Lagos gov ticket falling off Ambode’s hands

A last-minute effort by the wife of the Lagos State Governor, Bolanle Ambode, to save her husband’s job was said to have hit a brick wall on Tuesday.

It was gathered that Bolanle, who followed Governor Akinwunmi Ambode to Osun State on Monday for the Tuesday’s All Progressives Congress’ mega rally for the state governorship candidate, Gboyega Oyetola, waylaid the National Leader of the APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and tried to pacify him to change his mind.

Sources told our correspondents that her efforts did not yield any result as Tinubu was said to have “received her cordially and joked with her.”

“At a point, she became emotional despite the fact that many party leaders were there. But Asiwaju (Tinubu) did not give her the answer she desired. He merely treated her with courtesy,” one of the sources said.

The governor and Tinubu have been in the news in the past few days over the second term bid of Ambode.

Tinubu had refused to back Ambode’s second term ambition despite pleas by notable people in the state and the country.

Instead, the Tinubu-led Mandate Movement in the Lagos APC had backed Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who obtained his form last Tuesday.

The chairmen of the 57 councils had also declared support for Sanwo-Olu.

Sawo-Olu, a former commissioner in the state on Sunday formally declared his intention to vie for the Lagos State governorship ticket of the APC, promising to restore the glory of the state.

Notable APC leaders in the state, who were either allies of Tinubu or his followers, were at the declaration.

Meanwhile, sources said the Mandate group had started wooing another aspirant on the APC platform, Dr Obafemi Hamzat

It was gathered that Tinubu’s men wanted Hamzat, who is from the Lagos East like Ambode, to become the deputy governor with a promise that he would supervise a ministry and also nominate two commissioners into the cabinet.

Hamzat campaign team could not be reached on Tuesday for comment.