By Sunday Ani
A legal advocacy group, the League of Patriotic Lawyers, has condemned a viral social media publication purporting to reveal reasons the former Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode was denied a second term in office. The group described the post as cheap blackmail and wholly untrue.
Speaking during a press conference in Lagos, the Chairman of the League, Abubakar Yesufu, who is also a member of the Friends of Akinwunmi Ambode (FAA), said the publication was not authorised by Ambode or any group affiliated with him.
“The said publication is the handiwork of desperate politicians, who have become uneasy following renewed speculations around Ambode’s possible return to the Lagos political scene.
“Disgruntled and power-seeking elements were behind the campaign, which aims to reopen old wounds and sow discord within the All Progressives Congress (APC),” he stated.
He suggested the attackers were unnerved by the reported reconciliation between Ambode and President Bola Tinubu, the APC national leader and Nigeria’s current president.
“These individuals are terrified that the gap between Tinubu and Ambode has been closed, and their antics from past political battles have come to light. They are jobless, bitter and clinging to irrelevance,” Yesufu noted.
He added that President Tinubu is too experienced and politically mature to fall for attempts to incite division among his political protégés. “He has seen through the hypocrisy and shameless desperation of these elements,” the group noted.
Reiterating Ambode’s loyalty, he stressed that the former governor remains committed to the vision of a greater Lagos and a stronger Nigeria, aligning himself with Tinubu’s national reforms agenda.
He also called on Lagosians and Nigerians at large to be patient with the ongoing economic and governance reforms under the Tinubu administration.
“Just like childbirth, true reform is a process, painful, enduring, but ultimately rewarding. No enduring reform comes easy, ” he added.