*Why we want change in Lagos, by Tinubu
Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode has vowed to contest in the governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) despite mounting pressure on him to quit the race.
Ambode, who addressed a press conference at the Lagos House in Alausa, Ikeja, also attacked Babajide Sanwo-Olu, his main challenger for the APC ticket, whom he said was unfit to be the governor of Lagos.
He alleged that Sanwo-Olu was once arrested in the United States for spending fake dollars at a night club, and had undergone rehabilitation at the Gbagada General Hospital in Lagos.
Ambode spoke in the wake of the endorsement of Sanwo-Olu by APC National Leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu and party leaders in Lagos; majority of members of the state house of assembly and other groups.
The Lagos governor said he was not deterred, adding that since the party had agreed to adopt direct primaries for the governorship candidate to emerge, what he only wanted from the national leadership of the party was a level playing ground.
“The Lagos State APC has agreed to go with direct primaries and in that wise it is open to all contestants and so it is very clear that during direct primaries, I am also eligible to participate in the primaries,” Ambode said, even as he raised concern that less than 24 hours to the primaries, membership cards were yet to be distributed.
“I carry my own membership slip anywhere I go and now they say this is the membership slip that I have, I don’t have a membership card and so the question is: are they saying me as a governor I would not be entitled to vote tomorrow?” he asked.
On Sanwo-Olu, he said, “Party leaders and even party members have been misled to understand that this (Sanwo-Olu) is a better candidate than myself.
“This particular aspirant as we all know, you can go and check it, the records are there. This is somebody that has been arrested for spending fake American dollars in a night club and he has been detained for months. He is also known that he does not have the competence to do what he is being propelled to do, the records are there in Gbagada General Hospital, the records are there; this is somebody that has gone for rehabilitation before.
Sanwo-Olu: I have forgiven Ambode
In his statement Sunday, Sanwo-Olu said he had high regards for the office of the governor and had also forgiven Ambode.
“Perhaps the tension and anxiety of the moment got the better of him. If given a chance at cooler reflection of what he said, I am sure he would regret his descent into such low conduct.
“In this vein, I forgive him and hope he regains his balance and proper comportment no matter the outcome of tomorrow’s contest. After all, we are both here to improve Lagos not to wrestle in its streets,” he said.
He, however, denied that he was arrested in the United States spending fake dollars.
“His allegation that I was arrested for spending fake dollars at a night club in the United States was untrue.
“In fact, the governor knows I travelled to the United States just last month. I would not have been allowed to travel or even get a visa if I had been involved in what the governor falsely alleged.
“That the governor claimed I underwent some unidentified type of ‘rehabilitation’ at the Gbagada General Hospital was also shameless and untrue.
“People should question whether it is ethically right for the governor to turn what should be confidential medical information about a citizen into a weapon of political warfare,” he said.
“But for avoidance of doubt, let it be stated that I never received any treatment whatsoever at the Gbagada General Hospital,” he said.
Why we want change in Lagos – Tinubu
Meanwhile, Tinubu has foreclosed any chance of supporting Ambode whom he worked for in 2015, saying the governor had deviated from the state development’s blueprint.
In a statement issued minutes after the governor’s press briefing, Tinubu praised the candidacy of Sanwo-Olu whom he said would be consultative in his governance approach.
“My goal is and shall always be a better Lagos. To this objective, I have dedicated the greater part of my public life.
“Roughly 20 years ago, a corps of dedicated and patriotic Lagosians, put aside personal interests and rivalries, to put their minds and best ideas together for the good of the state.
“Out of this collaborative effort, was born a master plan for economic development that would improve the daily lives of our people. Where state government remained true to that blueprint, positive things happened. During my tenure and Governor Fashola’s, Lagos state recorded improvements in all aspects of our collective existence, from public health to public sanitation, from education to social services, from the administration of justice to the cleaning of storm and sewage drains,” he said.
“Whenever a government departed from this plan without compelling reason, the state and its people have borne the painful consequence of the improper departure.
“To ignore this blueprint for progress in order to replace it with ad-hoc schemes of a materially inferior quality contravenes the spirit of progressive governance and of our party. Such narrowness of perspective does not bring us closer to our appointed destination; it takes us farther from that destiny,” he said.
PDP ‘waiting for Ambode’
The APC and the opposition PDP are currently engaged in high-wire politicking ahead of their governorship primaries.
Both parties which hitherto slated their primaries for Thursday had to postpone the exercise abruptly.
While the APC postponed its primary twice, PDP also indefinitely shifted its own, which was scheduled to hold yesterday.
Spokesman of the party, Taofiq Gani did not provide reason for the postponement.
Daily Trust learnt that PDP was waiting to see if Ambode would fail to secure the APC ticket so that they could lure him to its side, seeing him as a saleable material considering his performance since he took over in 2015.
Though two aspirants – Jimi Agbaje and Deji Doherty – had bought form to contest for PDP ticket, some stakeholders of the party are considering offering Ambode the ticket in case he loses out in APC.
This story was first published by Daily Trust on Monday October 1, 2018.
