has officially joined partisan politics.

This was stated on Saturday by Lawal at a symposium to mark his 35th birthday in Abuja.

The programme was tagged ‘The Man. The Journey. The Transition’.

According to him, his influence will extend beyond civil society advocacy, adding that he and his friends have launched the Green Nigeria Movement, a political initiative that will mobilise 40 million votes for the 2023 general election.

“I, Hamzat Lawal, from today will play partisan politics,” he said.

“I have power that I’ve built. I have influence; I have credibility; I have friends from around the world and you want me to use this to just do civil society alone? No. Nigeria cannot go down on her knees when we have people like you and me.

“With the Green Nigerian Movement, we have committed that we will mobilise 40 million votes. Yes, that is a lot of work. There is no democratically elected president in Nigeria that has gotten 40 million votes, but then again, we cannot make change if we don’t change the dynamics of how things are done.

“I cannot do it alone. The Green Nigeria Movement cannot do it alone. We need each and everyone of you. We will not agonise, rather we will consolidate. We will organise and mobilise, but most importantly, we will educate the people at the grassroots to understand the power that they hold.

“Each and everyone of us, as we mobilise and organise, we can decide who becomes the next president of the Federal Republic republic of Nigeria.”