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“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love has always won. There have been tyrants and murderers and for a time they seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall… think of it, always.”
–Mahatma Gandhi
Daniel Kanu
“You never plan what you meet on the way”. This was the philosophical words of the immediate past Lagos State governor, Akinwumi Ambode at his last official engagement in Epe, his home town, while inaugurating the 400-seater Lagos theatre on Friday, May 24, this year, four days to the expiration of his tenure from Alausa, the Lagos seat of power.
Unknown to Ambode who turned things around, conceivably for good, things now seem to be turning around against him as his ordeals have of late dropped in torrents.
At both state and national levels of the party, it is evident that he has perhaps become an orphan of sorts, abandoned by colleagues and even perceived loyal former aides.
During the week, the Lagos State House of Assembly inaugurated a committee to probe the administration of the embattled former governor.
As part of its mandate, the Honorable Fatai Mojeed-led committee has been mandated to probe the purchase of 820 buses, which had been scheduled for public transport in the state, alleging that it was without budgetary approval.
The committee was set up following a motion moved by Hon. Gholahan Yishawu (Eti-Osa II) during the plenary last Tuesday.
Yishawu had recalled that Ambode had briefed the state 8th Assembly about his intention to establish a bus reform programme, which would require the purchase of 5,000 high-capacity buses in the Centre of Excellence.
He disclosed that whereas there was no appropriation and legislative approval for the purchase of the buses, Ambode went ahead to procure the 820 buses at the cost of N45 billion.
The purpose of the inquiry, according to the Lagos Assembly, is to investigate the cost of the purchase of the buses and other issues surrounding every transaction that had to do with the procurement to prevent a re-occurrence.
Added to his travails, Ambode is also under investigation by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC). In penultimate Tuesday, August 20, his Epe home, was reportedly raided by the anti-graft agency in what the body explained as its routine of being in line with schedule of duties.
This dimension of the Ambode’s trouble began to take shape, earlier in the month, when Justice Chuka Obiozor of the Federal High Court, sitting in Ikoyi, Lagos, ordered the freezing of the sum of N9.9 billion belonging to the Lagos State government and domiciled in three new generation banks. The judge gave the order following an ex-parte application by the EFCC.
The Commission had prayed the court to freeze the accounts pending the conclusion of investigation and possible prosecution of Adewale Adesanya, a worker in the office of the Chief of Staff to Ambode, while he was in office. An affidavit by the EFCC had claimed “a huge inflow of N9,927,714,443.29” from the state accounts into the bank account opened on September 17, 2018, and operated by Adesanya.
But Ambode in a swift reaction in a statement released on his behalf by his media aide, Habib Aruna, denied that none of his accounts contained N9.9 billion let alone being frozen by the EFCC.
However, there are insinuations that Ambode had stepped on big toes that have now vowed to consume him, particularly by reducing his political esteem to a mere common denominator.
It is strongly believed in some quarters that the National leader of APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu was yet to forgive him following a petition, in August last year, to the EFCC, on Alpa Beta, a consultancy owned by him, which is at the centre of a N100 billion tax evasion, and money laundering allegations.
Although the petition was written by Dapo Apara, a former Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of the company who alleged that Alpha Beta had “become an avenue for official corruption of government officials,” Ambode was suspected to be the mastermind, while using Apara as the face of the allegation.
There are also perceptions, rightly or wrongly, that Ambode is arrogant and looked down on most political actors, including the royal fathers that could change the probability of political action in the state while ther are others who say his case is a good example of a victim of the conspiracy theory.
Social commentator and publicist, Kayode Ogundamisi, giving an insight into the travails of Ambode, contended that the former governor is his own Achilles heel, rather than the erroneous accusing finger being pointed on his godfather.
He said that Ambode broke the first commandment, “thou shall not be unreachable”.
According to Ogundamisi: “Yoruba and especially Lagosians do not like governors or political appointees who are perceived as ‘arrogant’ or cannot be reached if you like tar the whole of Lagos roads with gold, they want to be able to ‘visit’ and expect TP on the way home.
“Party leaders and members expect you to attend meetings at intervals, they don’t want you forgetting them during ‘Ileya’ ‘Christmas’ or any festive period, the street talk is that Ambode was not only unreachable to party members and leaders, he lived in his own world, his appointees are also detached, party members, can’t even remember the name of commissioners in Ambode’s cabinet. Ambode ran a one-man show.
“The irony is Ambode’s problem isn’t his godfather, Ahmed Tinubu, Akinwunmi Ambode’s problem is Akinwunmi Ambode. Power overwhelmed the governor, he completely detached himself from the strong political party structure, a party that has been in power in Lagos since 1999 is not the kind of party you would ride on and ignore.
“You may ignore the man who brought you from obscurity, but to survive, you need to be an exceptional performer and keep your party structure happy.
“Ambode did not read the handover notes of Governor Babatunde Fashola, if he had, he would not be facing the political battle of his life, the people stood with Fashola even when the body language of his godfather was hostile, even the mighty Tinubu knew moving against Fashola would have been a political suicide. Ambode is a product of the ‘baba sope’ collegiate contradiction and a victim of the same”.
Akinwunmi Ambode was born on June 14, 1963 in Epe, Lagos, into the family of Festus Akinwale Ambode. After his secondary school education at Federal Government College, Warri, Delta State, he obtained a BSc and master’s degree in accounting from theUniversity of Lagos and later qualified as a Chartered Accountant. He had served for 27 years in Lagos public service before he got elected as governor in 2015 on the platform of the APC. He served for only a single term.
