Emmanuel Ukudolo l Wednesday, September 12, 2018
IKEJA, Lagos, Nigeria – Gradually, the lovely governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode is losing out in his quest to be the flagbearer of his party, the All Progressive Congress(APC). Ambode on Monday picked the nomination form of the party at the APC secretariat in Lagos, during which he declared that he is ready to achieve more for Lagosians.
“In these three and a half years as your Governor, I have seen visible proof that we can achieve unbelievable things when we all come together with no more than our belief in our dreams. We achieved because you believed. But there is still a lot more to be done. But I am not daunted. I am not tired. And I am sure you feel the same way because we all envision a better Lagos, a Lagos of our dreams.
“So, I humbly call you again, to give me your support as I seek to continue with your mandate to steer the affairs of our State. I ask you to believe again and together, let’s achieve more,” Ambode said at the APC secretariat. But he is not the only candidate that has picked the APC ticket. Todate, he is number three. Others who have picked the form include, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, who served as Commissioner for Science and Technology and later Commissioner for Works and Hon. Jide Sanwoolu, former Commissioner for Establishment and Pension and presently, Managing Director of Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSPDC).
The two commissioners served two term under the administration of the former governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, but they were brought into office by the National Leader of the APC, Senator Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Ironically, Bola Ahmed Tinubu has reportedly endorsed Jide Sanwoolu. He endorsed him at a meeing of all the 57 local government chairmen in Lagos precided over by Tinubu’s ally, James Odunmbaku. Odunmbaku told the party stalwarts that in 2014/2015, some people protested when he picked Ambode becasue they though he was a civil servant, permanent Secretary and so on.
“Each time our boss has made a recommendation or told us the direction he wants to follow, those of us who believe in him, we don’t question it; we’ve followed it, and we’ve never regretted it. This one our boss has brought [Sanwonolu], we have accepted it because we believe in our boss, because we believe in God. God is the one who chooses the leader for every season. This one that God has selected in this season, we will be successful in it. We may be wondering, why is this so? But if we accept it for our boss, our leader, and do it to honour him, to respect him, to support him wholeheartedly… He is our man, one of us; he is our older brother, he is our younger brother, he is our child, he is our friend… that Jagaban handed over to us.
“By the grace of God and the support and the people of Lagos State, we are the ones who will assume the leadership in the State House in 2019. He is the one who will sit as the next Governor of Lagos State. And when he gets there, all of us here, God will make sure we’re not missing. Lagos will be better than this, Lagos will make more progress than this, due to the wisdom and understanding of the man. He has someone behind him, he has a Godfather… Our Godfather will not crumble.
“What we have started, we started in the name of God. It is God who ordains everything. It is God who knows tomorrow, but we don’t. Nobody single-handedly has power or authority; our boss, it is God who gave him”, he said.
Besides Ogunmbaku and chairmen of the 57 local council development areas, sources say, the APC Chairman, Lagos State, Mr. Otunba Henry Ajomale, Tunji Olowolafe of Deux Project and former commissioners in Lagos State. We gathered that among the issues working against the governor is his decision not to pay all former political appointees of his predescessor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola. We gathered till date, none of them have been paid thier severance entitlement, while some of the projects embarked upon by the former governor were either abandoned or with the contractors replaced. One of those at the receiving end was Otunba Tunji Olowolafe, whose Deux Project executed some of the best projects in Lagos. According to sources, the modern facilities doting the Lagos University Teaching Hospital(LASUTH), Lagos State Secretariat, secondary health centres across the state and other pojects attest to the good work of the construction company, whereas the Akinwunmi Ambode led government has refused to settle debts incured in execution of projects to the state in excess of N20 billion.
The governor’s background as an account and former civil servant has been adduced as another factor working against Ambode who has restricted approval limit for commissioners to N500,000, a development some commissioners who have resigned in protest found rather insuting. Ambode is also believed to have witheld funding to the party and contracts to major political gladiators in the APC.
Among these contractors our sources said are Private Sector Participant(PSP) operators who have been displaced by Visionscape. Mountain of refused which has been a thing of the past in Lagos under PSP has returned to the metropolis and cleverly finding thier way into drainage channels and the result has been unprecedented flooding in Lagos. Besides, the traffic situation seems to have worsened. Lawlessness is now the order of the day with operators of motorcycles and tricycles dictating the pace against the num. It is so bad that some said that Ambode has returned Lagos to the pre-Fashola era of lawlessness in traffic management and in terms of waste management.
Alpha Beta
But the major factor seems to have been his decision shoved aside Alpha Beta, an agency owned by Bola Ahmed Tinubu which hitherto consults for the Lagos State Governor on tax matters for a fee. Besides, we gathered that a petition against the agency has been submitted to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission(EFCC).
In a petition to the EFCC, a former Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Alpha Beta Consulting, Mr. Dapo Apara, accused the firm of tax fraud to the tune of N100 billion. In the petition written by his lawyer, Adetunji Shoyoye and Associates, the ex-CEO claimed that the fraud had been covered by powerful politicians in the state.
According to the petition “Over the years the company has been protected and shielded by some powerful politicians and people in the society which made them to always boast of being untouchable, but our client, feeling the need not to keep quiet again and strengthened by his belief in the fact that the government of President Muhammadu Buhari is keen on fighting corruption, which has been the bane of our country, is of the firm belief that it’s time to expose and open the can of worms called Alpha Beta Consulting”, he said in the petition.
This petition which is seen as direct attack on the person of Bola Ahmed Tinubu has been described as a direct attack on the eyeball of the Lion of Bordillon. “It is roforofo fight, only God can save him”, our sources said.
According to them, those who could have begged for him have been trampled upon. For a way out, we gathered that the governor reached out to the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) but that the Vice President intevened in his behalf. We gathered that President Muhammadu Buhari has been able to reconcile Ambode with his predescessor and current Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola during the trip to China but with a caveat that Ambode will pay all contractors who have executed contracts for the state government under him clear arrears of severance package for all political appointees.
As it, only God can make the table to tilt in favour of Ambode who has also desecreted the Christian bloc on which shoulder he rode to power. The last time the Christian Association of Nigeria(CAN) protested killings by Fulani Herdsmen, Ambode played the Ostrich by refusing to receive them. For now, the best option for Ambode will be to continue to pacify the partymen, and not attempt to decamp.
The only person who could have done the magic for him was the late Alhaja Abibat Mogaji, who pulled the string for Fashola when things of this nature of cropped up in the run up to the 2011 general election, though it wasn’t as confrontational as it seems to be at present.
The only option would have been the Oba of Lagos, Oba Rilwan Akiolu I, who warned him before he was sworn in that he should not go to Government House Alausa with vendatta. But it seems, the warning fell on deaf ears. What is left is for Ambode to eat the humble pie.
