Lagos primaries runs into troubled waters; it is null and void, says panel chair

***Tinubu gives new reason for dumping Ambode.
The on-going All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries is null and void because stakeholders have not yet agreed on guidelines for the intra-party poll, the National Working Committee (NWC) panel sent there to conduct the election has said.
The position is coming as The Deputy Governor of the State, Dr. Idiat Adebule, has joined the bandwagon of APC top members to ditch her principal, Akinwumi Ambode. She declared her support for his rival, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Meantime, the strongman of South-West politics and national leader of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is altering his position on why he is not backing Ambode.
In his words, Ambode is doing well, but he is simply failing on the political turf.
The NWC panel in Lagos is also said to have discountenanced the on-going election because the open ballot system is being used instead of the secret ballot it prefers.
Chairman of the Lagos Governorship Electoral panel, Chief Clement Ebri, urged party members to disregard reports and images of ongoing elections in some wards.
Said Ebri: “The primary election hasn’t started. We are in a meeting with the party chairman in Lagos and the agents of the two contenders in the primary election.
“There are grey areas to be ironed out. We want to organise a free, fair and transparent primary election and that is why this meeting is very crucial.
“It is after we have settled the grey areas and address all the stakeholders’ concerns that we will send people out from here to conduct the primary.”
Just after paricipating at his Ward C, Ikeja Local Government Area in the governorship primary, Tinubu who said Sunday that Ambode’s failure to continue in executing the masterplan for Lagos was his undoing, is now saying his failure as a party man led him to withdraw his support.
Tinubu is known to be backing Ambode’s rival, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Said Tinubu: “Who did I support in 2014? Ambode. Life is dynamic. It’s those who made me the leader of the structure in Lagos who said it was what they want. It’s only if you have followers that you’re a leader in democracy.
“If I look back and I don’t find them again; if I don’t respond to them, if I fail to accede to their request, I would have failed the leadership test.
“This is not personal; it is beyond me as a person. Every democratic constitution is preceded by ‘We, the people’. So, I had to submit myself to the wishes and the yearnings of our party.
“This is an elixir for the general election. Ambode Akin, he’s doing well, yes; he hasn’t been a good party man; not only the glamour, not only about brick and mortal. A talent is determined by character. For you to become an influential person, you have to respond to the yearnings of the people. This is politics; democracy, one man, one vote.”