Vunderkind
Social Member
As 2015 hurtles closer, it becomes apparent that underneath the consolidated body that is the APC, there is a wordless battle for the governorship seat of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in Lagos state.
The Tribune newspaper examines the peculiar alliance of the APC in the light of the little address given by the APC national leader, Senator Bola Tinubu, prior to the just concluded nationwide membership registration exercise.
Party Sources, reveals the Tribune, say Tinubu counseled them to resist the urge to group one another within the party as it could become discordant to intra-party harmony. This is understandable, considering that APC consists of four independently major parties: The Congress for Progressive Change (CPC), Action Congress of Nigeria (CAN), All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). It is for this reason Tinubu had to reiterate the need for party members to work together, disregarding their original parties.
On the 22nd of February, a powerful APC caucus – with the most influential leaders of the party in Lagos state – conferred at the Airway Grounds in Ikeja. The Tribune states that Tinubu, using his rich political experience as senator and former governor, has “tactically succeeded in building Mandate Group into powerful political machinery that has been able to stand the test of time.” It mentions fleetingly that incumbent governor of Osun state, Mr. Rauf Aregbesola and Dr. Muiz Banire, a top-shot APC lawyer (who were, incidentally, commissioners during Tinubu’s governorship) are also ‘arrow-heads’ of the Mandate Group.
Mandate Group has taken the place of the Justice Forum (JF), which has since gone to seed because of political histrionics in the past. Mandate Group has now become the political behemoth, a kingmaker of sorts for anyone wishing to hold public offices under APC in Lagos. Tribune newspaper declares that the Mandate Group holds the ace for the governorship election in Lagos, and it has proven so in the past, overruling the then leaders of the Justice Forum to plant the incumbent Governor Babatunde Fashola on the throne.
Uneasy, they say, lies the head that wears the crown, and now that 2015 is swinging by, the time has come again for deciding who picks up the governorship ticket of APC in Lagos state. A lot of conflicting interests and splinter groups have arisen, with each trying to protect its interest within the framework of the APC.
Kunle Oderemi and Bola Badmus of the Tribune newspaper state thus: “The number of prominent APC members said to be interested in the party’s governorship ticket is indicative of the scramble for the position. There are speculations that 19 of them were warming up to hit the ground running once the party gives the go ahead for declaration of ambition. Some of the contenders are either former members of the state cabinet or serving ones. The influence of Tinubu in determining the who the cap fits in the APC is further accentuated by claims and counter-claims that he has subtly sought the opinion of Fashola on the issue.
Those members of the present cabinet speculated to be interested in the race include, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr Ayo Gbeleyi; Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, Dr Olufemi Hamzat, Commissioner for Transport, Dr Kayode Opeifa.
Outside the cabinet, the touted names include Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, who is the serving Senator for the Lagos-West district and the Minority Leader, House of Representatives, Honourable Femi Gbajabiamila.
Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Honourable Adeyemi Ikuforiji; the Senator representing Lagos-East, Senator Gbenga Ashafa; a former commissioner in the state, Dr Muiz Banire; Hakeem Alibo; Hakeem Muri Okunola; Mr Gbolahan Lawal and a former deputy governor in the state, Mr Femi Pedro.
There are also former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Olasupo Shasore; former Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, former Commissioner for Health and later Education, Dr Leke Pitan and former Permanent Secretary and Accountant General, Mr Akinwunmi Ambode; as well as the serving Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr Adeola Ipaye; Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Waheed Enitan Oshodi and the chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Tunde Faula.
A media report claimed the governor had Dr Femi Hamzat, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure; Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Waheed Enitan Oshodi; Gbeleyi, Shasore; Mr Tokunbo Abiru, immediate past Commissioner for Finance; Pitan; Mr. Akinwunmi Dapo Ambode, former Permanent Secretary, State Treasury Office and Accountant-General of the state, who resigned in 2012 purportedly because of his governorship ambition.”
Read the rest of this article on the Tribune newspaper