Lagos 2019: Ambode is intricately stepping on dicey path, need to reconcile with Tinubu
APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Lagos State Governor, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode
Something dramatic is about to hit the Lagos political landscape. It is no more news that the Political Establishment is seemingly not in favour of the incumbent, Governor Akinwumi Ambode. If anyone says there are no crises in Lagos APC, then, the fellow is either a greenhorn or a neophyte.
It is getting more interesting in the sense that the leader of the team, Cardinal James Omolaja Odumbaku (Baba Eto) that recommended Ambode to Asiwaju Tinubu in 2014 is the same person gunning for his replacement with another aspirant, Mr Babajide Sanwo-olu.
Sanwo-olu, who is said to have been brought into political limelight by Tinubu’s former Deputy, Mr. Femi Pedro, is believed to be Asiwaju Tinubu’s favoured aspirant. Sanwo-olu is currently the Managing Director, Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSPDC), and one of the chief financiers of the powerful Lagos political establishment, The Mandate Movement.
The Mandate Movement, with the support of Asiwaju, is hellbent on substituting Ambode with Sanwo-olu. The situation becomes more confounding and intriguing, as all the 57 LG and LCDA chairmen have putatively thrown their weight behind Sanwo-olu.
We cannot say that the second term ambition of the Governor has finally hit the rock; however, Ambode knows that the situation is intricately dicey. No one can authoritatively envision where the pendulum will swing. It is a clash of the titans in Lagos State APC.
Governor Akinwumi Ambode, no doubt, has relatively performed above average. Nevertheless, we should not be unmindful or lose sight of the enormous influence politicians wield in primaries and their intricate manipulations. Ambode can only win the primary through the delegates and the party leadership. He cannot go anywhere or win his second term bid if the party is not in his favour. He needs their approval and consent to win.
Moreover, Ambode should never contemplate the idea of defecting to another party. This will be inextricably suicidal. I can stake anything, he will lose, and eventually be dumped in the wilderness of political quagmire and oblivion. He should learn from what befell Femi Pedro, Tokunbo Afikuyomi and Kofoworola Bucknor. More so, Ambode does not have the structure to slug it with Tinubu’s political machinery in Lagos.
Ambode, ever than before, needs to appease his political benefactor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and beg the leadership of the Mandate Group. Let him humble himself the more. We need no political pundit to assert to us that Tinubu holds the ace in Lagos. As far as Lagos APC is concerned, Tinubu has an overbearing influence in the party: he decides who gets what.
Governor Ambode should not let anyone set him against the Asiwaju. President Buhari can also assist in this regard, if he can be reached. He can help him appeal to Tinubu, so that he can clinch the second term ticket. No need for any form of grandstanding against his benefactor. Ambode was nothing before Tinubu handpicked him in 2014 against the wish of other aspirants. Eko o ni baje o.
Adejare Ibrahim
