While appealing to Igbo
residents in Lagos who met with him in his palace yesterday to vote for the governorship candidate of the All
Progressives Congress (APC), Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, the paramount ruler of the state Oba Rilwan Akiolu made some scandalous statements.
He said: “On Saturday, if anyone of you goes against Ambode, who I
picked, that is your end. If it does not happen within seven days, just
know that I am a bastard and it is not my father who gave birth to me.
“By
the grace of God, I am the owner of Lagos for the time being. This is
an undivided chair. The palace belongs to the dead and those coming in
the future. On Saturday, if anyone of you, I swear in the name of God,
goes against my wish that Ambode will be the next governor of Lagos
State, the person is going to die inside this water.
“For the
Igbo and others in Lagos, they should go where the Oba of Lagos heads
to. When they were coming to the state, they did not come with all their
houses. But now, they have properties in the state. So they must do my
bidding. And that is the bidding of the ancestors of Lagos and God.
“I
am not ready to beg you. Nobody knew how I picked Ambode. Jimi is my
blood relation and I told him that he could never be governor in Lagos
for now. The future belongs to God. I am not begging anybody, but what
you people cannot do in Onitsha, Aba or anywhere you cannot do it here.”
In his response, the Eze-Ndigbo of Amuwo-Oriade, Dr. Gordian Dimojiaku, promised that Igbo in Lagos would support Ambode.
“The mistake of last Saturday was caused by everybody, not only the
Igbo. It is not only the Igbo that were responsible for the votes.
“But we have learnt our lesson. Saturday’s election is going to be a
different thing and Ambode is going to win. Everybody knows that when
you fail the first time, you cannot afford to fail again. We are going
to tell our people that Ezes from the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local
Council Development Areas are here and that we have sworn with the Oba
that we are going to make sure that Ambode wins next Saturday’s
election.”
The governorship elections are scheduled to hold on Saturday, and it
is believed that Igbo residents in Lagos will vote for the PDP
candidate, Jimi Agbaje, just like they did during the presidential and
National Assembly elections that led to the victory of PDP candidates of
Igbo origin and from Delta State in three federal constituencies in
Lagos.
