Lagos Guber/Assembly Elections: No Easy Victory For APC

THE Lagos elections, actually, started with the tension soaked primaries in the two major contending parties, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

For the APC, the choking scenario began to play out, when the leadership of the party decided on having Akinwunmi Ambode, a Christian, as its candidate. Ambode’s candidature had received the blessing of Bola Ahmed Tinubu, a former governor and national leader of the party, a decision, which irked other contestants, who felt “the emergence of another technocrat, like the outgoing governor, Babatunde Fashola, was not only a robbery of their efforts in building the party, but a mere one man show that must be resisted.”

For the PDP, the entrance of Jimi Agabje into the party equally generated a lot of controversies among members, who felt short changed that a ‘stranger’, who contributed nothing to the building of the party, is coming to take the governorship ticket “on a platter of gold.”

The PDP governorship primary itself was marred by controversies, but the party structure stood solidly behind Agbaje who eventually won the party’s ticket.

It took the intervention of the presidency, Senate President, David Mark, and some other key national officials of the party to pacify and convince Obanikoro to play along and abandon his legal suit against the conduct of the primary.

Having crossed the hurdles of the primaries, both Agbaje and Ambode sprang into the campaign proper, which was not only tense but also competitive and “extremely expensive in terms of advertorials and mobilisation.”

Sources from both parties agreed to the fact that the last governorship election was the most costly in terms of campaigns.

At a point, both parties traded words on using slush fund to run campaigns. While the PDP alleged that the ruling APC was using taxpayers’ money to run expensive campaigns, the APC accused the Federal Government of pumping funds into the state with the aim of taking over power at all cost.

However, the difference between the two personalities was that Ambode depended solely on the party’s structure to win the election, while the PDP as a party, relied on Agbaje’s personality, popularity and influence.

It was a tough contest, as the ruling APC had to deploy everything ‘unlike before to ensure victory.”

One of the founding members of the APC confessed, “it was not a tea party to defeat Agbaje. It was Agbaje we contested against and not the PDP.”

Another remarkable aspect of the election was the role played by non-indigenes, especially the Igbo community, which became a bride that must be wooed by both parities.

From the onset, some of the factors that the Lagos PDP was banking on to win the election were the favourable disposition of the non-indigenes to the reelection of President Goodluck Jonathan.

The outcome of 2011 elections, however, revealed the fact that the political strength and influence of the South East and South South people in Lagos could not be waved aside. While the ruling party immediately tried to arrest that situation by conceding some political appointments to the Igbo in Lagos, the PDP went as far, in the last election, to present some Ndigbo and non-indigenes for elective positions into the House of Representatives and State Assembly.

The PDP’s strategy ultimately yielded result as the party succeeded in depleting the ranks of the APC lawmakers both at the state and federal level.

According to the spokesman of the Lagos PDP, Taofik Gani, “it is true that we lost the governorship election and also the presidency, but we have succeeded in making some inroads into the House of Representatives by producing six lawmakers at the Federal level and eight at the state House, this is a great achievement, which we hope to consolidate on in the next election.”

He said the activities in the Lagos House of Assembly would no longer be business as usual, where a single party dominated.

On the role of non-indigenes, Gani said, “As long as the state remains cosmopolitan, non-indigene would continue to be relevant.”

Interestingly, the traditional institutions also played significant role, more than before, in the election, to such extent the Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu, as head of the state’s Oba-in-Council, personally got involved in the introduction of Ambode as the “next governor of the state” as far back as May last year.

The monarch went as far as saying that the council of Obas in the state and some elders have agreed on Ambode, this, in fact, was when political activities had not really started.

The oba had said: “I don’t know how to hide things, Ambode is the next governor of Lagos.”

The monarch’s position generated a lot of controversies within the ranks and file of the APC members and the rival PDP.

While the PDP pounced on the traditional institution and almost denigrated it, the APC was forced to say that he (Akiolu) didn’t speak for the party.

About a week to the April 11 elections, the same monarch was alleged to have issued a curse on any non-indigene that failed to vote for Ambode. This statement also attracted a lot of resentment from the non-indigene ultimately causing the ruling party serious fund to mobilize and pacify them.

Despite the criticism that trailed Akiolu’s comment, his position must have come against the backdrop of the outcome of the presidential election of March 28, where the APC and the PDP ran neck to neck.

On April 11, none of the party went to the poll with a clear assurance of winning despite the fact that the ruling party had already won the centre.

The elections, however, went peacefully and the APC triumphed, but this time not as easy as it used to be in the previous elections.