Here's why people are saying Lagos Gov is about to dump APC

The rumours won’t go away, two weeks after we first heard them. If you are a social media user, you probably came across the whispers too: Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the stories say, is about to dump the APC for the PDP.

As far as fake news goes, this one was really loud and brazen.

However, Pulse can report that stories of Ambode making a switch to the PDP are a tissue of lies and wide off the mark.

Numerous sources who spoke to Pulse on condition of anonymity reveal that the stories are a figment of the imagination of the tale bearers spinning them.

But how did the story begin?

In every rumour, they say, there could be an iota of truth.

There is a rift between Ambode and godfather of Southwest politics, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu,Pulse has been reliably informed.

That rift borders on the forthcoming governorship primaries in Lagos State. While Tinubu favours irect primaries which will open up the voting process to all party members, Ambode favours indirect primaries where a small pool of accredited party delegates choose who will fly the party’s flag at the general election.

Recall that the National Working Committee (NWC) of the APC recently said its presidential primary election will be a direct one; with state governors or state chapters allowed to decide which election primary mode to go with. The APC's

It is believed that Lagos, thanks to Tinubu’s overbearing influence in the politics of the nation’s commercial capital, will want to go with direct primaries.

“This is where Ambode fell out with Tinubu, because the governor thinks direct primaries is Asiwaju’s way of saying he isn’t backing him for a second term in office”, a highly placed source in the politics of Lagos told Pulse over the weekend.

“Besides, a direct primary could mean Ambode losing the governorship ticket and he doesn’t even want to think about it”, the source added.

Tinubu, in case anyone needs reminding, has been deciding who runs Lagos since 2007, with all of the APC structure in Nigeria's most populous city, in his breast pocket.

Ambode was Tinubu's choice in 2015, with then Governor Babatunde Fashola going with Olasupo Shasore who didn’t make it past the party primary stage.

What is the situation between Ambode and Tinubu now?

understands that stories of Ambode leaving the APC came from the governor’s camp.

“Ambode’s people planted the stories as a way of extracting some kind of concession from Tinubu or as a way of making Tinubu backtrack on his direct primaries stance”, another source told Pulse.

Tinubu and Ambode have been holding peace talks and are very close to a middle ground on their differences, Pulse was told.

Commissioner for Information in Lagos, Kehinde Bamigbetan, didn't pick up calls when Pulse tried to reach him for this story. An email sent to his office was also not responded to before this story was published.

So, will Ambode leave the APC?

It is highly unlikely that Ambode will leave the APC for the PDP at this point.

Several sources spoken to for this story laughed off the very thought of Ambode joining the PDP and called it ridiculous.

“That will be political suicide for him and he knows better than to pull an ill-advised stunt like that”, was told by a top ranking source in the Lagos chapter of the APC.

Ambode was on President Buhari’s recent delegation to China.

When Bashir Ahmad, Special Assistant to the President on New Media, asked Ambode about the rumours in China, the Lagos governor responded with a chuckle.

“I told Gov. @AkinwunmiAmbode of Lagos State that @LeadersNG and some other media platforms have been spreading fake news that he’s planning to leave the APC, he smiled and said Bashir if they don’t know tell them I am here in Beijing in President @MBuhari’s entourage”, Ahmad tweeted.