The electoral victory of the Labour Party (LP) and its presidential candidate, Peter Obi in the Presidential and National Assembly election in Lagos State has unsettled the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) ahead of March 11 poll.
Thank you for reading this post, don't forget to subscribe!Peter Obi, defeated APC candidate, Bola Tinubu in the Saturday presidential poll in Lagos with a total of 582,130 votes while APC, polled 571, 575 votes. Obi won 9 out of 20 Local governments in the state.
However, the development has led to unease among APC ranks, who viewed the defeat as a big threat to the second bid of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu in the state.
What some originally thought could be a walkover for the APC due to years of dominance may become one of their biggest battles since its formation in 2013.
While some are optimistic about the achievements of the governor to give victory at the end of the day. Sanwo-Olu faces a threat of upset from a much younger Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour (GRV) whose popularity surged after the recent impressive performance of the LP.
It would be recalled that it was the second time in Nigeria’s history that a victorious presidential flagbearer suffered a home defeat after former President Olusegun Obasanjo in 1999.
Obi triumph in Lagos caused panic within the APC camp which has stepped up meetings, consultations, and electioneering across the state.
As part of strategies to gain confidence, the Sanwo Olu camp has set machinery in motion to hold a dinner and interactive session with Igbo Captains of Industries aimed to placate and woo Igbo residents’ votes on Saturday’s election.
According to a reliable source, at the APC 2023 election campaign committee, Sanwo-Olu and APC camp have gone back to the drawing board to re-strategise for positive results in the guber poll.
It was gathered that the members of the state executive council and chieftains of the party had been directed to embark on a door to door to canvassing of votes from residents and aggrieved parties in order to ensure that APC is not disgraced again in the coming Governorship election.
The invitation card said to be at the instance of the Governor’s campaign camp was signed by Air Peace Airline Chairman, Mr Allen Onyema and Chairman of Chisco Group Of Companies, Dr Chidi Anyaegbu.
Another of the last-minute pushes was the government’s alleged directive to civil servants to post campaign messages in support of Sanwo-Olu’s reelection.
Though, the Publicity Secretary of APC in, Lagos, Oladejo, when contacted neither confirm nor deny the move by the party to woo stakeholders, simply said, “We’re doing everything within our power legally and politically to ensure that Governor Sanwo-Olu secures a second term.
“We will rather keep our strategies close to our chest.”
In addition to this, the APC and governors’ campaign team has resorted to massive media campaign advertisements on television, radio, print and social media to garner support from the electorate.
In a chat with daily post on Sunday, Lagos APC Publicity Secretary, Seye Oladejo stated that the opposition won’t emerge victorious this weekend.
“I can say we are confident, more than ever, as we go into this election”, the spokesperson boasted.
“You mentioned the LP wave; the wave is a fluke… a flash in the pan. Lagosians are knowledgeable people who know Governor Sanwo-Olu has done well and will re-elect him.
“Yes, there was low voter turnout the last time. It was because many were aggrieved about the naira redesign which the Supreme Court has overruled.
“People were also not happy about the scarcity of petrol, those issues brought about anger. Again, some voters were against the Muslim-Muslim ticket.
“Now without these issues in the governorship election, we are looking at victory. It makes a lot of sense to retain Lagos to be with the centre.
“If not for the Lagos-FG partnership, the rail line, the ceding of State House in Marina (built by the colonial government in 1882) to Lagos, and others would not be possible.
“We will win this election and win convincingly, you can quote me on that,” said Oladejo, ex-Commissioner of Special Duties and Intergovernmental Relations.
