Efforts at saving the re-election bid of Lagos State governor, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode seemed to have gained traction with the decision of governors elected on the platform of All Progressives Congress, APC, to storm Osun State with the aim of begging the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The development which came on the heels of the governor’s visit to President Muhammadu Buhari last Thursday was found by Saturday Vanguard to be one of the outcomes of Ambode’s visit to Abuja.
The President was said to be sympathetic to the embattled governor on the grounds that he was not being accused of non-performance, but failure to carry party members along.
The governor had while in Abuja, visited the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole, hoping that he would prevail on Tinubu to have a change of heart.
An impeccable source told Saturday Vanguard that APC governors had planned having a meeting with Tinubu but were unlucky.
Hence the resolve to surprise him in Osun, where he had gone to support the party’s governorship candidate, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola in today’s election.
The source said plans had been concluded last Thursday on chattering an aircraft for the mission.
While it would appear as if the governors had come to show solidarity to their party, the source informed Saturday Vanguard that Osun was considered an appropriate place to see Tinubu, who they suspected may avoid them if he had foreknowledge of the visit.
According to the source:”The governors wanted to see Tinubu as a group in Abuja but they were not lucky. That necessitated their decision to use Osun as an avenue to beg for one of their own. They believe that Osogbo will be a meeting point since Tinubu would be in the town to support our party. They just want to take him by surprise because he may avoid them if he knew they were coming.
“Buhari was even sympathetic to the governor because he is not being accused of non-performance but failure to carry people along. It was not the boisterous Ambode that we saw in Abuja at the places he visited. He looked pitiful and sober at the Villa and other places he visited. I can tell you that Tinubu is likely to soft-pedal given the high profile people, who had intervened but getting his supporters in Lagos to agree would be difficult. Tinubu is not even Ambode’s problem. He needs the forgiveness of all the people he offended.”
When Saturday Vanguard contacted a member of the governor’s camp for an update, he said: “God is in control. My principal is loyal to Tinubu and wants to make up.”
©Vanguard
