All love seems not to be lost between Lagos state governor Akinwunmi Ambode, his potential successor Babajide Sanwo and running mate Obafemi Hamzat after trio jostle for the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos state governorship ticket.
Ambode lost the APC governorship primaries to Sanwo-Olu, who was a former commissioner for establishment and training in the state.
Hamzat, also a former commissioner in the state, had before the primary election resigned his ambition for the governorship ticket to join forces with Sanwo-Olu to oust Ambode in the race for the party’s governorship flag bearer in 2019 elections.
Trouble started for Ambode after a group loyal to the national leader of the party Asiwaju Bola Tinubu within the party called Mandate Group said they were not in support of Ambode for a second term and opted to support Sanwo-Olu.
Tinubu who said the governor had performed well in office but was not a “good party man”.
Ambode, before the party’s primary election, described Sanwo-Olu mentally unfit to be a governor and accused of spending fake currencies in an American club.
“This particular aspirant is someone who has been arrested for spending fake dollars in a nightclub in America, and he was detained for months,” Ambode said at a world press conference in Alausa, Ikeja.
“He doesn’t have the competence to do what he is being propelled to do. This is somebody that has gone for rehabilitation before. The records are there at the Gbagada General Hospital.
We don’t want to go too far. Our leadership should have a rethink.”
Sanwo-Olu in a rebuttal expressed deep sadness in Ambode’s claims against him, saying his utterances were beneath the position of a governor and should be disregarded.
“If given a chance at a cooler reflection of what he said, I am sure he would regret his descent into such low conduct,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Days after, Sanwo-Olu defeated Ambode at the primary elections to emerge APC’s governorship candidate in Lagos. Ambode polled 72, 901 while Sanwo-Olu polled 970,851 to emerge the party’s candidate going to the 2019 general elections.
Ambode at another world press conference conceded defeat and declared to support Sanwo-Olu emerge as his successor in next year’s election.
