Lagos political icon and National Leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has insisted his backing of Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the Lagos state governorship ticket of the party “remains unchanged”.
According to the Nation, Tinubu’s media adviser, Tunde Rahman made this known last night in a statement on Tinubu’s meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari in Abuja.
He said, “Asiwaju Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande were invited by President Buhari and it turned out to be a good and productive meeting. Asiwaju was quite pleased to have conferred with the President who has always shown himself to be a committed party member and a true democrat.
“Just like the President, he is looking forward to a good and credible primary that is peaceful and free of rancor. As previously stated, Asiwaju plans to vote in this primary and his position regarding the relative merits of the candidates remains unchanged.”
Incumbent Akinwunmi Ambode will slug it out with popular rival, Babajide Sanwo-Olu in a much anticipated primary election Tuesday.
Asiwaju said of his choice in a statement on Monday: “I am encouraged by the presence of a candidate in this primary, who has served the state in senior positions in my administration, the Fashola administration and even in the current one. While possessing a wealth of experience and exposure, he is a young man endowed with superlative vision and commitment.
“Most importantly, he understands the importance of the blueprint for development. He esteems it as a reliable and well-conceived vehicle for the future development of the state. He also knows the value of reaching out and working with others in order to maximise development and provide people the best leadership possible. With people like him at the helm, the state will write the proper history for itself.”
Ambode on Sunday while addressing a press conference had alleged that Sanwo-Olu was once arrested for spending fake dollars at a nightclub in the United States.
The governor further said his opponent is unfit for the job.
But in a swift reaction, Tinubu slammed Ambode for poor performance as governor saying saying Lagos has experienced deviations from “enlightened governance” in recent times.
Mode of the “Open Direct Primary” Election
From the 377 wards across 20 local governments, members of the APC will vote.
Every card-carrying member of the party is eligible.
There will be no ballot box and ballot paper. Party members will queue behind the posters of their preferred aspirant.
The mode of the primary is “open direct primary”, which involves open and physical counting of members on queue behind the posters of their chosen aspirants.
They will be accredited by 9a.m. Election will take place by 12 noon. Members will show their APC Identification Card. No white slip will be accepted, Chairman Tunde Balogun said yesterday.
Posters of the two aspirants will be held by their agents. After accreditation, party members will queue behind them.
“They will be counted on the queue and recorded. After that, voting ends. The agents of aspirants will sign. Then, the results will be taken to the local governments, the final collation will be done at the state level,” Balogun told The Nation in an interview.
The chairman urged members to troop out to participate in the exercise.
He said the shadow poll will be very transparent and peaceful across the wards, urging members to maintain decorum as they participate in the exercise.”
 has insisted his backing of Babajide Sanwo-Olu for the Lagos state governorship ticket of the party “remains unchanged”.){kind=link}