12092018 - APC PRIMARIES: Gov kick against conditions for consensus candidate

10—VANGUARD, WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 2018
vanguardnews @vanguardnews @vanguardnews
Lagos on edge as Tinubu rallies
forces against Ambode
By Emmanuel Aziken,
Dapo Akinrefon,
Charles Kumolu,
Olasunkanmi Akoni,
Ebun Sessou &
Monsur Olowoopejo
LAGOS — LAGOS and
indeed, much of the entire
South-West was on tenterhooks
yesterday as political
permutations against a second
term for Governor Akinwunmi
Ambode reached a crescendo
with the unravelling of the
governor’s political base.
Worse, the governor’s prospects
of serving out the rest of his first
term, it was learnt, was hanging
in the balance upon claims of
momentum to remove him from
office if he does not drop his
second term aspiration.
The governor’s support base
which had been built around
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
unravelled after it emerged that
a major contender for his office
had emerged from one of the
major political structures in the
ruling All Progressives Congress,
APC in the state, the Mandate
Group.
The Mandate Group, Vanguard
gathered, is presenting Mr. Jide
Sanwo-Olu, incumbent
Managing Director of Lagos State
Property Development
Corporation, LSDPC.
Ambode’s prospects outside the
APC were also not being helped
with the emergence of billionaire
Mr. Femi Otedola as an aspirant
on the platform of the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP.
Otedola who is vacationing in
Paris, it was learnt, has, however,
vowed not to contest against
Ambode.
Succession crises
In the face of the unfolding
battle, many stakeholders spoke
in hushed tones yesterday on the
crisis of a second term that has
shadowed successive successors
of the political leader of the state,
Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Political sources in the state
yesterday said that after
challenges that Tinubu got from
Fashola, it was unlikely that
Hamzat, one of Fashola’s options
as a successor could get Tinubu’s
support.
That means that the momentum
was gravitating towards Sanwo-
Olu who ironically served as a
commissioner in the Fashola
government.
57 LG/LCDA chiefs desert
Ambode
It was learnt yesterday that the
chairmen of the 57 local
government councils and
development areas in the state
had in a show of force endorsed
Sanwo-Olu’s forms.
“That was meant to send a
message to Ambode,” a political
chieftain told Vanguard
yesterday.
Impeachment rumours
Ambode’s options were last
night being narrowed as reports
of an impeachment plot started
swirling around political meetings
around Lagos House and the
State House of Assembly.
The governor’s Chief Press
Secretary, Mr. Habib Haruna,
however, dismissed the reports of
impeachment simply saying “it is
not true.”
It was also learnt that emissaries
•Ambode, Sanwo-Olu displaying their nomination forms.
sent by Ambode to Tinubu had
been shut out, making the
resolution of the Ambode crisis
difficult.
The situation left many political
stakeholders in the lurch, with
many saying that they were
confused.
This was mainly caused by the
fact that Tinubu as at last night
had not made a pronouncement.
However, the body language of
the national leader was reflected
by the fact that many of his trusted
aides were said to have gravitated
towards Sanwo-Olu.
One source said: “It is difficult
to say anything right now really
but it is true that some people
have collected forms for Jide
Sanwo-Olu and if he has collected
the forms, it means he has the
blessing of Asiwaju. He would not
have collected the forms without
Asiwaju’s blessing.”
Makings of the crisis
It was leant that though efforts
were being made for
reconciliation, it was gathered
that the face-off worsened
seriously on Monday after
Ambode went to Abuja to collect
the APC governorship form.
He was said to have obtained
the form without a full
reconciliation with Tinubu.
After collecting the form,
Ambode proceeded to make a
public declaration at the Old Task
Force Ground, Alausa, Ikeja,
without the obvious presence of
chieftains and leaders of the
party.
The fact that the declaration was
not done at the party headquarters
at Acme Road, Ogba, in Lagos
sent negative signals as to the
possibility of his estrangement
from the Tinubu mainstream in
his re-election bid, a source said.
Few of the local government
chairmen who attended the
declaration left midway and some
even left before the ceremony
started at 4.00 p.m. on Monday.
Before the declaration
ceremony, chairman of the Lagos
State chapter of the APC,
Babatunde Balogun had held a
closed-door meeting with all the
57 local government chairmen at
the party’s Acme Road office
before they later dispersed and
shunned the governor’s
declaration ceremony.
Vanguard reliably learnt that the
party members were currently
confused and are awaiting the
declaration from the National
Leader of the party.
Ambode weighing options
Ambode yesterday summoned
a closed-door meeting of some of
his top associates at Lagos House,
Alausa, Ikeja, in order to weigh
the options for the governor. The
outcome of the meeting could not
be deciphered as at press time
•Otedola
yesterday.
Though the crux of the meeting
was unknown, it was gathered
that the governor was open to all
options, including dumping the
party for another or walking away
to wait for another opportunity
from the party.
The governor’s capacity to fight
back within the party or outside,
it emerged, had been limited by
his strained relationship with the
Lagos State House of Assembly.
There were reports from within
the House that the governor had
instigated a plot to remove the
speaker of the House of Assembly,
Mudashiru Obasa, a strong
Tinubu loyalist. That plot quickly
unravelled.
It was also learnt yesterday that
a sizeable proportion of the
members of the State House of
Assembly attended a meeting at
the party secretariat to discuss the
development. One of the sources,
who spoke under anonymity with
Vanguard, said the lawmakers
have resolved to commence
impeachment moves against
Ambode as soon as they resume
from the recess.
A member of the State House
of Assembly estranged from the
Tinubu mainstream who spoke
on the condition of anonymity
said yesterday:
“It could be rumour, but the
source I heard it from was an
indication that it is nothing far
from the truth.
“Although, it was debunked,
but the people I heard it from
were those I believed knew what
they were saying. The people I
spoke with gave it a possibility
that, it is real.
Asked, where the impeachment
move is coming from, he said,
“Unfortunately, it is coming from
both the Lagos State House of
Assembly and all the LCDAs.
According to another source, all
the chairmen of APC in 20 LGAs
and 37 LCDAs have signed the
nomination form of Mr. Babajide
Sanwo-Olu as an alternative
choice.
Genesis of trouble for
Ambode
Ambode’s troubles with the
political establishment in Lagos
had for long been reported in
political circles in the state.
A South-West governor close to
Tinubu was said to have been at
the forefront of the agitation to stop
Ambode’s second term ambition.
Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo;
Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu,
and Majority Leader of the
House of Representatives, Hon.
Femi Gbajabiamila, it was claimed
had prevailed on the APC leader
to support Ambode’s re-election
plan.
At the centre of the allegations
against Ambode was that the
governor alienated the political
mainstream in the state. Some
others described the governor as
heady with a capacity to
decapitate Tinubu and his
associates should he get a second
term.
The issue of the PSP operators
in the disposal of refuse was said
to have been very touchy for the
political elite, many of whom were
entrenched in the PSP scheme as
a way of servicing the political
base.
Ambode, however, dismantled
the scheme without as much
appreciation of their role. Even
worse for the governor was the
fact that the alternative
arrangement made to replace the
PSP operators have not done a
good work, leading to mounting
heaps refuse in the commercial
capital of the country.
Party stalwarts had also
complained that traditional acts
of patronage that normally came
the way of government did not
come from Ambode.
However, Ambode it was
claimed, decided not to patronise
the political leaders on the
premise that he had left
politicking for Tinubu while he
concentrated on the act of
governance.
Rude shock
The face-off between Ambode
and Tinubu came to the fore
recently at a stakeholders’
meeting at the party’s secretariat,
at Acme Road, Ogba, Lagos
where Tinubu throughout the
meeting failed to raise the hands
or endorse a second term for
Ambode which was a rude shock
to members in attendance.
Vanguard gathered that various
support groups which had been
created for Ambode’s re-election
campaign had for some time been
put on hold, pending final
clearance from Tinubu.
Failed efforts
On different occasions, recently,
some APC chieftains (names
withheld) have confirmed that a
number of political leaders and
traditional rulers had impressed
it on Tinubu not “to listen to those
inciting him against Ambode.”
One of the chieftains who
confided in Vanguard at the
weekend, simply stated, “Ambode
is at a crossroads” because all his
supporters have backed off as all
efforts to resolve the difference
met a brick wall with Tinubu who
insisted on a fresh candidate (kept
to his heart) for the job.
Oba Akiolu was said to have
tried to convince Tinubu to
change his mind, but all proved
abortive.
According to the chieftain, “It
is only Tinubu and Ambode that
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can resolve the issues, not even
President Muhammed Buhari.
The issue is like that of a married
couple having a family grudge.
No third party can really know
the source of their fight let alone
resolve it. The two, Tinubu and
Ambode, must have a closeddoor
meeting without a third
party to settle this current
imbroglio. This is not about
loyalty, it’s fundamental.”
APC keeps mum
However, it was learnt that
members of the State Executive
Council have been jittery over the
development, not knowing where
the pendulum will swing in the
2019 governorship ticket. Those
with political aspirations were
said to be worst hit as they could
be shown the way out at any
moment. Most of them have
started making moves, meeting
the party leadership and
stakeholders for an endorsement
from Tinubu and other decisionmakers.
One of the aspirants who spoke
to Vanguard on the basis of
anonymity said: “The decision of
the party to adopt direct primaries
has caused panic in the fold of
the aspirants in Lagos. We are left
in the dark, and that is why some
aspirants have put on hold their
ambition and begun moves to get
Tinubu’s endorsement.”
Risky development
Tinubu’s associates were last
night not very comfortable with
the development, fearing that the
national leader could be taking a
very big risk if he decides to dump
Ambode.
“The situation is not very bright
for any side because as at this
time, Asiwaju is already
grappling with forces in Abuja
and to compound it with
additional enemies from home is
not something we are very
pleased to talk about,” an
associate of the national leader of
the APC said.
Meanwhile, a school of thought
in Lagos claimed last night that
the present crisis may not be
directed at derailing the
governor’s second term ambition
but merely to whip him in line.
Otedola enters PDP’s
calculations
Meanwhile, it emerged that oil
magnate, Mr Femi Otedola has
emerged as a possible frontrunner
in the PDP as a candidate for the
party.
However, sources said that
Otedola’s bid could be a fightback
by the Ambode camp who could
project him to fight whosoever
could emerge from Tinubu’s
camp.
According to sources, the
billionaire businessman had
maintained that he would not run
for the governorship against
Ambode.
When Otedola, who is currently
on vacation in Paris, was reached
for comment on the development,
he responded thus: “I am on
vacation.”
However, a source told
Vanguard: “Just like the current
governor, Otedola is from Epe.
The thinking and good news now
are that if the APC ticket goes to
Ambode, the governor will still be
from Epe. On the other hand, if
Ambode does not get the ticket
and Otedola runs for governor
and wins, the governor would still
have come from Epe.
When contacted, spokesman of
Lagos State chapter of PDP, Mr.
Ganiyu Taofeek said the PDP is
not aware, adding that having
him in the party would be a good
development.