Ambode May Return As Lagos Governor After 'Baba Sope'

Fortune may smile on Lagos state Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as he seeks to retain his seat ahead of the 2019 elections

The leadership of the APC in the state is said to have stepped up pressure on Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to back the incumbent’s re-election 

Tinubu, the national leader of the party, is said to be considering backing the governor after he had earlier backed out

A report by The Guardian indicates that the intervention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in Lagos state regarding the feud between Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his estranged godfather, Aiswaju Bola Tinubu, is yielding results.

According to the report, due to the pressure mounted on Tinubu by the Lagos APC leaders, the national leader of the party, is said to be considering backing the governor after he had earlier backed out.

The duo has been at loggerheads, with Tinubu supporting a former commissioner for commerce and industry, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, ahead of the Sep

tember 29 primary to select the party’s flag-bearer.

The party’s leadership was said to have pleaded with Tinubu to let go of his grievances and allow Ambode return for a second term.

It was learnt that former governors of Osun and Ogun states, Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Segun Osoba, are also part of the peace overture, as they led Ambode to entreat the national leader.

Sources quoted in the report said Tinubu, out of respect for Akande and Osoba, promised to let pass his grouse. But with a condition: his political loyalists in Lagos, who have made up their minds that Ambode must go, must be consulted.

On the advice of the former governors, Ambode was said to have prostrated pleadingly, while Osun state governor, Ogbeni Rauf Argebesola, expressed his grudges and those of Lagos party members.

Aregbesola who is also a staunch member of the Mandate Group, explained why the members insisted they wanted Ambode out.

One of the sins Aregbesola noted was Ambode’s alleged moves to destroy his (Aregbesola’s) political structure in Lagos West, especially in Alimosho. He said Ambode kept him waiting for several hours when he visited the Lagos government house. He further accused Ambode of vindictiveness towards party members that aided his emergence as governor in 2015.

At the meeting with Buhari and the APC governors, sources said Kebbi state governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu led the plea with Tinubu.

“It is not in the culture of Hausa people to prostrate. What we normally do is express respect to our elders or leaders by saying Ranka Dade. But today, I am going to break that protocol,” he reportedly said, and prostrated.

Unable to hold his emotions, the national leader burst into tears, at which point, Buhari stood up, moved closer to Tinubu, and implored him to give Ambode a second chance.

Ambode’s political future has been under threat since Tinubu’s Mandate Group, threw up Sanwo-Olu, to challenge the governor at the party’s primary earlier scheduled for Saturday, September 29.

Also in the race, is another strong contender, a former commissioner for works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who has the backing of an equally powerful group, the Justice Forum.

The chairmen of the 57 local council development areas in Lagos had also declared support for Sanwo-Olu.

After much pressure, Tinubu, however, shifted some ground on Monday, September 17, by agreeing to refer the matter to the Governor's Advisory Council, the body that advises the governor and the party leader on matters of state as well issues that concern the party.

Meanwhile, some youths from Epe division of Lagos state on Tuesday, September 17, rallied on major streets in the area to canvass and drum support for Governor Ambode’s re-election bid.

Some of the youths said their action was against the backdrop of speculations that Ambode might not likely be chosen as the governorship candidate on the APC platform.

The youths, from Epe central, Eredo and Ikosi-Ejirin chanted solidarity songs as they moved from one street to another in the area, displaying several placards with various inscriptions begging Tinubu and other APC leaders to allow the governor complete his constitutional 8-year term.