Less than 2 months ago, the name Jide Sanwoolu got proper media attention for the first time. The media attention was for an unusual reason. However, 57 local government chairmen across Lagos were literally appending their signatures to a register which was said to be an endorsement of Sanwoolu’s candidacy as next APC governor of Lagos come 2019.
Thinking about it in retrospect, that was the first public confirmation of the coup which would eventually topple the hopes of Governor Ambode’s chance at contesting for a second term as governor of Lagos state. News later filtered into the media that National Leader of the APC and strong man of Lagos politics, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu has indeed endorsed an unknown Jide Sanwoolu against an incumbent Ambode.
It initially looked like Ambode would not fight this political slight by his former godfather, but when Ambode held a disappointing press conference last week, even as the state gubernatorial primary elections closely approached, his supporters rejoiced that he had finally stood up to his godfather.
This joy would not be long-lived though. Sanwoolu had more ammunition in store with the backing of Tinubu who is in control of some APC affairs at the national level while Ambode had the backing of the state executives. The Lagos primaries got postponed indefinitely.
Sources indicated that some individuals at the national level of the APC such as Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and to some extent the APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomole were in support of Ambode clinching the party ticket. These individuals would later kowtow to the demands of Tinubu.
The primary elections held last Monday through Tuesday even when the Ambode camp claimed it was a sham election because the protocols were not being followed properly. There were documented reports of voter intimidation, violence, disenfranchisement of delegated voters at the primary elections. However, to the surprise of not only the Ambode Camp, the public was also taken aback by the elections which were later declared to have been won by Jide Sanwoolu ìn a strange turnaround. The margin of win was unprecedented with Sanwoolu clearing almost all available votes.
The surprises would not end just at that. Ambode would later appear to have publicly conceded defeat to Sanwoolu in a media release when his supporters thought that his revolt had just started. Unfortunately, that was the end of the brief struggle.
The implication of these developments not in favour of Ambode is that a godfather can just decide to block a candidate as powerful as an incumbent governor from contesting and same would be made law. This is as well a vivid indication that godfatherism has begun rearing it’s ugly head in our democracy once again, clawing from the shadows of the Obasanjo days. We recall when this same Tinubu effect was brought down heavily on the head of former APC chairman, Chief John Odigie Oyegun: Oyegun had to bow out of the exalted seat for another choice candidate, Adams Oshiomole.
And whether we like it or not, Tinubu’s weight must have measured greatly in the lonesome contest of President Buhari in the presidential ticket selection of the APC. With the whole apparatus of the country being controlled by an APC majority, we may just have handed the entire direction of the 2019 elections over to one powerful man – Tinubu, who stops at nothing to pull every necessary strings in his favour.