Ambode Creates Uproar at Consultative Forum

One of the governorship aspirants of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State and the presumed choice of the leader of the party, Bola Tinubu, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday at a consultative forum held by the election committee advised other aspirants to consent to going ahead with the primary election today because the result was already known.
The statement which later attracted the wrath of other candidates, including the Chairman of the committee, Rev. Peter Obadan, a former deputy governor of Edo State, was made at the Lagos Airport Hotel, where the committee had met on the election billed to hold this Thursday.

Preceding this were different arguments on the format the primary election would take and whether or not to postpone the exercise in order to tie up a few loose ends in the organisation of the governorship primary election.

For instance, while the party was worried about conducting the primary election on the basis of 57 local government areas for fear of its seeming illegality, a majority of the aspirants also warned of the implication of compressing 57 councils into 20 because it could result in excess delegates that could nullify the whole exercise.

According to sources who hinted THISDAY, the argument back and forth had become heated before Ambode made an effort to intervene, saying “Well, it is either 4,000 or 6,000 delegates. But it really does not matter because the result is already known.”

Ironically, the source said it was either that a larger chunk of the other aspirants did not notice the slip or chose to keep quiet until Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, allegedly raised an objection and drew the attention of the gathering to the slip.

“It was GOS (Solomon) who raised the observation and asked Ambode to shed more light on the meaning of the statement. He told him that if he understood the meaning of what he said very well, then, he just wanted to know what the other aspirants are going to do at the venue tomorrow since the result was already known,” the source said.

Initially, Ambode was said to have denied the statement saying he never made any such slip since Solomon only asked him to affirm what he said or admit it was a slip.

But whilst he kept denying that he made any such slip, other aspirants were said to have also confirmed that he said it.

But when he insisted he did not say it, the chairman too allegedly came out and confirmed that he (Ambode) said it, adding that he did not only had take note of it, he was still going to ask him to elucidate on what he meant by that.

It was at this point that Ambode was said to have admitted it must have been a slip and apologised to the gathering of other governorship aspirants, who now feared that the results may have been written by now but had taken note of what happened at the meeting for references.

Meanwhile, political and community leaders from the Ikorodu division of the state have called on delegates of the APC to elect Solomon as the party’s governorship candidate in today’s primary.

The leaders, who made the plea in a communiqué issued under the umbrella of Eminent Persons of Ikorodu Division (EPID) said the delegates should support the APC consensus candidate from the Ikorodu Division as a way to compensate the area for their past support for the APC in the state.

The communiqué titled: ‘An open letter to all progressives congress delegates in Lagos State’ which was signed by the Asiwaju of Ikorodu land, Chief B.O. Bension and Chief Tele Oduloye, Chairman and Head, Secretariat team of EPID respectively, said the division had prepared well for the contest by getting other aspirants from the zone to step down so as to get Solomon to emerge as a consensus candidate of Ikorodu division.

“The group hereby calls on all delegates of APC in the state, as well as the national leadership of the party to vote for our candidate in the APC, Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon (GOS), to emerge as the APC candidate and eventually, the state governor in May 2015.

“In the same vein, Ikorodu Division also appeals passionately to all the other four divisions in the State to support this noble cause this time, remembering that one good turn deserves another,” the communiqué dated and issued yesterday, stated.
Meanwhile, an aspirant for the the state House of Assembly seat on the platform of the APC, Mr. Tunde Braimoh, has been declared the winner of a re-scheduled primary election in Kosofe constituency 2.

Announcing the result, the Electoral Officer, Mr. Kunle Ogunbela, said Braimoh polled 230 out of the 413 votes cast. As a result, the lawmaker currently occupying the seat, Dr. Bayo Adeyeye, lost his re-election bid.
Adeyeye, who is the Leader of the assembly polled 173 votes.

Another aspirant, Mr Olojo Kosoko, polled one vote while Mr Oluwole Ogunleye got three votes.

Six votes were voided.

Braimoh, a former Chairman of Ikosi/Ketu Local Government Area of the state, described the election as free and fair and thanked the party members for giving him the opportunity to serve the state.

He promised adequate and quality representation of his constituency, if successful in the general elections.

The APC House of Assembly primary election in the state was held on December 2 in 39 out of the 40 constituencies of the state.

The election could not hold in Kosofe Constituency 2 due to some hitches.

Source: Thisday