The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode may have bitten more than he can chew as his several efforts to tackle the rifts between him and the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress Asiwaju Bola Tinu have hit bricks.
The situation got worse yesterday when leaders of the APC mounted pressure on the governor to drop his second term bid and endorse his opponent Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
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Sanwo-Olu is loyal to Tinubu and he obtained the state governorship form last Tuesday after he received a nod from the Mandate Movement which is owned by the National Leader in the Lagos APC.
The new political child Sanwo-Olu was a former commission in the state.
As expected, the 57 council chairmen are reported to have declared their support for Sanwo-Olu as instructed by Ambode former political godfather turned grievant.
The news of the rift between the Lagos State governor and Tinubu over the second term bids have been trending for weeks.
Ambode had made several appeals to resolve the crisis but Tinubu refused, and an appeal on behalf of the governor by notable people in the state also hit the rocks
Ambode’s wife Bolanle was reported to have joined in the appeal as she paid Tinubu a visit in Osun on Monday to appeal on behalf of her husband but the National Leader refused to bulge.
Punch Newspaper had reported that the state APC and national leader of the party have backed Tinubu decision and mounted pressure on the state governor to accept the decision of the party leaders.
The meeting which was held on Wednesday did not yield a positive result for the APC leaders as Ambode reportedly told them that he would rather go ahead with the direct primary option of the party in the state.
Punch quoted the source as saying “Ambode was told to step down and forget his second term ambition. He was told to publicly endorse Sanwo-Olu as his successor. He was promised a ministerial appointment after the APC might have won the presidential election. He was even told to pick a ministry of his choice.
“But Ambode seemed not to be pleased with the directives of the leaders as he declined the ministerial dangle. He also told them to allow the APC primary process to continue as planned. For now, the meeting is still continuing and there is no compromise in sight.”
It was learnt on Wednesday that Ambode had instructed his camp not to speak to any journalist and wait for the electoral process to pan out.
“We told him that he might likely lose if he decided not to fight back, but he just smiled,” another source said.
It was learnt that the APC’s highest advisory political organ, the Governor’s Advisory Council held a meeting in Lagos state and refused to discuss Ambode dilemma.
Though there were reports that the body has the final say on the choice between Ambode and his opponent Sanwo-Olu and how the rift may affect the party, the silence of the council was said to be unexpected.
According to a source, the discussion of the council was mainly on Osun State governorship election and barely took a briefing from the three aspirants – Ambode, Sanwo-Olu and Dr. Femi Hamzat.
It was gathered that Tinubu and two aspirants were absent at the meeting, however, the council advised the party to shift its primary from September 25 to September 29.
The source said, “Asiwaju, the governor, as well as the two other aspirants, were not present at the meeting. A briefing on the profile of the aspirants was taken and advice was given that the primary be shifted to September 29.
“The body will meet again on Saturday when members will discuss more on the aspirants.”
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