Members of the All Progressive Congress in Lagos State who are loyal to former Governor Akinwumi Ambode have expressed their decision not to support the ambition of former Governor Bola Tinubu .
Coordinator of the Ambode Campaign Organization and former Commissioner for Energy Olawale Oluwo said on a radio programme on Saturday that it the camp of the former Governor is poised to ensure return of power to the people in the APC.
Oluwo challenged the appropriation of the power of the people by the Governors Advisory Council (GAC) to determine who picks the ticket of the party adding that one group that is no more than an NGO cannot continue to dictate what the party does in Lagos.
The APC in Lagos State must be guided by its constitution and guidelines. As far as we know the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) is like an NGO and it’s not known to the constitution. The GAC can make recommendations but cannot control the party. It can sponsor candidates the same way AMCO can sponsor candidates. Governor Sanwo-Olu has picked his form and the AMCO candidate will also pick his form.
“AMCO will participate in all the elections. Ambode will not contest the governorship election; we would pick our candidate for the governorship primary. We will pick our candidate and we will go to the field. It’s not sustainable for a set of people to continue to decide who gets what in this state. We want to work with like minds. That change that was frustrated in 2019 made me leave the party, but things have changed with the new leadership in the party at the national level.”
When asked if Ambode would support Tinubu, Oluwo said it’s the right of the camp to support whoever it considers fit.
He said it is also the right of the Vice President or any other Nigerian to seek the presidency noting that the talks of railroading everyone on the same track is not possible.
On the ambition of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for a second term, Oluwo said the survey conducted by the Ambode camp did not return a pass mark.
The data we got from the field seems to suggest that he has not done well. You cannot compare our administration with that of Sanwo-Olu. Yes, he completed some projects of Ambode and he neglected some.
“AMCO is approaching politics from a completely different perspective. We have structures across the 20 local government Areas in the state. Our approach is not that of a godfather; our philosophy and approach is very clear. We want people to play an active part in the politics of the state. Our members have been collecting election forms but they are not making noise about it. But people will begin to know them by next week”.