The national leader of All Progressives Congress
(APC) decided not to support the re-election bid of the Lagos State Governor,
Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, due to alteration of the state’s major policies he
effected after he assumed office, it was has learnt.
This came as some APC chieftains, including former
APC Deputy Chairman, Cardinal James Odumbaku, and former state Commissioner for
Agriculture and Cooperatives, Mr. Kaoli Olusanya, allegedly directed Ambode to
return his nomination form or face impeachment at a meeting held at Watercress
Hotel, Ikeja last Monday night.
At the meeting on Tuesday, it was gathered that all chairmen
of 20 local government areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Area
(LCDAs) signed the governorship nomination form of Tinubu’s anointed candidate,
Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
A video clip obtained showed some of
the council chiefs signing Sanwo-Olu’s nomination under the supervision of some
state party leaders led by Odumbaku and encouraging the council chiefs to
support Tinubu’s anointed candidate.
As shown in the video, Odumbaku said there was no
other political group in Lagos State again than the Mandate Movement, noting
that the Tinubu Campaign Organisation had been fused into the Mandate Movement.
He said Sanwo-Olu "is Tinubu anointed
candidate for 2019. We gathered here on the instruction of our leader. We must
honour him by supporting his choice candidate for the 2019 governorship
election in the state. The era of Ambode has gone. This is a new era. In 2019,
Sanwo-Olu will be the one to occupy the State House."
However, multiple sources have revealed main
reasons the APC national leader refused to endorse his political godson for re-election
yesterday, ascribing it to Ambode’s decision to alter, modify and scrap some
state’s policies initiated by the Tinubu administration initiated between 1999
and 2007.
One of the sources mentioned the affected policies
to include Kick Against Indiscipline (KAI) and Lagos State Waste Management
Authority (LAWMA), which the Ambode administration scrapped and modified to
serve the residents more effectively.
While KAI was replaced with the Lagos State
Environmental Sanitation Corps (LAGESC), the source said LAWMA gave way for
Cleaner Lagos Initiative (CLI), which he said, was designed for effective
management of the state residential wastes.
However, according to him, the CLI later created
grievous waste management challenges in the state. Tinubu sees these as his legacies.
When scrapped, Tinubu believed Ambode just wanted to rubbish legacies. He was
indeed displeased.
Apart from KAI and LAWMA, another source cited the
case of Lagos Bus Reform Initiative, which the Ambode administration invested
over N30 billion Paris Club refunds the state received from the federal
government between 2016 and 2017.
Specifically, the source disclosed that Tinubu’s
idea of public transportation “is completely different from the Bus Reform
Initiative, which Ambode introduced in 2017. The APC leader believes public
transportation should be driven by the private sector.
“Ambode’s decision to invest such huge amount on
the construction of bus terminals and procurement of about 6,000
air-conditioned high occupancy vehicles is at variance with Tinubu’s position,
and was never bought into this initiative,” the sources disclosed.
Besides policy alteration, an entirely different
source said Tinubu was displeased with his godson because he set up a political
group of his own called Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organisation (AAMCO) with
networks across all LGAs and LCDAs.
According to the source, all political groups in
the state have been collapsed into Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organisation
(BATCO). Tinubu felt the creation of AAMCO was a violation of his directive.
But the truth is Ambode created the group because he won the APC governorship
ticket in December 2014.
However, in a related development yesterday,
Chairman of Forte Oil Plc, Mr. Femi Otedola, accepted the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) offer to run for the Lagos State gubernatorial election in 2019.
Otedola is likely going to square up against any
candidate put forward by the APC, including Ambode, who has declared intention
to run for a second term in office.
Although Otedola could not be reached for
confirmation due to his vacation abroad, a reliable source close to him said he
was seriously considering contesting the 2019 election if given the
opportunity.
Also, a popular celebrity publisher, Dele Momodu, on Tuesday alleged that the PDP had offered Otedola the governorship ticket and
that he had accepted it.
He shared the news on his Twitter handle,
@DeleMomodu.
He tweeted: “Breaking news: Lagos 2019 promises to
be interesting. PDP offers Femi Otedola governorship ticket. He’s accepted and
personally confirmed to The Boss newspaper.”
On his Instagram page, Otedola shared a video of
himself enjoying a ride in a miniature vehicle. He captioned the video: ‘Never
too old to catch some fun…’
Ambode had expressed interest to run for a second
term as governor of the state on the platform of the APC.
The governor made the official declaration on September
10 in Alausa. Ambode recalled how he was called upon by Lagosians to come and
serve the state four years ago and thanked them for their support.
According to
him, “In the last three and a half years, I have fulfilled my promises to you
to make Lagos work for all. With your support, we have made Lagos a better
place and changed the face of our state. I did not do it alone; we did it
together, because you believed in it.
“Our state has remained steadily prosperous because
of your positive outlook. I urge you to always stay positive in your personal
and communal lives and continue to aspire to great things.
No comments:
Post a Comment