Ayodele Fayose, the former governor of Ekiti state, said during an interview with Arise News on March 3, 2023, that Abdul-Azeez Adediran, popularly known as Jandor and the gubernatorial candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), was a photographer to a former governor of Lagos state.
Fayose made the claim while he was speaking on issues bordering on the March 18 gubernatorial and house of assembly elections.
Claim: Jandor was a photographer to a former governor of Lagos state.
Verification
The CDD Election War Room found that Babatunde Fashola, a former governor of Lagos and the incumbent Minister of Works and Housing, had earlier said in build-up to the Lagos gubernatorial polls, that Jandor could not govern the state by just following him for eight years as a cameraman.
Jandor had since reacted to Fashola’s statement, where he clarified that he was never a cameraman.
He explained that he joined the service of the state’s broadcasting service as a reportorial and editorial executive.
“I was never a cameraman. As a matter of fact, I was absorbed into the service of government of Lagos State Broadcasting Service as a Reportorial and Editorial Executive, and camera handling was certainly not the professional services I rendered to BRF, and the Lagos state government under his watch,” part of Jandor’s statement read.
CDD Election War Room also found that Jandor is the founder and owner of Core TV News, a cable news outlet in Lagos state.
We further found that Fashola’s official photographer as governor of Lagos, was Lukesh Olanipekun, who is a member of the Photojournalist Association of Nigeria and the World Photography Organisation.
Verdict
The claim by Ayodele Fayose that Jandor was a photographer to a former governor of Lagos, is misleading. Jandor has since clarified that he was a reportorial and editorial executive with the state’s broadcasting service during the administration of Fashola as governor of Lagos.