Why Lagos APC Leaders Want Ambode Impeached

* Let’s forgive and forget, governor tells cabinet
* Collapses campaign structure into Sanwo-olu’s

It appears there is no relief yet for Lagos State Governor
Akinwunmi Ambode, despite losing his re-election bid in the All
Progressives Congress (APC), as the leadership of the party in the
state has, allegedly, concluded plans to remove him from office to
guarantee its victory in next year’s governorship election.

This indication emerged at the weekend, and it corroborated the
information exclusively obtained by THISDAY that the APC national
leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had not only initiated the idea
of Ambode’s removal, but had also given a direct order to the
relevant quarters to that effect.

Our reporter gathered that although the impeachment plot had
always been in the cooler as an alternative plan in the run up to
the last primaries, it was played down as the leadership explored
other options open to them.

However, multiple sources from Ambode’s camp noted that the
reports of an impeachment plan “are unfounded, baseless and without
substance,” stressing that the governor has been working to ensure
the victory of the APC and its candidate since the governorship
primaries on September 29. One of the sources noted that there was
no evidence to back the allegations of the hawks at Bourdillon, who
were bent on throwing the state into another round of crisis, which
he said, might be the strategy of the opposition parties to
destabilise the APC.

With the first assignment, which was denying Ambode his
re-election ticket, successfully prosecuted, stakeholders in the
Lagos APC had allegedly put pressure on Tinubu to activate Plan B
in their bid to finally get rid of the governor and whatever threat
he might pose to the elections in the state next year.

Sources in the party hinted that with the kind of money at his
disposal and the control of the security architecture of the state,
it would not be strategic to leave Ambode in office, when it was
obvious that he was still unhappy with the humiliation he suffered
during the primaries.

This move was activated a few days ago, when Tinubu was said to
have told a northern colleague of Ambode that there was no going
back on his impeachment.

Returning from the inauguration of the Ekiti State governor, Dr.
Kayode Fayemi, in Ado Ekiti recently, Tinubu was said to have
beckoned on a North-west governor, whose state has had dealings
with Lagos lately to join him on his plane, in the course of which
he hinted at the latest development in the state.

He was said to have told the northern governor that certain
stakeholders in the state were no longer comfortable with Ambode’s
demeanor and that the governor’s recent moves showed that he would
be unkind to the party during the coming elections, and therefore,
their best bet would be to get rid of him as fast as possible.

The impeachment move was further given credence to when at the
weekend, the House of Assembly, without recourse to extant legal
implications, ordered the 20 local governments and 37 Local Council
Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state to call the Private Sector
Partnership (PSP) operators in their areas back to work for refuse
clearing immediately, effectively displacing Visionscape, a company
brought in by Ambode to clean refuse in the state.
While the impeachment move against him has not been properly angled
or anchored on anything tangible, there have been several
side-talks on the many other reasons why his impeachment had become
inevitable.

Generally, there have been insinuations that Ambode might have
some ulterior motives and might be thinking of playing the spoiler
against his party, the APC, in the state for denying him a second
term ticket, a suspicion the APC leadership claim to have on good
authority.

One reason the APC leaders are said to be moving against Ambode
is that after promising to help fund the election of his
successor-to-be, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, he made a U-turn and
dismissed any such thing during a recent conversation with one of
the contractors through whom the funding would have been made
possible. This conversation with the said contractor was said to
have been leaked to the APC leadership and other stakeholders, who
then immediately related it to other suspicions they had since
gathered about the governor.

Besides, Ambode is said to have failed to show remorse to the
party leadership and the political class over some of the grouses
they had against his re-election. So the stakeholders are believed
to be eager to activate the impeachment plot so that he would leave
office without any entitlements.

The next few weeks are expected to witness intense political
intrigues, as the move to remove Ambode from office begins to
crystalise.

Ambode’s Camp: Impeachment Story Unfounded

But, according to a source, Ambode has been working with the APC
leaders at different levels to ensure that the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) did not take advantage of what happened during the
primaries to take over the state. Just after the process that threw
up Sanwo-Olu, Ambode had been taking different steps to reunite
party chieftains, principal officers of the House of Assembly and
members of the State Executive Council (SEC), among others.

At the first EXCO meeting after he lost the return ticket, a
cabinet member told THISDAY that Ambode devoted quality time to
preaching a message of forgiveness and unity, asking all the
council members to work in support of the governorship
candidate.

The cabinet member, who preferred anonymity, quoted Ambode as
saying, “The primaries have been concluded at all levels. We must
forgive one another irrespective of what happened before the
primaries. As a Christian, I will never be vindictive to any person
for opposing my re-election.”

The commissioner disclosed that Ambode equally told the cabinet
members that the State Executive Council “has taken off fully and
that we should focus more on governance and issues of public
concern rather than engaging in another round of political conflict
that can undermine governance and public administration.”

He explained that Ambode encouraged every council member “to
double their efforts to make Lagos a true centre of excellence. All
of us must forget what has happened. We must forgive and forget so
that we can face the business of government with renewed spirit and
approach the next election in unity.”

After Ambode’s address at the EXCO meeting, the cabinet member
disclosed that all council members applauded him, even though they
were surprised that he gave in so easily. With the development, he
said, a task force has been set in motion to rehabilitate failed
roads across the state.

Apart from Ambode’s message of forgiveness and rededication at
the SEC meeting, an APC chieftain disclosed that Ambode had already
collapsed the Ambode Mandate Support Group (AMSG) into the
Sanwo-Olu Campaign Council.

Specifically, the APC source disclosed that Ambode appointed a
five-man contact team under the leader of the Coordinator of AMSG,
Hakeem Sulaimon, to hold a meeting with the Director-General of the
Sanwo-Olu Campaign Council, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, on how to work
together now that the primaries had been concluded.

In addition to Ambode’s decision to set up the contact team that
met with the Sanwo-Olu Campaign Council, the APC source explained
that the governor had directed his supporters across the 20 local
government areas and 37 LCDAs to begin grassroots campaign for the
APC governorship candidate.

Immediately after the primaries, according to the source, Ambode
sent the message to all his supporters and support groups to ensure
that the PDP did not win the state, for the sake of continuity and
President Muhammadu Buhari. All over the state, Ambode’s supporters
are now working for Sanwo-Olu.

To demonstrate the commitment he made in his concession speech,
the APC source revealed that Ambode also held a meeting with
principal officers of the House of Assembly also with a message of
forgiveness and peace. He noted that all the principal officers
attended the meeting during which the governor pleaded with them
“to work for the peace and progress of Lagos State. Irrespective of
what happened before and during the primaries, Ambode told them
that he had forgotten and forgiven all those who opposed his
re-election.”

The source further stated that Ambode had made it clear that he
was going to do everything to win the state for the APC, including
giving financial support to Sanwo-olu and even campaigning for him.
The governor, he further stated has consistently praised Tinubu who
he said remained his mentor. “He harbours no ill feelings towards
anybody, as a matter of fact, he has repeatedly thanked the
National Leader for choosing him from millions of able and capable
people, eligible to be the governor in 2015. So I see no reason for
the impeachment,” he added.

Culled from THISDAY