Lagos, Nigeria’s most cosmopolitan state and its Centre of Excellence, is gearing up for a vibrant ballot for the governorship on February 28, with several variables at play in an educated 20 million population, whose aspirations surpass tribal politics.
Most residents are non-indigenes. And all they want is simply someone in the Governor’s Office who provides the best of social infrastructure to facilitate creativity, production, buying and selling.
Evenly matched
Lagos is too busy making money to hate anyone. Which drives down right to the wire the governorship contest between Akinwunmi Ambode of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Jimi Agbaje of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
These two are the front runners.
Agbaje, an also-ran, is well admired as sound, and has federal support. Ambode, though less popular, is backed by the Lagos establishment – Governor Babatunde Fashola and the kingmaker, former Governor Bola Tinubu.
Thrown into the mix, however, is the cross carpeting of some political bigwigs. But pundits say the grouse between Musiliu Obanikoro and Agbaje over the PDP ticket may not affect the vote.
“After all Obanikoro has been settled to go back to his former position (minister of state for defence), he has no option than to support Jimi Agbaje to win,” argued some PDP stakeholders.
Adewale Ayodele, the President of the Youth Vanguard and Actualisation of Buhari’s victory and former Amuwo Odofin Council Chairman, said Ambode may have the upper hand because the APC and the parties that grew into it have dominated Lagos since the restoration of civil rule in 1999.
Yet Ambode is not leaving anything to chance. When he won the APC primaries, he acknowledged that the task ahead is daunting.
“We have only just commenced the first phase of the execution of our political agenda. The next phase beckons.
“We must all work together to usher the APC back into power in both Lagos State and federal because Nigerian youths need a reform of change to make sure there is a stoppage in the current dispensation in the area of unemployment, insecurity and corruption,” Ayodele said.
Ambode states vision
Ambode explained that his “mission and vision is to create a clean, secure, prosperous Lagos State that is driven by a vibrant economy and supported by quality service, equity and justice; a Lagos where no one is discriminated against on account of age, religion, creed or origin.
“We have a legacy to build upon and it is our collective responsibility to build on the progress that Lagos has witnessed in the past 15 years. In building on the legacies of the past 15 years, it is important to expand the frontiers of doing business in the state that has the potential to be one of the top five economies in Africa.
“Lagos deserves nothing less and this shall continue to be my message to every Lagosian as we begin to solicit their votes.
“I promise never to waiver or fail. I promise to energise and mobilise our teeming supporters in the next phase of this struggle. I put myself to the task knowing that the foundation laid must never be destroyed but built upon.
“I commit to the continuation of excellence and the upliftment of the lives of all Lagosians.”
Ambode emerged through a primary in which he defeated 11 other aspirants. The primary, held at Onikan Stadium, was broadcast live on television. Ambode polled 3,735 of the total 5,959 votes.
His fellow contestants, except two, have pledged to team up with him and work for his victory against Agbaje.
Observers had feared that with 12 aspirants jostling for the APC ticket, there would be an implosion that would be to the advantage of the PDP. Many thought the defeated aspirants would defect with their supporters to the PDP. That has not happened.
After the primaries, APC leaders, including Dele Ajomale, appealed to the losers to join hands with Ambode who has been part of the Lagos success story in the past 15 years but was neither seen nor heard because he was a civil servant.
He was in the background along several others, designing and implementing policies that stand Lagos out from the rest of the country.
It was under Ambode’s watch as Accountant General that Tinubu survived the war he fought against former President Olusegun Obasanjo when he (Tinubu) created additional 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), which led to the seizure of council allocations by Abuja.
Ambode designed a template that revolutionalised internally generated revenue from N600 million to over N6 billion monthly.
Ambode is believed to have a burning desire to ensure that things continue to work. “I have been part of the transformation of Lagos. I am one of the designers of the structure you are seeing in the state. Now is the time for me to take over the driver’s seat,” he agitated.
How PDP drafted Agbaje
However, Agbaje is another passionate Lagosian yearning to contribute his quota to the state’s development.
The strategy to draft him into the race on the platform of the PDP was devised in February 2013 when party stakeholders held a meeting with President Goodluck Jonathan on how to grab Lagos.
The meeting agreed that the party’s governorship candidate should be Agbaje, and his agenda was reportedly conceived by the late National Security Adviser, Andrew Azazi.
Agbaje has been moving from party to party in the past couple of years.
He was governorship aspirant in 2007 on the platform of the defunct Action Congress (AC). When he failed to get the ticket, he defected to the Democratic Peoples’ Alliance (DPA) floated by Olu Falae and Afenifere leaders.
After the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) deregistered the DPA, Agbaje did not join any other party until he defected to the PDP.
But primary election that produced him as the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos was controversial.
Obanikoro comes round
Obanikoro engaged in a war of words with him and state PDP leaders, especially Bode George over the election, and also sued the party for not addressing his written complaint.
Reconciliation was achieved at the intervention of an Aso Rock team headed by Vice President, Namadi Sambo.
Obanikoro said at a press conference addressed by Agbaje, with Sambo in attendance, that he and other aspirants have accepted Agbaje.
“Despite the inadequacies of our governorship primary, we have agreed today that Agbaje is the PDP governorship candidate in Lagos State,” Obanikoro confirmed.
Agbaje told reporters that “this is a defining moment in the life of our party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). For once in the history of PDP in Lagos, we are approaching a common opponent, as one solid, united and powerful force.
“All the aspirants in the governorship primary of Lagos State have agreed to smoke the peace pipe and gather under one banner. We listened to the voice of Nigerians, Lagosians in particular. They asked us to give and take. Differences, animosities, divergences are hereby declared dead.”
Now that Agbaje has been accepted by other aspirants, can he break the 16-year-old jinx and galvanise the PDP to victory?
He is upbeat, noting that “a new chapter is being written in the annals of the PDP and by the grace of God in 2015, the PDP will record a resounding victory in Lagos.”
Lagos is no go area, says APC
But an APC member and former Mosan Okunola Council Chairman, Abiodun Mafe, described the PDP’s hope as day-dreaming because “Lagos is a strong APC state that has been under its control since 1999. We have seamless continuity from the administration of Tinubu to that of Fashola.
“We have many things to show the people to justify the APC power domination in Lagos State. The emergence of Jimi Agbaje cannot jeopardise our hold on to power in the state.”
Mafe said the wind of change blowing across the country makes it impossible for the PDP to win Lagos in 2015.
“We are not taking the support of the people for granted. We will work hard for electoral victory. We don’t have any reason to be jittery over Agbaje. He is known to us. We don’t underrate him any way. We will let PDP know that Lagos is no go area.
“What the APC has done in the past 15 years in the state will make us win in 2015 and beyond. We recognise Jimi Agbaje as a gentleman who is loved by the people but that will not be enough to make him win the governorship election.
“The candidate’s platform and the antecedents of the political party would determine who wins. Those factors give APC an edge over other political parties contesting governorship election in Lagos State.”
Agbaje’s pitch
Nonetheless, a member of the state PDP, Oluwakemi Banjo, said the party has learnt from its past mistakes and will present a united front.
“Having united all the factions, the next thing is for all PDP members to queue behind our governorship candidate, Jimi Agbaje. He is a sellable candidate that enjoys wide popularity among Lagosians and a match for the APC candidate.”
Agbaje said: “PDP is my last bus stop. My back is to the wall. It is forward ever, backward never. Why will I leave the PDP to go where? To me as a politician, such a situation makes no sense.
“My mission to serve, to renew, and to uplift Lagos State into a true global ‘Centre of Excellence’ and to transform the lives of residents of Lagos based on my abiding commitment to my city and my state.
“My mission is to provide people-centred leadership that focuses on transforming the lives of our people, not only that, I will make Lagos a mega city of note that our great grandchildren will continue to remember.”
