Saraki is a very dangerous person — Presidency; Chinese investors to pullout of $1.4 billion Lagos rail deal if Ambode fails to return as governor; Ambode may yet return as governor . . .
Saraki is a very dangerous person — Presidency
The Nigerian presidency tells President Muhammadu Buhari’s supporters to ignore Senate President Bukola Saraki’s alleged derogatory speeches against the president. The presidency described Saraki as a very dangerous person who can go to any length to promote his personal interests.
Photos above: Buhari & Saraki | No love lost.
Garba Shehu, the president’s senior special assistant on media and publicity (SSA media & publicity) made the statement in Abuja on Thursday, September 20, when reacting to Saraki’s recent verbal attacks on President Muhammadu Buhari, the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports. Saraki, who recently defected from the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), is one of the PDP presidential aspirants.
Grab Shehu’s statement reads in term alia: “The Presidency wishes to react to the crude speeches hitting the news from Senator Bukola Saraki . . . In response to the condemnable and extremely derogatory speeches by the PDP aspirant, we urge all Buhari supporters to display restraint in language and conduct and to always put across their points of view in a decent language. “Throughout his political career, Senator Saraki has shown that he is a very dangerous person who can go any length to promote his personal interests . . .”
Chinese investors to pullout of $1.4 billion Lagos rail deal if Ambode fails to return as governor
About a fortnight ago, Lagos State Governor Akinwunmi Ambode attended the 2018 Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, during which the governor signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on power, rail, road and light-up Lagos projects. A report by This Day indicates that the rift between Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and the APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, may affect Foreign Direct Investments (FDIs) valued about $1.4 billion into Lagos state.
Photo above: Tinubu & Ambode in happier times.
The Chinese investors may end $1.4 billion Lagos rail deal due to Tinubu-Ambode standoff. Sources have said some Chinese investors are already threatening to pull out of a major rail deal if Ambode’s re-election bid is thwarted, and they are agitated that if Ambode fails to return as govenor, the new government may not key into the projects.
Ambode’s political future has been under threat since Tinubu’s Mandate Movement, threw up the managing director of Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC), Babajide Sanwo-Olu, to challenge the governor at the party’s primary scheduled for Tuesday, September 25. Also in the race, is another strong contender, a former commissioner for works and Infrastructure, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, who has the backing of an equally powerful group, the Justice Forum. The chairmen of the 57 local council development areas in Lagos had also declared support for Sanwo-Olu.
Ambode may yet return as governor
Hope is rising for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode as the Jagaban Bola Tinubu mulls pardon ahead of the 2019 gubernatorial election in Lagos State. A report by The Guardian indicates that the intervention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders in Lagos state regarding the feud between Governor Akinwunmi Ambode and his estranged godfather, Aiswaju Bola Tinubu, is yielding results.
Photo: Chief Bisi Akande (left) and Aremo Segun Osoba (center).
According to the report, due to the pressure mounted on Tinubu by the Lagos APC leaders, the national leader of the party, is said to be considering backing the governor after he had earlier backed out.
It was learnt that former governors of Osun and Ogun states, Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Segun Osoba respectively, are also part of the peace overture, as they led Ambode to entreat the national leader. Sources quoted in the report said Tinubu, out of respect for Chiefs Akande and Osoba, promised to let pass his grouse. But with a condition: his political loyalists in Lagos, who have made up their minds that Ambode must go, must be consulted.
On the advice of the former governors, Ambode was said to have prostrated, pleadingly with Tinubu. At the meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC governors, sources said Kebbi state governor Abubakar Atiku Bagudu led the plea with Tinubu. It appears that Ambode cannot get the APC ticket without the Jagaban’s approval.
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