Ambode lost his return ticket on the platform of the APC to Sanwo-Olu, and efforts have been made to unite both parties.
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode
In continuation of his fence-mending mission, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State has met and reconciled with his two rivals in the build-up to the gubernatorial primary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) – Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat.
Daily Trust gathered that the governor and his rivals met at the meeting of the Governor Advisory Council (GAC) – a powerful caucus within the Lagos State Chapter of the APC – which was held at the State House, Marina, Lagos on Tuesday.
Ambode lost his return ticket on the platform of the APC to Sanwo-Olu, a former commissioner and immediate past managing director of the Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSDPC), in a bitter gubernatorial primary.
Sanwo-Olu’s victory had the endorsement of APC’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and prominent party leaders, many of whom are members of GAC.
Hamzat, also a three-term commissioner in the state, had also bought the form and declared interest in participating in the governorship primary but had to drop the ambition after some negotiations to support Sanwo-Olu at the eve of the primary.
He had been tipped as the possible deputy governorship candidate to Sanwo-Olu.
Though details of what was discussed at the meeting on Tuesday have not been disclosed, sources said it was not far from the trouble-shooting efforts that some chieftains of the party had embarked on as tensions mounted on a possible backlash of the rancorous primary on the party’s chances ahead of the general elections.