By Oludare Mayowa
For a number of people, it’s inconceivable that any other party could challenge Bola Tinubu, the candidate of the ruling All Progressive Congress (APC), in Lagos State.
The explanation for this is that Tinubu has consistently been the candidate to beat in elections since the start of the fourth republic and has maintained this position prior to the outcome of the current election.
Supporters of Tinubu have consistently claimed that Lagos was a jungle before Tinubu became governor in 1999 and that since then, he has transformed the city into an eldorado.
However, with the result of the presidential election in Lagos last Saturday, the Labour Party put a big dot on the larger-than-life status of the ruling party candidate in the state, shaking his stronghold in Lagos, which had not been shaken by any group or political party before.
At the end of the collation, the candidate of the Labour Party, Obi scored the highest number of votes to defeat his closest rival and the political juggernaut, Tinubu to the second position in Lagos.
After the results from all 20 LGAs in the state were tallied, Obi received 582,354 votes, while Tinubu received 572,606.
The Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) Atiku Abubakar received 75,750 votes, while the New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP) Rabiu Kwankwaso and the Social Democratic Party’s (SDP) Adewole Adebayo received 8,442 and 772 votes, respectively.
The total number of votes cast was 1,335,729, with 6,942,885 registered voters, 1,347,152 accredited voters, 1,271,451 valid votes, 64,278 rejected votes, and 6,942,885 registered voters. Agege, Apapa, Badagry, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ifako-jaiye, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, and Surulere were among the places where Tinubu won.
The outcome of the Lagos election has thrown supporters of Tinubu into some sort of confusion, with APC National Youth Leader, Dayo Israel describing some Tinubu supporters in Lagos as gluttons, waiting to be mobilized before they can vote.
“Our people sometimes can be Alatenuje. Most people refuse to come out because of mobilisation. Some expect others have come out so they don’t need to.
“Progressives in Lagos, wake up, we have the numbers, get out the vote and stop waiting for mobilisation. E jade E fibo soro,” Israel wrote on his Twitter handle, which he later deleted.
“APC didn’t fail in Lagos. We battled a religious sect and tribal warlords. We will analyse after poll. Pls let’s focus,” DeeAiyekooto wrote on Twitter.
Oluwole Lewis, a supporter of Tinubu in Lagos blamed the situation on the poor mobilization by those who were saddled with the responsibility by the APC.
According to him, “It’s time for Uncle Jide (Lagos Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu) to get advice from Wike (Rivers Gov Nyesom Wike). We need to remind some people of where they are. Also, handle mobilization directly; Most of the ward leaders are pocketing the money,”
However, some people claimed that Tinubu’s defeat in Lagos was a byproduct of the #endsars protest, which led to the military killing some young people on October 20, 2020.
Although the authority denied that anyone was killed, a number of unbiased sources offered proof that an innocent protester in the state had been attacked.
The large Christian community in the state became enraged with the APC candidate over Tinubu’s decision to run on a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
According to the report, many churches in the state encouraged their members to support the Labour Party candidate, who was seen as a viable alternative to the APC candidate.
…Mayowa, a respected journalist is the publisher of Global Financial Digest
