APC zones 2015 governorship ticket to Lagos East
AFTER a brainstorming stakeholders’ meeting held by the state chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) yesterday, the 2015 gubernatorial ticket was zoned to Lagos East Senatorial District, which may have ended speculations as which of the three zones would produce Governor Babatunde Fashola’s successor.
The zone includes Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ikorodu and others. Names already fingered to be jostling for the plump job from the zone include Senator Gbenga Ashafa, Senator Ganiyu Solomon, who currently represents Lagos West in the Senate but was rumoured to have traced his roots to Lagos East.
Former Commissioner for Health, Dr. Leke Pitan, Commissioner for Works, Obafemi Hamzat, member, House of Representatives and Chairman, House Committee on Diaspora, Abike Dabiri-Erewa, Speaker, Lagos State House of Assembly, Adeyemi Ikuforiji, former aide to Tinubu, Tayo Ayinde and others.
A source, who was at yesterday’s meeting where former governor of the state and a national leader of the APC, Bola Tinubu, made the clarification, said: “Tinubu’s declaration doused a lot of bottled-up tension, which could have resulted into controversies.”
But the source did not comment on the agitation for a Christian governor in 2015. His words: “When we get to that bridge, we will cross it. What is important now is that the only zone yet to produce a governor in the state since 1999, Lagos East, has been cleared and definitely, the next governor will come from the district.” Tinubu, who governed the state on the platform of Alliance for Democracy (AD) before it transformed to Action Congress (AC) from 1999 to 2003, came through Lagos West, while his successor, Fashola, came from Lagos Central and he will complete his two terms of eight years in 2015. There is a move by stakeholders in Ikorodu area that Fashola’s successor emerges from the axis. Already, they have mandated a newly-inaugurated group of eminent persons to shop for a credible candidate for the post. At a meeting of Ikorodu Division Human Resource Development Board (IDHRDB), its chairman, Prof. Kunle Wahab, said the governorship has continued to elude the division.
His words: “When Lagos was created in 1967, our leaders gave us the impression that the manpower requirement of government and, indeed, the provision of welfare services and infrastructural development would be spread evenly across the five divisions in the state.
“The divisions are Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos and Epe. Today, we know better. Ikorodu is no longer recognised as a division. It is only part of Lagos East Senatorial District. As part of Lagos East Senatorial District, it is struggling with others in the district for a position believed to have been zoned to the district.
“For the avoidance of doubt, the district consists of Ikorodu, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Kosofe, and Somolu/Bariga.
“We have information that Epe is poised for action in the struggle to snatch the governorship position in 2015 from Ikorodu despite the fact that Ikorodu, at one time, precisely in 1992, conceded the governorship position to Epe by outvoting her own son, Prince Abiodun Ogunleye, in favour of Sir Michael Otedola.
“If one good turn deserves another and if we are to remain politically relevant, we must ask that the governorship race this time be conceded to Ikorodu Division. Epe should therefore refrain from the struggle.
“Lagos East is now beckoned at to search for and present an acceptable candidate who would be capable of raising the political and economic bars of Lagos State to a higher level.
“That is the task ahead of us all and it is a task that must be accomplished. Let us search for eminently qualified candidates for presentation to the powers-that-be in the politics of Lagos State.
“Thank God we have the numerical strength and the determination to occupy the Oval Office in Ikeja, come 2015.”
The chairman, Ikorodu Division Resource Development Group (IDRDG), Prof. Adebayo Ninalowo, said: “Despite a formidable repertoire of human resources, the governorship of the state continues to elude us. Now, there is a dire need for co-operation and unity of purpose in that regard, irrespective of political or ideological differences.”
Ninalowo alleged lack of equity in regard to political appointments and placements in the civil service structure in Lagos State to the detriment of indigenes of Ikorodu Division.
Meanwhile, a prominent indigene of the Badagry Division and governorship aspirant, Abayomi Babalola Sewanu Sutton, has congratulated the APC in the state for organising one of the most successful political congresses in the country.
The APC successfully elected about 9,802 party leaders across the 377 wards in the state in its first ever intra-party elections with over 500,000 members of the party participating in the exercise on Saturday, April 5, 2014.
Sutton, who lives in the United Kingdom (UK) but always in Nigeria for business and politics operates as a Chartered Project Manager, Chartered Surveyor, Chartered Environmentalist, Chartered Housing Manager and Chartered Builder as well as having over 22 years managerial experience, said the APC made him and several other Nigerians overseas proud. He added:
“The APC has proven that nothing is stronger than internal democracy. Without any bitterness, criticisms and rancour, the party members came together in all the Wards, 20 local councils and 37 Local Council Development Areas led the party through the needed foundations.
“For APC, this action coming from the party has shown that the 2015 elections of the party across Nigeria is just a walk through, especially as Nigerians are seeking that change that would make the country the place its citizens want to really live.
“Again, we all learnt that the congress was a success because an option A4 was adopted for the exercise. This same option A4, which National Leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, had always campaigned to be adopted by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), did the magic for APC.
“The fear which the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) has in the state has been heightened by the success of the exercises already.
“We are all hopeful that this is just the beginning of a fruitful march into 2015 and I can beat my chest that the APC has gained more than a score.
“I sincerely congratulate Asiwaju Tinubu, other party leaders and every single member of the Lagos APC and the entire members of the party in the country.”
Source: Guardian