Tinubu offers Ambode a ministerial job if he stands down but Lagos State governor holds firm

ALL Progressives Congress (APC) leader Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has stepped up the pressure on Lagos State governor Akinwunmi Ambode offering him a ministerial appointment if he agrees to stand down and endorse Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the party's candidate.

Next February, Lagos, like most of Nigeria's other states will go to the polls to elect a governor and having introduced a wide range of infrastructural improvements since assuming office in 2015, Governor Ambode was on course to win a second term with ease. However, over the last few weeks, he and Asiwaju Tinubu, himself a former governor have fallen out, forcing the man regarded as the APC godfather to back Mr Sanwo-Olu, one of his protégés for governor.

Last week, Mr Sanwo-Olu launched his campaign amid a lot of fanfare , with the full backing of the Tinubu machinery behind him. However, Governor Ambode has also collected his nomination form and is confident of victory when the APXC primaries hold, given his track record of good governance over the last three years.

Mr Sanwo-Olu, who is being backed by the Mandate Movement in the Lagos APC led by Asiwaju Tinubu, has already got the support of the 57 chairmen of the local governments, who are all beholden to the party leader. Despite this, however, Governor Ambode has refused to be intimidated, creating a stalemate within the party.

On Monday, Governor Ambode’s wife, Bolanle apparently tried to save her husband’s job when she met with Asiwaju Tinubu in Osun State and sought to pacify him to change his mind. In a last ditch bid to avoid a confrontational primary contest, Asiwaju Tinubu is offering the governor a ministerial slot in the federal government after the next elections if he refuses to run for a second term.

One party source said: “Ambode was told to step down and forget his second term ambition and told to publicly endorse Sanwo-Olu as his successor. He was promised a ministerial appointment after the APC might have won the presidential election and was even told to pick a ministry of his choice.

“However, Ambode seemed not to be pleased with the directives of the leaders as he declined the ministerial dangle. He also told them to allow the APC primary process to continue as planned, so for now, the meeting is still continuing and there is no compromise in sight.”

Now preparing for the primaries, Governor Ambode is said to have instructed his camp not to speak to any journalist and wait for the electoral process to pan out. APC leaders in Lagos State are now planning to hold their  primaries on September 29, instead of  the 25th as originally planned.

Meanwhile, some residents of Lagos State took to the streets on Wednesday to protest against Asiwaju Tinubu’s refusal to back Governor Ambode. The protesters, who stormed the secretariat of the Ikeja Local Government Area, said the incumbent governor deserved an automatic ticket.

One of the protesters, Charles Akube, said Governor Ambode’s infrastructural development projects were enough to earn him a second term. He added:“Tinubu should not use politics to spoil the development going on in Lagos. Ambode has done enough to get a second term.”