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Tayo Olanipekun
Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State,in a clear acceptance of defeat,has congratulated his opponent and winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Speaking about the exercise which held across the state yesterday, he stressed that the progress of the state and interest of the party remained paramount over and above any personal interests.
In an address on Wednesday, Ambode said he remained in the vanguard of ensuring that Lagos make tremendous progress in his time as governor.
It will be recalled that the state primary elections were trailed by widespread controversy and allegations in some quarters.
Reports also had it that some of the governor’s supporters were denied their franchise in some wards and that the governor refused to vote in his ward.
The party was also said not to have put all necessary modalities in place for the conduct of the elections, leading the National Working Committee (NWC) of the party to declare the results of the election a nullity.
The state party chairman,however, had endorsed the results.
Meanwhile, the party’s National Chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, debunked the allegations of the NWC and corroborated the stand of Chairman, Lagos APC Governorship Primary Committee,Clement Ebri.
Ebiri had stated that after resolving some of the hiccups, the Lagos State APC Governorship Primary Committee collated the results from the 245 Wards in the 20 Local Government Area (LGAs), from the collating officers.
He gave the result of the exercise to be:72,901 for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and 970,851 for his opponent, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
The Chairman of the Lagos State APC Governorship Primary Committee,therefore, declared Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the winner.
According to Ambode, “Dear Lagosians, APC is a great party and the interests of our beloved state must always supercede that of any person or group. It is in this regard that I wholeheartedly congratulate the winner of the Lagos state APC Primaries, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu and urge all Lagosians to immediately support our party’s gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 elections and work for the success of our dear party.
“The progress of Lagos state is non-negotiable. It is a project that I have passionately worked for in the last three and half years as your governor and one to which I will forever be devoted.”
He added that, “As governor, I will do everything possible to ensure a smooth transition in the remaining period of this administration and ultimately to the new governor, come May 2019.
“I therefore appeal to all our party members that we remain one family and unite behind the candidate of the party, so that we can continue to move this state forward.
“I wish to use this opportunity to thank our national leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, and the leadership of our great party at state and national levels, all party faithfuls and all Lagosians.”
Ambode thankef all Lagosians for their faith and trust in him, and urged them not to relent in their support for the APC as the party prepares for the General Elections.
