Segun Atanda/
Less than 24 hours after condemning the process of the All Progressives Congress’ (APC) governorship primary in Lagos and postponing the election indefinitely, the Chairman of the National Working Committee, Mr Clement Ebri, has eaten his words and declared a winner today.
Apparently bowing to pressure after receiving the National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, at Protea Hotel, where members of the panel lodged, Ebri declared Tinubu’s preferred candidate, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the election with 970, 851 votes against Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s 72, 901 votes.
Before Ebri’s televised announcement, the APC Chairman in Lagos, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, had earlier in the day announced that Sanwo-Olu had been accepted as the winner by the NWC, as he displayed the result sheet signed by Ebri.
Balogun thanked party members for coming out en masse to participate in the primary, saying that their participation reflected their belief in democracy.
He said, “I am aware that conflicting information has been circulating on our primary election, but I must tell you that the election was held and it was free and fair.
“It would be very painful to disenfranchise the over 1.5 million members who voted across the 245 wards in the state.
“At the end of the exercise, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu polled 970, 851 votes and Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode scored 72, 901 votes. With this, Mr Babajide is declared the winner.
“I thank party members for participating in the election and their dedication to democracy.”
In his acceptance speech early today, Sanwo-Olu thanked Ambode for giving him a good fight.
He also thanked Lagosians and the APC National Leader, Tinubu, “who has provided the platform for so many of us that looked up to him”.
Sanwo-Olu extended his thanks to the party’s National Chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomole.
Ebri had told reporters after the primary yesterday that the exercise was unauthorised and not in line with guidelines.
He said: “We want a victory that will be credible and will be in line with the guidelines and rules. We are now ready to do the ground running. In the next few minutes, I will contact the national office to inform them that we are now ready for the primary.
“The stage is set and the election will begin any time from now. We will let you know as soon as officials come to get materials.”
Ebri further explained during the press briefing at Alausa, Ikeja, that the earlier exercise was cancelled because the preparatory process for the election had just been concluded.
He said, “The preparatory process had just been concluded for the primaries. The primary is to begin anytime soon.
“There was no election. Election materials are being sorted. The stage is set and election begins anytime from now. We have guidelines and we will stick to the guidelines.
“Because of the political tension in the state, we decided to be very careful, very methodical. As party men, peace is more important to us than victory.
“We want a kind of victory that will be celebrated by both parties.
“We want an election that will be credible and in line with the guidelines, the extant rules and the laws of the country.
“And that is what we have done. We are ready to go to the field and execute this. So that at the end of the day, we will not be accused of partisanship. Lagos is very important to us and it is a flagship of the APC.”
He added that the panel was ready to give the most credible primary to the state and would contact the national headquarters for information on the preparatory process.
His words: “It takes a lot of work for the main show to take place. We are ready to give the state the most credible election.
“We will contact the national headquarters on the timing for the release of materials. It is not our fault that this exercise took this long.”
Ebri said the panel was waiting for the party chairman to provide certain information that would enable them to post people to the wards.
“We have two aspirants and we need to be fair to both parties. The information we demanded came in about an hour ago. And we had to struggle this period to balance the equation.
“Now that we are ready, we will contact the national headquarters on the situation and the right time will be announced,” Ebri said.
He added that five persons from the local organising committee and four for each ward would be posted.
“They will all go out to ensure the primary is conducted. We all understand the terrain in the state especially as it concerns the traffic situation. So, the materials are available now and ready for deployment.
“The national secretariat advised us to use ballot papers and we came into Lagos with thousands of them. But during the stakeholders meeting, it became obvious that the state chapter of the party was not ready for such primary.
“They claimed that there was time to educate the members and others. And based on the submission made at the stakeholders meeting on Monday, some changes were made,” he said.
According to Ebri, the panel was advised to conduct the open ballot in a manner that would be objective to all parties.
After all said and done, Ebri held a press conference today and declared Sanwo-Olu as the winner of the primary that he had earlier discredited.