On Wednesday, the Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode,
accepted defeat in the governorship primaries of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) in the state.
Speaking in Lagos, Mr Ambode
congratulated Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the winner of the party’s governorship
ticket and the favourite candidate of power brokers in the state
chapter of the party.
The declaration put paid to speculations
among analysts that the governor may defect from the APC in pursuit of
his gubernatorial ambition.
“The interest of our beloved state
must always supersede that of any person or group,” Mr Ambode said in
the broadcast. “It is in this regard, that I wholeheartedly congratulate
the winner of Lagos State APC primaries, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and urge
all Lagosians to immediately support our party’s gubernatorial candidate
in the 2019 elections and work for the success of our dear party.”
Mr
Ambode’s concession speech Wednesday brought to an end several weeks of
politicking among supporters and traducers of the two major aspirants.
Mr Sanwo-Olu is now positioned to represent the party in next year’s
governorship elections.
As the party awaits the candidates of
opposition parties – especially the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) –
ahead of the gubernatorial election, PREMIUM TIMES highlights the
winners and losers in the Lagos APC governorship ticket debacle:
THE WINNERS
1. Babajide Sanwo-Olu
Easily
the biggest winner in the many weeks of politicking and ‘uprising’ in
the Lagos APC, Mr Sanwo-Olu, a little known cabinet member in previous
governments in Lagos, emerged the party’s governorship candidate on
Tuesday. A few months ago, very little was known about the former
commissioner for establishments, training and pensions. Although not a
green horn in politics, Mr Sanwo-Olu’s emergence was largely influenced
by his endorsement by APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, and the Mandate
Group. Lagosians are eager to know the stuff he is made of, especially
in a state that has over the years fielded vibrant individuals as
governors.
2. Bola Tinubu
Undoubtedly the most
influential politician in the South West today. Mr Tinubu wields
enormous power in Lagos, South-west and, indeed, Nigeria’s politics.
Although he has largely shown his preference for Mr Sanwo-Olu by proxy,
his last-minute public endorsement of the candidate went a long way in
shattering Mr Ambode’s ambition. Since he vacated office after serving
as governor between 1999 and 2007, Mr Tinubu has had enormous influence
in decisions surrounding who becomes Lagos governor.
3. Mandate Group and Lagos APC
The
Mandate group, led by James Odumbaku (popularly known as ‘Baba Eto’)
played key roles in the fall of Mr Ambode. Members of the group, an
influential bloc in the party, have long shown disdain to the governor.
They mobilised party members and saw to the victory of their favourite
candidate, Mr Sanwo-Olu.
Similarly, the Lagos APC had in defiance
to the NWC panel declared Mr Sanwo-Olu winner of the primaries even
amidst confusion on Tuesday. Tunde Balogun, the state APC chair,
pronounced Mr Sanwo-Olu winner with 970,851 votes against Mr Ambode’s
70,901 votes.
4. 36 Lagos Assembly Members
Few days
before the governorship primaries, 36 of the 40 members in the Lagos
State House of Assembly endorsed Mr Sanwo-Olu. The members claimed they
took the decision in conformity with the party directive. Many of the
members will now be hoping the party rewards them by helping them return
to the state assembly.
5. PSP Operators
Some days
before the primaries, the Association of Waste Managers in Lagos
endorsed Mr Sanwo-Olu. The endorsement was quite expected as the PSP
operators had in the last two years been at loggerheads with Mr Ambode
after the governor contracted a foreign company, Visionscape, to manage
waste in the state. In their endorsement message, the PSP operators said
Mr Sanwo-Olu promised to run a participatory government and would
return their jobs to them.
6. Local Government Administrators
Similarly,
as the political pendulum in the state swung ahead of the primaries,
local government chairpersons in the state endorsed Mr Sanwo-Olu. The
endorsement, analysts said, was largely borne out of political survival.
THE LOSERS
1. Akinwunmi Ambode
Incumbent
governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s fall came as a rude shock to many
Lagosians, especially those who are not privy to details of goings-on in
the state chapter of the APC.
Although the governor, like his
predecessors, enjoyed rave review in the media, he eventually lost out
in the power play as many officials (including senators, House of
Representatives members, state assembly members etc) who endorsed him
for second term months ago dramatically retreated and abandoned him.
Mr
Ambode, who had criticised the primaries held on Tuesday across the
state, finally accepted the result Wednesday, while also pledging
loyalty to the party. He becomes the first incumbent governor to lose
re-election ticket of his party in the current dispensation ahead of the
2019 general elections.
2. Visionscape
Another remote
loser in the Lagos APC debacle is the foreign firm contracted by Mr
Ambode for the cleaning of Lagos waste, Visionscape. Although the
government claimed the company had good track records of waste
management, checks have shown that the company had no such record. This
became evident when the company could not deliver on its tasks in its
first months, leaving the state with heaps of refuse.
Visionscape’s presence and the cancellation of PSP waste management
arrangement created a number of foes for the governor, largely among
party faithfuls and other PSP operators. It is unclear what would become
of the company’s operations in Lagos as the new power brokers are set
to take over the leadership of the state in 2019.
3. Fouad Oki faction of APC
Fouad
Oki, a factional leader of the APC, backed Mr Ambode in the primaries.
He had earlier led other party faithfuls to create a breakaway faction
in the party during its congress months ago. During the primaries, Mr
Oki threatened to conduct a parallel exercise because political thugs
prevented potential voters of the governor from voting.
4. Ambode’s commissioners, supporters and campaign organisation
Although
a few officials of the government aligned with the party on Tuesday,
many of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s officials and media handlers
supported him till the end. On Wednesday, hours before the governor
conceded defeat, a member of his campaign organisation had dismissed the
Tuesday primaries as void.
Those In-between
Meanwhile,
there are other parties caught in the middle of the conflict whose fate
one cannot categorically place now. They include:
1. Idiat Adebule
On
Tuesday, in the heat of the elections drama, Mr Ambode’s deputy, Idiat
Adebule, abandoned the governor to support Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the
two-horse race to pick the party ticket.
Mrs Adebule told
journalists at Ward A and D in Iba Local Council Development Area of
Lagos where she participated in the governorship primary of the APC,
that she would endorse the candidate chosen by the party.
“The
party has chosen a man and it is that man that I will support and
follow,” she said. It is unclear what this spells for her political
future.
2. Ambode’s grassroots ‘loyalists’ in Lagos APC, especially in Epe
Even
when everyone seemed to have deserted the governor by noon on Tuesday,
videos were still shared by party faithfuls who stood behind the
governor across the state, especially in Epe, his hometown. Given Mr
Sanwo-Olu pledge to form an ‘inclusive’ government, it is unclear what
he would do with Mr Ambode’s foot soldiers in the party ahead of the
general election next year and, possibly, afterwards.
3. ‘Ordinary’ non-partisan Lagosians
While
many non-partisan Lagosians followed and enjoyed the intrigues while it
lasted, how the results would shape their lives cannot be determined
yet. The intrigues and keen attention it generated could be linked to,
one, the influence of APC in the state and, two, the status of Lagos as
the commercial nerve centre of the nation.
Even if their
interest in intra-party affairs remains largely remote, the decision of
the party has far-reaching effects on policies in the state and on
residents.
In the meantime, it appears, while Lagosians look
forward to the gubernatorial choices of other opposition parties in the
state, the people await what the (post-2019) future holds for them with
bated breath.
