Lagos Guber Battle: APC Elders Adamant, Chain Prayers In Epe For Ambode

Lagos Guber Battle: APC Elders Adamant, Chain Prayers In Epe For Ambode

Lagos, Nigeria News 22nd September, 2018: Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode is presently battling an internal wrangling within his party that has resulted in the emergence of two other APC stalwarts, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Mr Obafemi Hamzat, who have both signified their interest in slugging it out with him at the party’s primary for the APC governorship ticket in Lagos State.

The emergence of the duo followed a rumoured frosty relationship between Ambode and APC National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, who hitherto was regarded as his political godfather and mentor.

While cloak-and-dagger maneuverings continue to play out in the party, the people of Epe have moved the fight to a spiritual level as they embark on combative prayers to dismantle the various forces arraying against the embattled governor.

The mood in Epe and the hometown of the incumbent, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode is
tension and fever pitch. The people’s sentiment is at boiling point. In rallying for its own, people of Epe town have gone ballistic spiritually to quell the tempest threatening to bring to a halt the upward trajectory of their rising son.

While tension is rising in the political firmament of the centre of excellence, a group of APC elders called the Governor’s Advisory Council, GAC dominated mainly by Tinubu’s trusted allies, will today at a scheduled meeting in Ikeja take a final position on who the party will present to the public for support in the 2019 polls.

The body had met on Tuesday to consider pleas and various interventions from different groups and prominent individuals to consider Ambode for a second term. The meeting however ended without a definite answer to the embattled governor.

One of the decisions taken at the Tuesday meeting was that the governor will not be allowed to sit in today’s meeting when the party elders will decide his fate.

A notable source who attended the meeting was quoted by Daily Sun as saying that, “For us, we already know the direction things will go in today’s meeting because after the Tuesday’s parley, Asiwaju left us with a strongly coded rhetorical question, that is, ‘can you pack back into a bottle the beer you want to drink after spilling same on the floor?”

With this, today’s meeting may just be a mere ceremony to say a capital NO to the governor as majority of those who will attend the event are already bitter against Ambode and have not hidden their opposition to his style of governance and bid for a second term.

Spiritual warfare
According to a survey conducted by Daily Sun Newspaper, suburbs like Noforija, Odomola, Ketu-Epe, and Odoragunshen turned up facts that indicated that the Ambode issue is close to the heart of many residents. The fervour devoted to the issue leaves no one in doubt that anyone in opposition to the governor is up against a whole town. The town roiled with solidarity for the governor. In the prevailing “We against Them” aura, a majority of the Epe folks envisaged themselves battling against Lagos forces trying to undo their son’s progress.

A major development has been a rare show of unity between Christians and Muslims, who set aside their religious differences and joined forces together in daily prayers of intercession and vigil for Gov. Ambode at the Saint Michael Anglican Church, which is the governor’s family place of worship.

The over 100-year-old church at Popo-Oba Street has assembled a 21-man prayer warrior team. In no time, the team has since been joined by a host of volunteers, both Christians (from other denominations) and some Muslims.

Findings by Saturday Sun showed that the team holds some of its prayer sessions for the governor on a large expanse of land opposite the church.

During a visit to the church, some of the volunteers were sighted sitting on white plastic chairs on the land across from the church. In their response to questions from Saturday Sun, they all spoke in unison about their commitment to the “Save Ambode Prayer” project.

The church’s support
A cleric of the church who spoke on condition of anonymity confirmed that intercessory prayers are being held for Gov. Ambode. He vowed that the daily vigil and prayer session would not stop until Ambode’s second term ticket is guaranteed by APC.

“It is true that this church is coordinating series of prayers for Gov. Ambode. What we are doing is not evil. We have no regret over it,” he declared.

Asked why the governor’s issue is dear to the church, the cleric fired back: “Gov. Ambode and his family are part and parcel of this church. Although Gov. Ambode himself is no longer a member of the Anglican Church, when he was young, he used to worship with us here with his parents. Up till today, the governor’s mother, Mama, is a regular worshipper with us. Mama is very close to us, and up till today, there is no programme or project we have in the church that Mama, the governor and other members of the family don’t join us in doing. Like every other family in this church, the Ambode family also observed its own yearly harvest and thanksgiving in the church.”

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