Ambode vs Sanwo-Olu: Lagos in make or mar APC governorship primary today

…I’m yet to get my party membership card, says Ambode
…Sanwo-Olu is the man to beat – Muiz Banire Group
As Lagosians and other Nigerians continue to await the All Progressives Congress (APC) to declare the fate of the incumbent Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as far as the 2019 governorship election in the state is concerned, tension has continued to rise among key players in the polity on the next line of action.

The state APC governorship primary has become a two-way horse race between incumbent Governor Ambode and the candidate anointed by the key party leaders in the state, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu,

as the party has continued to shift the date of the primary which was earlier scheduled to hold on Saturday, September 29, but later shifted to Sunday, September 30 and again shifted to Monday, October 1, and yet again to today, Tuesday, October 2.

While many political watchers are wondering the reason behind the continuous shift in the day of the primary, some close watchers reasoned that it is a fallout of the confrontation between the governor and those desirous to see his back,

as they continued to mount pressure on him to drop his plan to contest in the primary, while he is insisting that it is his right to seek second term and he wants to exercise it.

Though it is not clear why the governor is insistent on contesting the primary of the party, which the leadership said will be by direct primary despite the overwhelming gang up against his candidature,

many are of the belief that the party leaders are also confused about what gives the governor so much confidence and fear that he may swing a surprise at the primary, a development which could spell doom for the political future of the leaders.

As a result of that fear, many believe that the leaders will rather continue to prevail on the national leadership of the party to continue to shift the primary date until such a time they are either confident that they will get victory for Sanwo-Olu

or at such a time they can prevail on the governor to drop his ambition, a plot that may not be easy to achieve, as the governor seem determined to go into the battle without looking back.

However, the confidence of the governor to want to continue to fight on has remained a mystery to those eager to see his back, even as he has complained about a process skewed to favour another aspirant, wondering how party members were going to vote when they are yet unable to access their membership cards, even as he as a sitting governor is yet to access his.

Though the primary is strictly an APC affair, but the tension transcend the party, as other parties are also watching the development and using that to determine their own next line of action.

Though the main opposition party in the state, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will never admit its interest in the APC affair, it is however believed that the reason the PDP has continued to shift the date of its primary,

just like the APC is to ensure that it does not hold its primary before the ruling party, just in case Ambode lose out in the primary, it will then be ready to woo the governor into its fold believing that with him in their camp, victory will be easier.

This is despite the fact that Ambode on Sunday declared that he will remain in the APC and will not allow anyone to push him out.

This is even as the governor has expressed confidence that he will come out victorious in the primary, if the process is free, fair and transparent, noting that if he could come out victorious in 2014 against 12 other aspirants, that there was nothing to worry about contesting the primary against other aspirants.

The governor spoke in his office when he received members of the panel appointed by the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to conduct the Governorship Primaries in the state, led by its Chairman, Mr. Clement Ebri.

Ambode added that it was important that the election when conducted is seen to be free, fair and credible to all aspirants concerned, saying that it is only in such situation that democracy, which the party upholds is entrenched.

Members of the panel include Alhaji Ahmed Mahmud Gumel as Secretary; Mr. Nze Chidi Duru; Chief Clever Egbeji; Senator Clever Ikisikpo and Ambassador Jerry Ugokwe.

Tasking the panel to do all within its powers to ensure a level playing field for all aspirants in the contest, Ambode expressed confidence in the selection of members of the panel,

saying that he had no doubt that the panel would live up to expectations and deliver a credible process, which according to him, will go a long way to determine the future of Nigeria and the greatness of Lagos in particular.

Ambode said, “This is a very star studded election team, they are distinguished Nigerians in their individual and collective rights.

There can’t be any better collection of a team to any state election monitoring in this country than the distinguished personalities brought to Lagos and it only shows us the importance that the National chairman of our great party attaches to what is happening in Lagos.

“I must tell you that what you have taken up, may look like a political assignment, but history is on your side that at this very moment in the annals of the history of this country, today marking our 58th Independence anniversary celebration, you are being called upon to discharge a selfless service that would determine the future of this country and the greatness of this particular state.

“I receive this election team as being acceptable and credible to me enough to discharge their civic responsibility to the best of their abilities and to also say that whatever it is that is the outcome of the primaries, your presence has also shown that this will be credible and this will be acceptable by me.”

Expressing confidence on the outcome of the primary, Ambode recalled that he had gone through the same process with 12 other aspirants to emerge as governorship candidate of the APC in 2014,

saying that it was not out of place to have other aspirants contest for the same ticket this time, however, the eventual process of choosing who flies the party’s flag must be seen to be fair to all concerned.

He said, “So it’s very clear to me, all I seek is credible primaries, transparent primaries and level playing ground that we will all be proud of at the end of the day for the outcome.

“There were issues that we have raised that we are also trying to correct. The bottom line is this, we are family, we must not go into the elections divided because this is the very first time that our party is controlling the centre and also the state, which is what I want us to continue.

“The issues that I raised have been put in form of a letter which I would pass to the chairman and I believe the committee will look into it judiciously and also I welcome the stakeholders meeting which will allow you feel the pulse of what is going on in the state.”

Meanwhile, the Mushin Empowerment Foundation (MEF) has thrown its weight behind Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu prior to the APC gubernatorial primaries in Lagos State, citing Governor Ambode’s poor attitude to governance which reverts Lagos back to a filthy state.

Speaking at the APC party Secretariat in Mushin, during its general meeting, the former party chairman, Aremo Ikufisile Michael, who addressed the mammoth crowd of party faithful,

said that Sanwo-Olu has been endorsed by the leaders and stakeholders in the party as their gubernatorial candidate and they cannot but replicate it in MEF given the fact that Dr. Muiz Banire, who initiated the foundation, had endorsed him, likewise Baba Hamzat.

“MEF in APC is headed by Muiz Banire, we are all children of Baba Hamzat. Lagos has fared badly under Ambode’s watch, see all the streets of Lagos now littered with waste indiscriminately disposed, all because he stopped PSP’s operation and replaced it with an incompetent handler, Visionscape.

“All the job opportunities that normally come to us at the party was stopped, we endorse Sanwo-Olu today and will work assiduously to ensure his victory at the primary.”

Another stakeholder in Mushin polity, Alhaja Olushola Oyelede, alias (Iya Luku), also corroborated Ikufisile, stating in clear terms that the former Commissioner for Works, Mr. Kunle Hamzat, is penciled down for the deputy governor being their son, citing the development as a welcome idea for Mushin people.

The Daily Times recalls that Hamzat stepped down for Sanwo-Olu earlier on Friday, citing Sanwo-Olu’s competence for the task at stake, being part of the Lagos project.

Factional chairman Oki warns Lagos APC against Osun experience
Also on Monday, the factional chairman of the APC in Lagos State, Mr. Fouad Oki, condemned the alleged manipulation of the primaries by a section of the party, calling on its National Executive Committee to intervene in the matter before it is too late.

Briefing the media in Lagos, Oki, who faulted the membership cards and register that would be used for the primaries in the state, alleged that some members of the party would be disenfranchised if the primary was to go on the way things are.

He also faulted the purported presidential primaries that took place in the state on Friday, wondering where the party got a figure of 1.9 million members that they said voted for the President in the election.

He said: “There was no way such a number of people would have voted in that primary election as they were busy with other levels of primaries.

“Majority of our members were disenfranchised in the election. Even when our party leaders postponed the governorship election in the state, there were elections in isolated places.

“We will like to know those who conducted the presidential primaries in the state and the register they used for that purpose.

“The membership card of the party was only distributed on Saturday and Sunday to select members of the party. I cannot keep quiet because I was part of those who stayed back in Nigeria to fight the military tyranny then when some other people ran abroad for their dear lives.

“I demand to know those who conducted the presidential primaries. The membership cards were given to local government chairmen to distribute instead of party chairmen in the council areas.

“The question now is: was Lagos State given membership cards by the national of the party since no state had been given cards in the last one month?”

Oki, who was the head of the Lagos State Safety Commission, added that his group was challenging the National Secretariat of the party to speak out if they had printed membership cards for Lagos State and if they ordered selective distribution of the cards.

He alleged that some set of people were planning to truncate the nation’s democracy, adding that if there was going to be party primaries, all members must participate.

The politician emphasised that it was important for the generality of Nigerians to know that the process of the primaries of the party was skewed against members contrary to all known ethics of democracy.

“If the National Chairman of the party and its National Working Committee refuse to carry us along in the primaries what happened in Osun State would be a child’s play.”

He warned that the leaders of the party in the state should not undermine the majority members of the party or circumvent the system, adding that the people of the state were watching and that they would make decisions during the general elections.

Oki further warned leaders of the party not to allow a few people determine and control the capacity of many members, while stressing that such a situation caused the party to win the just concluded governorship election in Osun State by a stroke of luck.

The factional chairman opined that the members of the state House of Assembly who endorsed the candidature of Sanwo-Olu were coerced to do so by the state executive of the party, who he said has lost the moral right to conduct the primaries of the party.

“The National Chairman of the party should send a neutral set of people to conduct the primaries from ward to local government to state. Up till this moment, we don’t know the centres of the primaries and these ought to be published by the party for everybody to see.

“We say no to having collation centres of the party at the local governments secretariats. Whoever should conduct the primaries of the party should be known ahead to the aspirants,” he said.