Lagos State Governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode’s re-election may have finally hit the rocks as he was facing pressures from party leaders, asking him to not only drop his ambition but support his main challenger, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The pressure, however, followed his face-off with the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and some major stakeholders in the party.
The option was one of soft landings being offered to the governor for him to end his tenure with a view to avoiding being disgraced during the September 29 governorship primaries.
Sources in the APC disclosed that the fate of the governor securing a second term was nailed at the weekend following Sanwo-Olu’s declaration, which many people saw as a test of might to send a signal that the party leaders were serious about their determination to deny Ambode an opportunity of getting APC governorship automatic ticket for 2019 elections.
New Telegraph also gathered that the composition of the Babajide Olusola Samwo-Olu Campaign Organisation (BOSCO), which comprised major APC leaders, Tinubu’s loyalists and executives at state and local government levels were deliberate plans to send a message to the governor that he had lost the required structures he needed to realize his second term.
The political trend in the state in the last 48 hours since Sanwo-Olu declaration was also causing fear in the Ambode’s camp as the governor was no longer recognize in some of the political events taking place in the state.
New Telegraph gathered that the pictures of Ambode in some of the posters sponsored by aspirants for National and State Assemblies elections were being tore or removed, while some of the aspirants had also removed Ambode’s pictures and names from their posters in an attempt to distance themselves from the governor.
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Also, leaders and members of the APC had stop wearing face-cap and T-shirt with Ambode’s pictures as they now had things relating to Sanwo-Olu even as they stopped singing praises of Ambode in public places as attention of the party leaders and members now focussed on Sanwo-Olu as favourite for the APC governorship ticket.
The situation became more visible yesterday as many speakers who spoke during the defection of former Commissioner of Commerce and Industry and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) chieftain, Mrs. Remi Adiukwu-Bakare; the National Chairman of the Mega Party of Nigeria (MPN), Mr. Dare Falade and other defectors, refused to acknowledge Ambode in their speech but recognised Tinubu and former governor Babatunde Fashola.
Speaking to New Telegraph on the pressure being mounted on Ambode to forget his second term aspiration, a reliable source disclosed that “Tinubu deliberately delayed the onslaught against Ambode till now. “
He went on: “The issues being raised against the governor are not fresh issues; it was what happened several months ago. About six months ago, some leaders wanted to make their grievances against Ambode open and start fighting him publicly but Asiwaju intervened to address the situation then.
“The reason why Tinubu kept quite then unknown to some people was deliberate. He kept the fight till the late hour to destabilized Ambode because if what is being done now started some months ago, Ambode would have had enough time to put some structures in place to challenge Asiwaju but with what is happening now, it will be difficult for Ambode to make any move again because we have a few days to the elections.
“Ambode has really lost it and it would be difficult for him to get a return ticket on the platform of APC because many of the party leaders are against him. In fact, to safe him from more embarrassment, some leaders are mounting pressure on him to withdraw from the governorship race.”
New Telegraph
