A GROUP known as the Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organization (AMCO) has said it will challenge the Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, for the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship ticket for the 2023 election.
The Chairman of the group, a former Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources in Lagos State, Wale Oluwo, made this known while speaking on a radio programme.
Oluwo said the former Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, was working to put structures in place to displace the leadership of Sanwo-Olu in the state in 2023.
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The Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC) of the Lagos State chapter of the APC recently endorsed Sanwo-Olu for a second term in office.
The AMCO group chairman, however, faulted GAC for the endorsement, saying the decision did not reflect the position of the APC members.
He said, “GAC doesn’t have such powers. Ambode did well. AMCO candidates will pick the nomination forms next week. We want to be the driver of that change in Lagos.”
He added that Ambode was interested in what happens in Lagos in 2023 and that his interests aligned with the expectation of the people.
“You don’t need a federal appointment to fight for your space in your state. You just need the right strategy and funding. AMCO is not bereft of that. AMCO is a major group in APC. We will participate in the election and be victorious by the grace of God.
“We are back to implement the change we desired in 2019. Our people have been collecting the nomination forms. Making noise about the forms collected doesn’t add any value to your form. We will collect governorship form next week,” he added.
Oluwo, who said that AMCO was participating at all levels of the election, declared that former Lagos State governor, Bola Tinubu, was not his preferred presidential aspirant.
He said, “Performance for performance, the administration of Sanwo-Olu cannot be compared to what Ambode achieved. You have to start with security and infrastructure. We can show a lot of things now. But for this government, well, this is not the time to start tearing ourselves apart.
“For AMCO, we are participating at all levels of the election. From governorship to the House of Assembly. We will field candidates for all positions. Our candidate will not be Akinwunmi Ambode. We will ensure internal democracy. We will present our own aspirants and they will challenge the governorship and other seats in Lagos.
“The process of presenting our own candidates is almost concluded and I can assure you that by early next week, the candidates will be announced. The GAC is only promoting their own interests by announcing Sanwo-Olu as their candidate.”
Ambode, the Lagos State governor from 2015 to 2019, was denied a second term in office after he reportedly fell out with Tinubu.
Tinubu is believed to be the ‘godfather’ of Lagos politics, who have single-handedly been installing and removing governors since he completed two terms in office from 1999 to 2007.
'Niyi worked with The ICIR as an Investigative Reporter and Fact-checker from 2020 till September 2022. You can shoot him an email via [email protected]. You can as well follow him on Twitter via @niyi_oyedeji.