29th September, 2018
By Kazeem Ugbodaga
The Akinwunmi Mandate Support Group, AMSG, on Saturday said Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is well capable of winning the governorship primaries of the All Progressives Congress, APC, rescheduled for Monday.
Director-General, AMSG, Hakeem Sulaimon at a news conference in Ikeja on Saturday, said Ambode was not worried about purported endorsement of Babajide Sanwo-Olu ahead of the primaries, by some groups, saying that the governor had huge supporters across the state.
He said supporters of Ambode held meetings across all 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas, LCDAs on Friday and that the support for the governor was overwhelming.
According to him, there was huge affirmation and support for Ambode across the state, as stakeholders expressed readiness to work for the emergence of Ambode as the governorship candidate of the APC and the governor of Lagos for a second term, saying that while the stakeholder’s meeting at ACME on Saturday (today) was postponed, AMSG would soon sing the song of victory.
Sulaimon said while AMSG was not against endorsement for Sanwo-Olu as it was part of democracy, he said some of the endorsement information being given out were not correct, adding that the Chairman of Conference 57, Omolola Essien was at its meeting on Friday to say that chairmen of the 57 councils in Lagos State would support Ambode’s second term aspiration.
“We also had 200 ward chairmen coming here to endorse Ambode. What constitutes the structure of the party is the ward chairmen, LGA chairmen and councillors. 237 councillors were here at our meeting and they have endorsed Ambode. They said they have realised that it was Ambode that they should support,” he said.
Sulaimon added that the Ndigbos and other Igbo support groups in the party were garnering support for Ambode, adding that the Community Development Associations, CDAs and Community Development Committees, CDCs had thrown their weight behind the governor.
“The CDAs and CDCs are the biggest grassroots groups, we have 3,900 CDAs in Lagos State and they have openly endorsed Ambode. Their representatives were at our meeting to again affirmed their support for Ambode. We are supposed to have a direct primary and this means that all wards will participate,” he said.
Sulaimon said Ambode had asked his supporters to remain calm and peaceful, as the will of the people would prevail at the end of the day when he would emerge the flagbearer of the APC for next year’s governorship election in Lagos.