The All Progressives Congress’ National Leader, Bola Tinubu’s plots to rig the Lagos State governorship primary in favour of his stooge, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has been uncovered as Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is fighting a battle of his life to emerge the candidate of the party against the wish of Tinubu.
On Tuesday morning, a day after the celebration of Independence Day, Tinubu the so-called political juggernaut in Lagos and his loyalists were seen making efforts to disseminate fake results online to indicate that Sanwo-Olu, his protégé, was leading Ambode in an election that had not kicked off.
Having rigged the Ekiti governorship election and more recently the Osun State poll with his relative, now the governor-elect, Gboyega Oyetola, Tinubu is now using intimidation, electoral fraud and violence, to impose Sanwo-Olu on Lagosians, reports have revealed.
The PDP and its governorship candidate had vowed to challenge the election results in the court, as Ademola Adeleke was coasting home to victory when the Independent National Electoral Commission suddenly declared that the election was inconclusive, following which Oyetola won the run-off.
Debunking the fake results being spread around by the Tinubu camp to fraudulently sway victory in the way of Sanwo-Olu, the Chairman of the Lagos State Governorship Electoral Panel, Clement Ebri, disclosed that contrary to claims of people loyal to Tinubu, accreditation and voting at the APC governorship primary had yet to begin at the various centres designated for the exercise.
“Distribution of electoral materials to commence by 1pm today (Tuesday), followed by accreditation and voting which will be conducted by the APC NWC appointed officials, in order to ensure a free, fair and credible primary.
“Lagosians, particularly members of the APC are hereby urged to disregard reports and footages of ongoing elections in some wards in the state, as no state party official is empowered to accredit or conduct the Lagos gubernatorial primary,” a statement by Ebri said.
It added that the panel registered members of the party, with their membership slip were entitled to participate and “are, therefore, urged to peacefully proceed to their various wards for accreditation and voting.”
Ebri, who spoke at a news conference, said even the materials for the primaries had yet to be distributed, describing as fake the results making the rounds.
According to him, the panel put in place by the National Working Committee of the party had on Monday said the primary would be by open-secret balloting.
However, the scenario from the results being circulated showed that Option A4 was adopted, with voters queuing behind the photographs of their preferred candidates.
In a recent newspaper interview, the former Deputy National Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Chief Bode George, had accused Tinubu and other APC leaders as “master riggers”.
“APC leaders are master riggers. They have been manipulating elections in Lagos State over the years. They not only manipulate, but openly rig elections in Lagos State. But let APC be told that 2019 general election will be different in the state. Lagosians are now wiser and tired of APC.
“There is nothing special about Tinubu. So nobody should try to create a myth around him, or associate any political prowess to him. The political end of APC not only in Lagos State but also in Nigeria is imminent. The era of deception is over. The game is up for Tinubu and his clan of political jobbers in Lagos State,” George had stated.
Similarly, in 2010, Deji Kosoko, a former House of Representatives lawmaker had accused Tinubu of being a “master rigger”,
“I personally spoke to Asiwaju (Bola Tinubu) on their game plan. We know their weakness, we know their game, they are master riggers and we know how to stop them.”
Recently, the APC National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, made a Freudian slip when he said: “For a democracy to flourish, only people who can accept the pain of rigging – sorry, defeat – should participate in an election.” He had since been criticised for the statement with many claiming he knew the Osun poll was rigged.
Many have accused Tinubu of running Lagos State as a personal estate and now they said he had successfully added Osun State to his acquisitions.
Observers are keenly watching how the APC’s Machiavellian antics will play out as Ambode looks Tinubu in the eye
