The magnitude of the fresh crisis rocking the All Peoples Congress, APC in Lagos at the moment is so severe that it qualifies to be classified as fatal. So serious is the crisis that most of the Lagos APC politicians once described as die-hard Tinubu loyalists are reported to have currently abandoned him over several of his decisions considered to be extremely selfish.
What is pathetic about the current crisis and why it is considered fatal is that, in spite of the fact that most of the men who were at one time regarded as the kitchen cabinet members of the Asiwaju are now at daggers drawn with him, the Jagaban doesn’t appear as if he is about to capitulate.
Thus, both sides are locked in a death-defying stare down, watching to see who blinks first. Of course, at the centre of it all is the imposition of Akinwunmi Ambode on the other aspirants in the party. Feeling that the choice of Ambode is a bitter pill that is being shoved down the throats of the other aspirants, not a few of the state’s APC bigwigs have spoken out in protest.
If you thought their protest has been a shocking development then you should hear the latest. In Lagos APC circles it is called ‘indirect imposition.’
Nation Wide News gathered that indirect imposition is the cunning new modus operandi conceived by the eternally crooked mind of Bola Tinubu, with a view to rigging the upcoming primaries of the party in the state.
As it concerns the ‘selection’ of the APC guber candidate for Lagos State, we understand that Tinubu’s new indirect method entails the abandoning of the traditional delegates system of electing the party’s flag bearer in the state.
Rather, only Exco members of the party, Exco members of the state government and Exco members of the local government councils will be eligible to vote in the party’s November primaries.
Nothing wrong with the new method , right? Yes, we thought so too. Until we learnt that 90% of these Exco members were all put in office by none other than Asiwaju Tinubu himself.
It is currently such a vexed issue in Lagos APC and, according to what Nation Wide News gathered, may not be unconnected with the reason Cardinal Odumbaku was removed from his position as Deputy Chairman of the APC in Lagos a couple of days ago. He has since been replaced with an obviously more pliant Ganiyu Badmus
Most of these embittered Tinubu ex-loyalists, we were told are so fed up with what they perceive as Tinubu’s manipulative excesses that they are said to be merely waiting to see what transpires at the party’s primaries come November.
An unimpeachable source disclosed to Nation Wide News that if in the end Tinubu insists on having his way, “we may have no choice than to leave the party for him. In that case you can be sure PDP will win Lagos”
When we wondered if that possibility could materialize in this age, he interjected, “Of course, PDP can win Lagos! What happened in Ekiti should serve as an eye opener. In Osun the only thing that saved the day was that Aregbesola is a core grassroots politician, so it was difficult to dislodge him.
“In this case in Lagos, who is Ambode? Asiwaju may be thinking that what happened with Fashola in 2007 will happen again. He will get a rude shock. We are the ones that have been doing all the dirty hard work that has been resulting in electoral victories. And now, if he doesn’t come to his senses, we are lining up behind PDP and we will wait for him to assess the result.”
