The former governor of Kebbi State, Senator Adamu Aliero, has called on the national leader of the All Progressives Congress APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu to let Akinwunmi Ambode continue in office as the governor of Lagos, despite the perceived political crisis between.
Aliero, in a letter he personally signed and addressed to Tinubu, pleaded with the APC chieftain to allow Ambode retain the party’s ticket ahead of next year’s governorship election.
Below is the full text of the passionate letter, which was made available to DAYLIGHT.NG by the media team of Aliero, a former minister of the FCT and senator.
“14 September 2018
His Excellency,
Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
National Leader
All Progressives Congress, APC
26 Bourdilion Road,
Ikoyi
Lagos
I am writing this letter out of concern for the odious, concerning news in the media about your relationship with your protégée, Governor Akinwumi Ambode of Lagos State.
I have known you for ages – long before you assumed the leadership of our great party, the All Progressives Congress, APC. You and I have, over the years, had cause to discuss Nigeria on many occasions; never have you, at any time, left any iota of doubt about your love – indeed, passion – for this great country and your desire to make optimal contribution to its growth and development.
The other attributes that I believe you and I share include the ability to put out ourselves entirely for the benefits of our geopolitical regions and to sacrifice our personal gains and ambitions for their overall good. Many people – particularly those who are ignorant about the character of politics, who do not understand how exactingly demanding and excessively jealous politics is – harbour the jaundiced impression that nature is playing favourites with you. But, having been well schooled in politics – practising politics for about 20 years after studying it at university, I can tell that you deserve much more than the spurs and prizes you have won in politics. You love your people almost to the point of obsession, and have made a sound case for those who believe that politics is local. The Southwest will for a long time be the Cinderella of national politics because of what you and some other leaders of the region have made of it. Lagos is growing faster than Nigeria because of your commanding and purposeful leadership.
Our dear Asiwaju, knowing who you are – a visionary leader with a distinctively outstanding ability to identify and work with brilliant, focused and hardworking young men and women, I know of no endeavour that would have denied you your standing and image in the Nigeria of today. In view of your giant status as the undisputable leader of our great party and considering the times in which we are, I am certain that you will not, without good reason, pick a quarrel with Governor Ambode. Lagos State, indeed the entire Southwest, is crucial to the fortunes of the APC in the forthcoming general elections. It is in the same spirit that I want to plead with you not to spare any sacrifice that is necessary for the stabilization of the ship of our dear party in Lagos State.
I, like many of our colleagues who midwived this republic in 1999, have had my unfair share of treachery and disappointment from political protégées. I have, therefore, learnt the bitter truth that loyalty is weak in the face of ambition and opportunism. In a word, you are not alone and it is doubtful if your case is remarkably different from ours. It would therefore not be too much for me to ask you to allow Ambode to retain the ticket of the party. No reward should be bigger for you than the victory of the APC at the forthcoming general elections. “(Daylight)
