• PDP plans strategies to win Lagos
AT least five commissioners in the Lagos State cabinet and all three senators from the state are under consideration to succeed Governor Babatunde Fashola in the gubernatorial election due about a year from now.
The eight are among 19 jostling for the ticket of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, which is working out permutations to stop the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, from making any head-way in the election.
The PDP, which is currently parading six contenders in the emerging contest, is being boosted by the recent acquittal of its patron, Chief Olabode George and the swell of support arising from its strong showing in the last local council elections to outsmart the APC in the governorship of the state.
However, of the 19 believed to be interested in the ticket of the APC, only Senator Ganiyu Solomon has openly come out to indicate interest in the position.
All others are believed to be strategically positioning themselves and courting the support of the party leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and also, the incumbent governor, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, SAN.
The possible interest of the only female among the 19 in the fold of the APC, Senator Remi Tinubu, has remained a matter of hushed discussions despite the open denial of the senator of any interest in the job vacated by her husband nearly seven years ago.
There is also the possibility of a dark horse picking the ticket as Fashola did in 2007.
The others believed to be interested in the job are:
Mr. Ayo Ariyo Gbeleyi, Commissioner for Finance.
Mr. Olasupo Shasore, former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice.
Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, former Commissioner for Finance.
Dr. Femi Hamzat, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure.
Dr. Leke Pitan, the former Commissioner for Health and later Education.
Mr. Akinwunmi Dapo Ambode, former Permanent Secretary and Accountant General.
Mr. Adeola Ipaye, Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
Waheed Enitan Oshodi, Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development.
Tunde Faula, Chairman of the state Internal Revenue Service, LIRS.
Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon, serving senator (Lagos West)
Rt. Hon. Adeyemi Ikuforiji, Speaker House of Assembly.
Senator Gbenga Ashafa, serving senator (Lagos East)
Senator Remi Tinubu, serving senator (Lagos Central)
Dr. Muiz Banire
Hakeem Alibo
Hakeem Muri Okunola
Mr. Gbolahan Lawal
Mr. Kayode Opeifa
Mr. Femi Pedro
Those considered to be angling for the post on the plank of the PDP include:
Sen. Musiliu Obanikoro
Segun Ogundimu
Ade Dosunmu
Owolabi Salis
Qudus Folami
Babatunde Gbadamosi
Mr. Jimi Agbaje, who contested against Fashola in 2007 on the platform of the Democratic Peoples Alliance, DPA, is also known to be revving up machinery for another contest. Agbaje is, however, yet to unveil the platform he would be using for the contest though sources say he is being wooed by both PDP and APC.
APC leaders search for acceptable candidate
To fence off a stiff challenge expected from the PDP, Vanguard gathered that leaders of the APC are closing ranks to pick an acceptable and credible candidate.
And to ensure a rancour-free nomination process unlike what happened in 2007, sources said the APC hierarchy led by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, recently, consulted Fashola to list some nominees as his likely successor.
The governor was said to have tipped five persons namely, Mr. Ayo Ariyo Gbeleyi, the Commissioner for Finance, Mr. Olasupo Shasore, former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in his first term; Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, immediate past Commissioner for Finance, who left to take up an appointment with First Bank of Nigeria Plc last July; Dr Femi Hamzat, Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure; and current Commissioner for Sports and Youth Development, Waheed Enitan Oshodi.
Apart from the five, other aspirants considered to enjoy favourable rating among APC leaders include Dr Leke Pitan, former Commissioner for Health and later Education during Tinubu’s tenure. Pitan is a Christian and from Epe, Lagos East. There is also Mr. Akinwunmi Dapo Ambode, former Permanent Secretary, State Treasury Office and Accountant General of the state who resigned in 2012 purportedly because of his governorship ambition.
Speaking on the issues, a leader of the party, said the leadership will take into consideration the desire of stakeholders for a person who doubles as a technocrat and a politician, as a candidate.
In anticipation of the moves of the PDP, which might want to play the religious card, he said the party may pick a Christian as its standard bearer and zone the ticket to Lagos East. The tilt towards Lagos East follows agitations that the area last produced a governor in 1992 in the person of Sir Michael Otedola.
Since the creation of Lagos in 1967, the state has witnessed seven governorship elections – 1979, 1983, 1991, 1999, 2003, 2007, and 2011.
The last and only time a Christian was elected as governor was in 1991. And the last time Lagos East produced the governor was in 1991 through Michael Otedola, who incidentally is a Christian from Epe.
The other governors, Alhaji Lateef Jakande hailed from Lagos West; Tinubu (Lagos West) and Fashola is from Lagos Central.
APC ‘ll produce another performer — Ajomale
Lagos APC Interim Chairman, Henry Ajomale, said last week that the party will choose a performer to succeed Fashola.
Asked the position of the party on the controversies trailing the jostling, he said: “When we get there, we will cross the river. But now, there is still a lot of work to do. The same way we picked Fashola is the same way we will pick the next governor of the state who again will perform better than Fashola himself. We have them in stock.
“Fashola himself will wish that anybody the party will pick will perform better than him because nobody knew that he will do well when we were looking for somebody who will perform better than Asiwaju and Fashola has done that. Anybody coming will now see that the shoe is so big and for someone to climb into it, he must be able to work harder. The reward for hard work is more work. We will always find someone young, energetic and who can take Lagos to the highest point. Fashola will be happy to have somebody like that succeed him.”
PDP plans to sink differences
To snatch Lagos from APC, Vanguard gathered feuding factional leaders of the PDP are making efforts to sink their differences. Insiders regard the recent clean bill of health given Chief Olabode George by the Supreme Court, which ruled that his conviction for graft is null and void as a boost for the party ahead 2015.
Obanikoro told journalists last week that the PDP will surprise APC at the polls in 2015. Asked how his party would accomplish that given the apparent disunity in its rank, the 2007 PDP governorship candidate and former envoy to Ghana said the APC is also not united.
“They are not united either. What you are seeing in their party as unity is peace of the graveyard. An honest member of their party will tell you all is not well in that party either. All what you see them do is make-believe. With time, you will also come to this conclusion. They will turn apart. In a system where a single person determines the councilor, the council Chairman as well as members of the national and state assemblies including the governor, you should know that the alleged peace in their party is that of the graveyard.
Did you think the market women and men in the state are happy that the same man anointed his daughter to become leader of market women and men in the state? People like us cannot just stand by and allow all these to go unchallenged…I want to let people know that we in Lagos PDP are serious about 2015 and we have what it takes to dismantle this oppressive, insensitive and elitist government in Lagos State,” he said.
Source: Vanguard
