Ambode receives Sanwo-olu in Lagos Government House after bitter primary election

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State played host to APC governorship flagbearer, Babajide Olusola Sanwo-olu, in his office on Tuesday, October 30, 2018.

It is the second public meeting between the pair after a bitter Lagos APC governorship primary election of October 2, 2018.

Both men first met publicly after the primary election, in Abuja; during the national APC convention where party faithful endorsed Buhari for the presidency.

Before the APC governorship primary election, Ambode had called Sanwo-olu a misfitwho once sprayed fake dollars at a US nite club and who is still undergoing rehabilitation at the Gbagada General Hospital in mainland Lagos.

However, both men, it appears, have now mended fences.

Sanwo-olu was accompanied to Ambode's office in Alausa by his running mate Obafemi Hamzat and a handful of loyalists.

Why this meeting was necessary

Pulse understands that today's meeting has everything to do with the decision to collapse the campaign teams of Sanwo-olu, President Buhari, godfather Bola Tinubu and Ambode into one.

A new group called the Independent Campaign Group, ICG, will emerge from the collapsed structures.

Vanguard reports that the groups which harmonized their structures were the Buhari and Osinbajo Campaign Support Group, BOCSG, Ambode Mandate Support Group, AMSG and Babajide Olusola Campaign Organization, BOSCO.

"The groups were collapsed with the aim of involving all members of the party in activities leading up to the 2019 election.

ICG, it was learned, would be led by Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s former Chief detail, Mr. Tayo Ayinde, who was until the merger, Director-General of BOSCO; while former Lagos West APC Vice chairman, Cardinal James Odunbaku, would act as his deputy",Vanguard writes.

Defection rumours shot down

Ambode recently quelled rumours of a planned defection by pledging to ensure Sanwo-olu is elected Governor in March of 2019.

“I am committed to ensuring that the APC wins the governorship election come 2019. We support the candidacy of Babajide Sanwo-Olu and we would make sure that APC retains Lagos State and the centre,”Ambode had vowed before President Buhari who was in Lagos to commission a border post.