The All Progressive Congress party, APC will not be on the ballot tomorrow when its faithful in Lagos convene to select their flag bearer for the 2019 governorship election but it does appear that the party might be the biggest loser after all the votes are counted.
On the face of it, while the contest is between incumbent governor Akinwumi Ambode and the one anointed by the lion of Bourdillon Babajide Sanwo-Olu, tomorrow might well be the day the most devastating salvo is fired in an already raging war between Lagosians and the man who held sway over their destiny for more than two decades.
Governor Ambode finally came out of the shadow of the lion two days ago when he stepped forward to present himself as a candidate for re-election but in his speech, the governor alluded to how his imminent fall from power will hurt the APC in the state come next year’s vital elections in Nigeria.
His one-time benefactor and the self-style Jagaban, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has thrown him under the bus and with unprecedented fierceness is working to ensure that he finds no straw to hold on to.
You will have to concede that it was the same Tinubu who pulled Ambode from oblivion. He installed him as governor in total disregard of the desires of Ambode’s predecessor who also benefited from Tinubu’s political machine.
Tinubu lets everyone know that he and he alone calls the shot in Lagos. The story is told of one night when he had finished a meeting with his palace advisers, the Lion of Bourdillon grunted, “Lagos is going to sleep.”
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Over the years, resentment to his lordship has been growing. Lagosians are demonstrating they would rather have no lord or godfather.
In recent elections, the people have shown their disdain.
Since the 2015 governorship election in Lagos, the tide appeared to have turned, irrevocably, even if the godfather managed to hang on then. The number of those who have been disappointed by the master is growing and this number is bound to rise as the lion lights fires in different spots. In the calculation of who will represent the state at the local and National Assemblies, some people who have run out favour are now being told their place is to be given to another. So expect more flanks of opposition in the weeks and months ahead.
The bloodied results from the recent election in Osun state is perhaps the latest sign yet that the electoral value of BAT has waned considerably whether he likes it or not. Lagos is today very different from Osun state.
The rapidly changing cosmopolitan nature of Lagos means that communities are emerging in the state where elections are determined by local forces as separate from the forces operating from Bourdillon.
APC leaders operating from Abuja are beginning to sense trouble in the house. Apart from losing the financial support of a government of a state like Lagos, the tussle between Ambode and Tinubu only helps to expose the fault lines that have been building before now.
By delaying the Lagos primaries on two occasions, the national secretariat of the party hoped time will heal the wound and allow for reconciliation.
This strategy has not worked and has instead seen the gladiators emboldened, raising the tempo to levels never seen in the state. Tinubu by his unprecedented statement Sunday was able to say in the public what he had been mouthing in smoke filled rooms for months. It also meant that all gloves are off and without Ambode in the mood to fall without a fight, the state has now been set for an epic battle which could become the last dance by the lion. Lagosians sense freedom in the air.
The Yorubas are said to be very politically savvy. Tomorrow they may add to this reputation by being the first in Nigeria to throw a state governor in Lagos out of the house and deny him the chance to seek re-election.
But the real outcome of tomorrow’s contest may in fact be the real possibility that come next year, voters in Lagos will throw out the APC not just because of how Ambode has been treated, but on the account that the people of Lagos want out from the clutches of Tinubu.
