With just nine months till the governorship election, the battle to replace Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is starting to take shape as candidates from all parties step forward.
As President Bola Tinubu’s home base, the riveting attention is on who will get his backing among prospective candidates to succeed Sanwo-Olu, reports Sunday Vanguard.
As the clear head of the Lagos political family, Tinubu should have a say in who runs the state he ran from 1999 to 2007.
There is a lot of suspense about who will be the next governor. Recently, it was reported that Tinubu told the leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC), especially the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), led by Pa Tajudeen Olusi, to work for the Deputy Governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, to take over for Sanwo-Olu in 2027.
Hamzat, Akinwunmi Ambode, a former governor of Lagos who served only one term from 2015 to 2019, the Lead Visioner of the Lagos4Lagos Movement and a former governorship candidate for the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos State, Dr. Olajide Adediran, also known as Jandor, and Seyi Tinubu, the son of Mr. President, are all leading the pack of APC candidates for governor.
It seems that Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, Mr. Tunji Alausa, the Minister of Education, and Hakeem Muri-Okunola, a former Head of Service and now the President’s Principal Secretary, who were all interested in running for governor, have pulled out.
The APC South-West Zonal Convention on March 25 at Mobolaji Johnson Arena, which used to be called Onikan Stadium, elected officers and got things moving for the 2027 general elections.
Earlier, on March 6, the Lagos State branch of the APC swore in new executive committee members from all of its local government and ward structures.
At the inauguration ceremony at the party’s headquarters at ACME, Ogba, Ikeja, Lagos, the Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, told the executives to show hard work and dedication to the party’s values.
He urged party members to stay together and avoid divisive behavior before the 2027 general elections. He said that the inauguration was an important step in making the party’s organizational structure stronger for future elections.
After then, the APC Lagos chapter said that no candidate had been chosen for the 2027 general elections. The announcement came at a time when political intrigue was at an all-time high since Tinubu had just arrived in Lagos for the Easter vacations. Many people in political circles saw this visit as a key point in the battle for the succession to Sanwo-Olu.
For weeks, some thought that Tinubu may use the visit to show who he wanted to be the future governor of the state. People inside and outside the party thought that even a small support from the President might quickly change the outcome of what is shaping up to be a very important race.
After Tinubu supposedly backed Hamzat, the news was quite exciting and hopeful for the people, especially for personnel in the Alausa Secretariat.
It was also learned that most of the people who were running for governor have quietly dropped out of the contest and stopped supporting the supposed consensus candidate.
Party leaders and followers who backed Hamzat for the role said the choice was a way to reward loyalty and strength.
In the run-up to the 2018 gubernatorial primary, Hamzat had stepped down as the APC’s consensus candidate for Sanwo-Olu.
GAC meets with Tinubu while Faleke gets people to back Hamzat.
In the meantime, people who support Hamzat and Ambode are saying that they have political backing after a meeting between the GAC and Tinubu.
Both sides saw the meeting’s results as good for them, which led to simultaneous celebrations among their followers.
James Faleke, the member from Ikeja Federal Constituency, has publicly backed Hamzat and urged followers in Ikeja Federal Constituency and Lagos State to do the same before the party primary.
On Thursday, Faleke posted on Facebook asking party members to support the Deputy Governor’s candidacy to replace Sanwo-Olu. As the 2019 general elections get closer, many people think that Ambode and Hamzat are the best candidates for the APC governorship ticket.
Ambode, who was in charge of Lagos from 2015 to 2019, was not given a second term, which allowed Sanwo-Olu to take over. Hamzat is currently in his second tenure as Deputy Governor. Before that, he was the Commissioner for Works under Governor Babatunde Fashola for eight years.
Badagry factions are angry
Meanwhile, traditional leaders, youth groups, and other stakeholders in the Badagry Division of the state have stepped up their calls for the APC to give their area the 2027 governorship ticket. They say it is their turn to choose the next governor of the state.
The movement says that since Lagos State was formed in 1967, Badagry is the only one of the state’s five traditional divisions (Ikeja, Ikorodu, Epe, Lagos Island, and Badagry) that has not had a governor.
Supporters said that the demand was about justice, fairness, and inclusion, not conflict.
The “Concerned People of Badagry Forum” and other groups, on the other hand, point out that they have always voted for the APC and Tinubu, saying that this devotion should be recognized.
A 93-year-old elder statesman named Pa Andu Liadi Adio and traditional rulers led by the Aholu of Kweme Kingdom, Oba Olalekan Sejiro, formally asked the party leadership, especially Tinubu, to think about a candidate from their area.
Many groups in the division are pushing for Dr. Samuel Mawuyon Ajose, who is known as SMA Gold, to govern the state.
The Badagry Federation Youth and Women groups promised to get a lot of votes for the APC if the seat is given to them.
Political analysts think that the real race will depend on what Tinubu says as things progress.
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