The political rift between embattled Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode and his political godfather, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu has crossed the Rubicon, and the Tinubu camp is poised to fully activate an impeachment process against Ambode.
Its been gathered from impeccable sources close to Governor Ambode and Tinubu camps that the impeachment move would have been activated by now if the appointment of Kayode Egbetokun as Lagos State Commissioner for Police, had been upheld. Egbetokun was the Chief Security Officer to Tinubu when he was the Lagos State Governor.
A source said, “You know the full backing of the Police would be needed when the State House of Assembly begins the impeachment process to either protect the legislators or prevent hoodlums from disrupting the sessions. That is why the reversal of Egbetokun’s appointment as Lagos CP has punctured the impeachment momentum.”
Another source in the Tinubu camp said key members of his political dynasty such as a former Governor, a former Commissioner for Information in Lagos State, Dele Alake, a current senior cabinet official and the Managing Director of Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA), Bolaji Sanusi are playing active roles in instigating Tinubu to nail the political coffin of Ambode by giving the go-ahead for his impeachment.
When the Ambode camp was contacted, a source who spoke on condition of anonymity said the thinking in the Governor’s camp was that some elements were bent on rupturing whatever was left of the Ambode/Tinubu relationship by allegedly feeding the Tinubu camp with false information about the political activities of Ambode.
When asked why such personalities would be up in arm against Ambode, a source in Ambode’s camp alleged that Alake for instance who supervises the communication strategy of Babajide Sanwo-Olu, the APC gubernatorial candidate, felt if they could get Ambode out before the general election, they would have more money to run the campaign.
It was also alleged that Alake, who reportedly never hid his disdain for Ambode, wanted to score even with the Governor for sidelining his protege, Kehinde Bamgbetan as Lagos State Commissioner for Information, with negative impact on his (Alake’s) finances.
On his part, Bolaji was accused of instigating the story that Ambode’s men were meeting with Jimmy Agbaje’s team. It was further alleged that there is a no love lost relationship between Ambode and Sanusi.
A source alleged that there were infractions at LASAA and the Governor was reportedly livid about the development to the point that he wanted to relieve Sanusi of his duty but Asiwaju Tinubu reportedly intervened.
metronews learnt that Ambode’s trip to Abuja after Imohimi Edgal’s replacement as Lagos CP helped him to clarify the situation and got the Presidency to direct the new acting Inspector General of Police to rescind the decision.
Ambode was reportedly helped by the Ondo State Governor, Rotimi Akeredolu and other coded political enemies of Tinubu in the South West, who prevailed on the President. It was gathered that President Buhari has his sympathy for Ambode who he believed was badly treated by Tinubu despite performing well as Governor.
Though the President appealed to Tinubu to allow Ambode run for second term, reports said Tinubu, arguing that all politics is local, insisted that Ambode must not be given the chance because of the complaints against him by party leaders. It was learnt that the President felt disrespected and vowed to take his pound of flesh.
Calls made by metronews to both Alake and Sanusi to ascertain their roles in alleged impeachment plot were not returned. They also did not also respond to the text messages sent to them.
