No known public reconciliation has been made for the ex-governor and Sanwo-Olu by the APC national leader, Bola Tinubu, whose number one ambition now is to become Nigeria’s President. Has Ambode staged a comeback to take his pound of flesh?
The immediate-past Governor of Lagos, Nigeria’s commercial capital, Akinwunmi Ambode, has staged a comeback into the Lagos politics as he began meeting and consultations with political leaders and other stakeholders across the state to clear grounds for a possible second term as the governor.
Platforms Africa reports that this public moves across all the three Senatorial districts in the state by Ambode has stirred up concerns at the camp of the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, whose eyes too are on the second term by 2023.
Ambode, a political foe to Sanwo-Olu who was visibly absent (either through a boycotted or lack of official invitation) at all state functions since he left office, was denied the second term because of Sanwo-Olu in 2019. He had publicly declared Mr. Sanwo-Olu unfeat on health and integrity grounds to succeed him.
Although Mr. Sanwo-Olu emerged as the preferred candidate, truncating Ambode’s second term ambition then, there has been no known reconciliation between the two men.
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Asides that Ambode has started appearing at different public events and associating with projects that would bring development to Lagos particularly those that would engage the youths towards being productive as well as contributing their quota to the development of the state government.
Although the political office the Lagos immediate past governor planned to vie for during the next election was yet to be announced publicly at any of the events he had attended within the state and his silence had become a source of concern to many politicians particularly members of the All Progressives Congress (APC), the party whose platform he won his gubernatorial election in 2015, with many unable to predict the 2023 strategy he was already putting together.
Before now, the former governor, after leaving office in 2019 following his inability to return for a second term, distanced himself from public engagements and was hardly seen publicly nor contributed to political discussion across the state.
Sources close to him disclosed that Ambode did not only go off the public space but also refused to pick calls of his many political associates due to the drama that played out before the gubernatorial primary which ended his second-term bid as well as other issues that emanated before handing over Lagos leadership baton to the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The source added that he allegedly felt betrayed by some of his associates after they abandoned him during critical moments leading to the gubernatorial primary in 2019.
Meanwhile, barely a year to the next elections, Ambode started appearing at different public events including inaugurating the upgraded Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS) cricket pitch with an appeal that the youths should participate in the game in order to become popular among Nigerians as the case with the Indians and other countries.
At the event and others, he appeared as a stalwart of the APC, but indications emerged that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) was already extending invitations to him, assuring him that his chances of ruling Lagos for another four years remain brighter than staying with the ruling party.
To boost his chances ahead of the poll, the ex-governor has extended his tentacles beyond Epe, engaging Badagry political leaders at a strategic meeting on December 31st, 2021, where he consulted them and they had an extensive discussion on what they should expect from him going forward in the state.
Barely 24 hours after, the former governor, on the 1st of January, met with political leaders, chiefs, and others in his hometown, and they had discussions on reasons he went off their radar as well as activities that required he indicated his political affiliations in the state.
After then, sources among the APC members disclosed that different political groups were already recruiting youths and other footsoldiers that could assist in canvassing for votes before and during next year’s election across Lagos.
The ongoing recruitment was apparently confirmed on Tuesday by Ambode describing the next year’s election as that which the youths would takeover leadership positions across the country including Lagos state.
Through a statement released on his official social media handle, the former governor urged the youths to obtain their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) and prepare to determine the next leader of the country.
The statement reads: “After all we have been through, God has been faithful. Thank you for the overwhelming endorsement of our modest contributions to the growth of Lagos. It can only get better for Lagos, and indeed Nigeria,” Ambode wrote.
“The youths are coming. The power is in their hands. Go and get your Permanent Voters Card (PVC) ready. Your future is NOW”, he added.
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