Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode will not go down without a fight even when the All Progressives Congress (APC) leadership in the state is determined to deny him a second term.
This emerged yesterday after a meeting of the 22-member Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), said to be the most powerful clique within the Lagos APC.
According to reports, the meeting held at Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s popular Bourdillon Road, Ikoyi residence and had Tinubu, Osun State Governor Rauf Aregbesola and Governor-elect Gboyega Oyetola as well as other party leaders in attendance.
At the meeting, the party leaders were said to told Ambode that they would not be supporting his second term ambition but Ambode refused to accept the decision, Saturday Sun reported, quoting an unnamed source.
The source reportedly said, “Ambode was told in plain terms that the party will not support his second term ambition and as such should step down for the candidate the party members are clamouring for. But throughout the whole discussion and till the meeting ended, the governor stood his ground, explaining why he must run and that he will run if APC desires to win the state.”
Although party leaders were said to have resolved to address a news conference today to officially present the party’s preferred candidate, Babajide Sanwo-Olu and deputy, Obafemi Hamzat, the Ambode camp is refusing to back down.
The paper further quoted a close associate of the governor as saying, “Tinubu and his men are jokers, if they fail to present Ambode for second term, they will lose Lagos like they lost Osun, forget the eventual manipulation of the final result.