THE All Progressives Congress’ National Working Committee (NWC) committee on the Lagos governorship primary election, says the voting exercise which had held in over 300 wards of the state was null and void.
According to TheCable, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, supported by former Governor of Lagos State, Bola Tinubu — and by extension almost all Lagos State’s federal and state lawmakers — was leading the incumbent governor, Akinwumi Ambode, in all the local council areas that had been announced, before Clement Ebiri, chairman of the APC NWC committee announced that the exercise would start all over.
“We have to be careful because of the political tension in the state… we have to do things right. Lagos state is so important to us,” Ebiri said.
“We want a victory that will be credible, and will be in line with the guidelines and rules… We are ready to go to the field now so that at the end of the day, we won’t be accused of being partisan. We are now ready to hit the ground running.
“We have the electoral materials here but considering the Lagos situation, traffic and all, we will wait on the national office for action. The stage is set and the election will begin anytime from now. We will let you know as soon as officials come to get materials.”
Prior to Ebiri’s announcement, Sanwo-Olu was almost going to be announced the Lagos APC governorship candidate. Even Ambode’s deputy, Idiat Adebule, ditched him and voted for Sanwo-Olu
“The party has chosen a man and it is that man that I will support and follow,” Adebule told newsmen after casting her vote at ward A and D in Iba local council development area on Tuesday.
It is not clear why Tinubu abandoned Ambode whose praises he had sung in several public events in the past. On Monday, both Tinubu and Ambode were at the Aso Rock presidential villa, as President Muhammadu Buhari tried to mediate between the two men, but the intervention did not yield any different result.
As the direct primaries kicked off across all the wards and local council areas of Lagos State on Tuesday, unconfirmed videos and images shared on the social media suggest that Sanwo-Olu could be cruising to a landslide victory.
According to TheCable whose reporters are monitoring the direct primaries across several of the voting centers, events are looking quite bleak for Ambode.
For instance, in Amuwo-Odofin Ward A, Ambode polled just five votes while Sanwo-Olu garnered 2001 votes. The scenario is the same at Alimisho LGA, Ward E2, where Sanwo-Olu had 9,860 to Ambode’s 20.
Ward G2 Lagos Island:
Sanwo-Olu 1,584
Ambode 22
Oshodi Afariogun Ward D2:
Sanwo-Olu 5,557
Ambode 44
Ward E, Orile-Agege:
Sanwo-Olu 454
Ambode 0https://t.co/QymDQUdchp #LagosAPCPrimaries
— TheCable (@thecableng) October 2, 2018
Party members celebrating after the announcement of results https://t.co/QymDQUdchp #LagosAPCPrimaries pic.twitter.com/mIpnP6U38k
— TheCable (@thecableng) October 2, 2018