The triumph of Akin Ambode at the All Progressives Congress (APC) gubernatorial primaries Thursday had been concluded months before the election. Those who lost knew what awaited them. Ambode was some months ago publicly declared as the anointed candidate of APC by the Lagos monarch, Oba Rilwan Akiolu. The traditional ruler, many believe, could not have made such a sweeping endorsement without the consent of the kingmaker in the party, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor, Lagos State.
It was gathered that the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) may not reap from the crisis arising from disagreement over the outcome of the election.
A source informed BD SUNDAY that the PDP in Lagos are not in accord to leverage on the seeming disagreement in APC over the primaries to take over Lagos.
“The PDP in Lagos is in crisis. The Olabode George camp and that of Musiliu Obanikoro are not likely to make any impact because they are not working in harmony,” the source said.
Pundits also believe that Ambode indeed, deserved the victory, going by his efforts toward the achievement of the aspiration.
A source explained to BD SUNDAY that despite the fact that Ambode was anointed, he still worked tirelessly more than any other aspirant for the ticket.
An analyst said: “It would have amounted to a grand injustice and infringement on Ambode’s right if he were denied the ticket. You know why? The man traversed every nook and cranny of the state to sell his ambition. He spent so much in terms of money, time and other forms of resources to achieve the result he now has. Tell me which other aspirant made such effort or even half of the effort Ambode made?”
Liborous Oshoma, a legal practitioner and public affairs commentator, noted that there was an improvement in the processes that threw up Ambode as candidate.
“Although there are misgivings over the election, there’s a semblance of participatory democracy. Unlike before when there was no opportunity for anybody to cast vote to select any candidate, this time around, there’s a clear departure. It is no longer that barefaced imposition. There is a departure unlike the outright impunity; there are some elements of civility. It shows that we are learning and maturing,” Oshoma said.
On those who believed the process was not transparent and the result premeditated, the lawyer said: “When they knew that Ambode was anointed candidate and they still queued and bought forms, and now they turn around to cry over spilled milk, it does not make sense. It is a waste of time. They are also not strangers to how candidates used to emerge in the party, even in the PDP. How did Fashola emerge in 2007? We remember sometime ago when Fashola complained of imposition and began to preach against it, Tinubu was said to have reminded him that if correct processes were adopted he would not have emerged governor.”
According to him, “what we are seeing now is that political parties are business organisations and for you to have a say in what goes on in the company, you have to be a shareholder, you must have some investments there. So, you can’t claim right in someone else’s business. That is what we are seeing today.”
A staunch member of the party who spoke on condition of anonymity said: “Who among the aspirants has the liver to question Tinubu’s authority? Is it Ikuforiji who was brought back from the United States of America by the former governor of Lagos and has enjoyed the post of speakership for so many years now? Tinubu ensured that he went there for three terms even when he was rejected by his own people at Epe. Or Leke Pitan that Tinibu made health commissioner and education commissioner in the twilight of his second term. Hamzat also was at a point Tinubu’s favourite for the governorship. I am thinking that Tinubu must have advised them to forget the past and move on.
“Even Fashola cannot look Asiwaju in the face. If you call the name APC, does Fashola naturally come to mind as one of the leaders of the party? No. He is not in the picture. How many delegates did he have? What influence does he wield in the party? These are the questions we should be asking. I was even told that a commissioner revealed that Tinubu and Fashola are on the same page in the emergence of Ambode. Some people are merely trying to pull wool over our eyes. I think it is high time we began to forget these people and let them sort themselves out.”
Another pundit told BD SUNDAY that it “will amount to political suicide for any of the aggrieve aspirant to dump APC for PDP or any other party for that matter. What will happen now is that a good number of them will enter into negotiation with Ambode to seek all manner of appointments and to remain in the mainstream; some will lie low while one or two others who felt hard done by, may continue to threaten legal action or even go to court. But I must tell you that for the politics of stomach which we play in this part of the world, it will be very difficult for them to rock the boat.
Liborous Oshoma, a legal practitioner, explained that the aggrieved aspirants were right in verbalising their grievances, noting that usually, “there’s no party that actually remains the same immediately after the exercise. Some who feel cheated may consider dumping the party.”
According to him, “actually, not all of them that went into the race were serious about it, they just went to use it to bargain for appointments for themselves.”
A former presidential aspirant, who spoke with BD SUNDAY on condition of anonymity, urged the aggrieved aspirants to sheath their swords and collaborate with Ambode for ultimate victory for APC.
“All I can tell the aggrieved aspirants is that they should bury the hatchet. I know that if the result had gone in favour of any of them, others would have also screamed foul. So, in life, a game is fair only when our team wins,” the pundit said.
