An All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship aspirant in Lagos State, Mr Jide Sanwo-Olu, on Friday said he did not believe national leader of the party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, would ask him to back down on his ambition.
Ambode had declared his second-term bid on Monday, while Dr Obafemi Hamzat, a former Commissioner for Works and Infrastructure, had also obtained and submitted his nomination form for the race.
The state party chairman, Alhaji Tunde Balogun had told newsmen on Wednesday that the governorship ticket was open to all aspirants.
Sanwo-Olu told newsmen that he did not think Tinubu would ask him to step down for Ambode or any other aspirant, as the party leader is a firm believer in internal democracy.
“Your question is if my national leader (Tinubu) asks me to back down at the end of the day, what will I do?
“You see, I really don’t know which side of the divide you want us to stay.
“Sometimes, people will say this man (Tinubu) is imposing and he is not allowing aspirants to contest for positions.
“They say there is no internal democracy. But this man is a democrat who will allow democracy to rule and thrive.
“My aspiration has nothing to do with an individual; my national leader is my national leader and he is the leader of everybody.
“Therefore, his passion is about Nigeria and not Lagos alone. The movement we have started is participatory democracy, and so there is no basis for him (Tinubu) urging me to drop my ambition.
“Asiwaju is a democrat, and I trust he will allow the process to go on without any rancour.
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