All Progressives Congress, APC presidential candidate, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has denied denying Akinwunmi Ambode, a former Governor of Lagos, a second term saying that the former governor failed in his second term bid because he lost the party primaries.
Affirming that Babajide Sanwo-Olu soundly defeated Ambode in the 2018 primaries governorship primaries, the APC presidential candidate affirmed that the defeat was the primary reason the third governor of the state in the Fourth Republic lost his bid for a second term.
Newsmen report that Ambode is the only governor of the state since the Fourth Republic to have lost a second term bid.
Tinubu spoke through Dele Alake, Director of Media and Communications of the Campaign Council of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Presidential Campaign.
He spoke in a Twitter Space hosted by Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu (ABAT) Media Centre, on Sunday.
Alake while responding to a question said that Ambode was not denied the opportunity of a second term but that he lost the primary to Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
He said, “In a political competition, there must be supporters here and there. Yes, Fashola’s successor (Ambode) came into office, he was supported by Asiwaju as Asiwaju supported Fashola. But let me use this opportunity to clear one point, a misconception that Ambode wasn’t given a second term. It is not true.
“The governorship mandate is not for Asiwaju to give or take. It is for the people of Lagos State to give or to take or withdraw. Ambode was in office, for whatever reason he might have committed, of course he did commit gaps and faux pas but he also went through election. Maybe people have forgotten or they have selective amnesia, Ambode went through the political process and lost.
“Asiwaju did not take the ticket from him. He contested the primaries with Babajide Sanwo-Olu and lost. The primary was conducted in the open all over the state and the media covered it and it was shown everywhere. Why do people always succumb to such partisanship occasioned by blind prejudices.
“Yes it was Asiwaju’s right to support any candidate or aspirant, it is a natural phenomenon.”
Noting that Sanwo-Olu emerged the same way Ambode was elected in 2014 among the array of other aspirants who are equally qualified.
“The current Deputy Governor contested and I remember more than 12 others contested with him. Ambode emerged the winner. So will all the others that lost now accuse Asiwaju of not giving them the ticket.
“Now fast forward to 2018, it was direct primary that was done in all the words and communities, designated centres and the man lost and Sanwo-Olu won. So will it be Asiwaju’s fault that he supported Sanwo-Olu or whatever. That’s the game of politics. So Ambode went through the political process. He was not denied. If he had been denied the opportunity to take part in the process, we could have said, ‘okay, he was denied,” Alake said in explaining on behalf of Tinubu why Ambode lost his second term bid.
