APCs UNANSWERED PRAYER IN LAGOS, BY BOLAJI TUNJI On Monday, the Peoples Democratic Party ( PDP) conducted its governorship Primaries in Lagos. Jimi Agbaje, in a keenly contested election floored Former Defence minister, former ambassador and former governorship candidate, Musiliu Obanikoro. Prior to that contest, there had been a whole lot of speculations on how the contest would turn out. Obanikoro had resigned his position as minister to vie for the ticket. As a minister, he had been prominent in PDP affairs especially in the south west. During the Ekiti governorship election, he was in that state to support the PDP candidate, Ayodele Fayose who trounced the incumbent governor, Kayode Fayemi. He was equally in Osun state to offer his support to the candidate of his party, Iyiola Omisore. Indeed, before then, it had always been all over town that Senator Obanikoro would contest for his party ticket for the Lagos governorship. Why I personally have nothing against the candidature of the former minister, the general feeling is that, it would be difficult for him to clinch the ticket and if he, against expectations, got the ticket, it would be the answer to the prayers of the APC in the state to again clinch the coveted governorship seat. Indeed, the prayers of APC is for Obanikoro to emerge in order to make the governorship election a walkover for them. It is not quite clear where the resentment against Obanikoros ambition stemmed, but it was not something that came overnight. There had been a growing resentment to Obanikoros governorship ambition since 2007 when he flew his party s ticket and contested against the incumbent Lagos governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. The resentment didnt come from the party alone but even from the voting public. How this came about is still a mystery. I remember reading an online reaction that the former minister should just not waste his time as he would never win anything in this life. I felt that was too dire. So what could have led to this? Although I have never had the opportunity of having a close up relationship with the former minister, from what I have been able to gather, he is a gentleman and someone that is always willing to lend a helping hand. Some people also believe that his problem could be traced to former PDP Vice Chairman and Lagos Boy, Chief Olabode George who never hid his dislike for the ex-minister and would do anything within his power to ensure that he never won the ticket which was what precisely happened. Obanikoro himself never hid the fact that he never saw eye to eye with Chief George. A post credited to him on social media further reveals the schism between the duo where he allegedly said, the only time we had peace in our party (in Lagos) was when Bode George was in prison. Chief Bode George was said to have worked assiduously to ensure the emergence of Agbaje. Indeed, one would credit Chief George with a discerning spirit for understanding the mood of the generality of the people and backing a candidate with enough credibility to give the Lagos APC a run for its money. The decision has made the governorship contest in the state quite interesting. And this would be the first time the PDP would show the level of seriousness that it was going to battle the APC for the soul of Lagos. Why is this so? The PDP candidate, Jimi Agbaje is a pharmacist-turned politician and had contested for the lagos governorship in 2007 on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Alliance (DPA). He was quite popular then and had wide acceptability among so many Lagosians. It was probably due to this popularity that made the PDP to woe him into its fold. He came across as a very serious, brilliant contender then unfortunately the platform on which he tried to realize his ambition was not so popular. Some chieftains of the PDP also acknowledge his popularity and felt that the only way the PDP could slug it out with the APC is to get a candidate with credibility. This, the PDP got. Now that the two major candidates have emerged, how would the battle be fought between Akinwunmi Ambode, the APC candidate and Agbaje. On paper, Ambode should coast to victory without any hitch. He is a candidate of a major party in the state and the country which had held firmly on to Lagos state since 1999. Not only that, he has the support of highly respected leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. On his own, he has distinguished himself very well, professionally. for Agbaje, the tendency is to say that because he never had any public service experience, this would affect his performance, but every body seem to acknowledge that he is highly cerebral and would rise up to the occasion. Not only that, he has distinguished himself in private practice. The other issue is the party structure. How strong is the PDP party structure that would back and ensure Agbajes ambition? The fact is that the APC party machinery and structure has been tried and truly tested and could be relied upon. In the PDP, it is obvious that there is still a lot of work to be done. There is the need to assuage Obanikoro who is clearly unhappy with the outcome. Would he be willing to work with others to ensure victory for his partys candidate? The APC does not have this problem while Asiwaju Tinubu and the Governor Fashola can always find a way to accommodate each other. It is thus going to be an interesting battle. A battle between continuity which Ambode represents and change as represented by Agbaje. But one thing is clear, APC will not have a easy ride unlike before.
Posted on: Sun, 14 Dec 2014 16:03:39 +0000
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