THE clearest indication of an imminent implosion in the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has emerged.
Aggrieved chieftains of the party have reportedly reached a decision to build a multi-party coalition against the suspected choice of the party leadership for the 2015 governorship election, a former Accountant General of the state, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode.
The plot thickened on Friday as the who-is-who in Lagos attended the formal launch of Ambode’s aspiration.
Saturday Tribune gathered from authoritative sources that a series of meetings had taken place between the said aggrieved chieftains and governorship hopefuls on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state.
A grand coalition was said to be the goal of the cross-party fraternity, expected to defeat Ambode in the general election in the state if he is eventually forced in as the party’s standard-bearer.
The primary objective of the idea of the multi-party cooperation, according to an involved source, is the “liberation” of the state from the “grip” of a former governor and national leader of APC, Senator Bola Tinubu, who allegedly imposed Ambode on the party’s leadership.
Three of such meetings, according to Saturday Tribune’s checks, had taken place in three continents.
While one reportedly took place at a secret location in Nigeria, another was said to have taken place at a country in the Middle-East and another in a popular European country.
Four local governments among the original 20, with highest number of votes during the general elections, are reportedly being targeted to deliver the state to the PDP that has been in opposition since 1999 in the state.
If they idea sails through, the grand coalition is expected to be at the forefront of endorsing a candidate for PDP who would be acceptable to voters in the state.
To show the seriousness attached to the plan, the issue of a sellable candidate to contest against Ambode is reportedly being handled in a way that it would not really matter from which of the collaborating platforms the candidate will eventually emerge.
“It is not about ambition now. It is about liberating Lagos from the clutches of a single person. He has had it for about 16 years now. This Ambode step is an opportunity for a new set of leaders to take over, an APC chieftain involved in the multi-party horse-trading, told Saturday Tribune.
Another aggrieved party chieftain in support of the romance with PDP said, “If the say politicians are not good enough by picking someone not known to the party because of a strange idea of fielding a technocrat, we the politicians will also tell them that with our sweat, we built the platform that only technocrats are now good for.”
Saturday Tribune learnt that the top chieftains are mainly aggrieved because they suspect the party leadership in the state wanted to deny other aspirants the opportunity of testing their popularity in the governorship contest.
An aggrieved aspirant told Saturday Tribune that it was wrong for the party leadership to be pushing to take everything.
According to him, “they zoned the ticket to Lagos East with just 12 council areas out of 57 and in the process, trying to muzzle serious contenders out. We eventually conceded, though a serious aspirant in Supo Sasore has come out from Lagos Central now. And they still want to foist Ambode on us when aspirants from the East should be allowed to slug it out for the most popular candidate to emerge. Who does that in a 21st century politics? The only reason we won’t hand Lagos over to PDP is for them to allow for primaries.”
Meanwhile, the party leadership in the state reportedly directed all the chairmen of the 57 council areas in the state to mobilise minimum of 500 supporters to the governorship declaration of Ambode.
The chairmen were also directed in a text message to be present at the said declaration.
The text message, which was reportedly copied to all the chairmen, was said to have come from a certain council chairman close to Tinubu.
The message read: “Dear chm (meaning chairmen), directives from leadership that all chairmen MUST mobilise 500 people each from dere (their) LG/LCDA to Mr AKIN AMBODE declaration to run as governor of Lagos State under our great party (APC) @ (at) Onikan stadium tomorrow 24/10/2014 by 10.00 am. Pls (please) all chm (chairmen) MUST be in attendance. Regards.”
Other aspirants in contention for the APC ticket are Senator Ganiyu Solomon, Dr Leke Pitan and Supo Sasore.
Senator Gbenga Ashafa has been allegedly talked out of the race in return for a ticket to return to the Senate, representing Lagos East.
Saturday Tribune also gathered that the incumbent deputy governor, Mrs Adejoke Oorelope-Adefulire, has been pencilled in by the party leadership for a Senate ticket, representing Lagos West, the seat currently occupied by Solomon.
Senator Remi Tinubu is primed to return to the Senate, representing Lagos Central.
Governor Fashola is also from Lagos Central and thought to be interested in the senatorial seat before his reported endorsement by the zonal caucus as Buhari’s running mate.
Ambode launches governorship bid
Meanwhile, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode, on Friday made formal declaration of his ambition to rule the state come 2015, saying that the story of Lagos as economic nerve centre of Nigeria cannot be told without mentioning the sage, Chief Obafemi Awolowo and other great patriots.
Ambode said this at Onikan Stadium where he addressed thousands of party faithful, including leaders, aspirants to various positions, serving local government chairmen led by Honourable Hakeem Sulaimon as well as traditional rulers.
He promised to emulate other great patriots including General Mobolaji Johnson, former Governor Lateef Kayode Jakande, Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the incumbent, Mr Babatunde Raji Fashola, promising to run an all-inclusive government that would work to create opportunities for all and offer selfless service if voted into office as next governor of Lagos.
The governorship aspirant, who was the immediate Account-General of the state, said he was resolved to offer genuine leadership that would be accountable with the principle of good governance that would leave no race or gender behind irrespective of background, declaring that, “we will make Lagos liveable for you.”
Various speakers at the event, including the Chairman, Conference 57, who is also Chairman, Yaba Local Government Area, Hon. Sulaimon and former member, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Babatunde Ogala, paid tributes to the ingenuity of Ambode while he served as auditor-general of Lagos State.
According to them, he was the one that charted the way for the state to up its Internally Generated Revenue (IGR) from mere N600 million to around N12billion, especially during the time former President Olusegun Obasanjo seized the Lagos money due to the issue he had with creation of more local governments in the state.
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