Lasun Alagbe
The governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State, Mr. Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has said that he, as well as the Lagos State APC, has no problems with Igbos in the state.
During an interview on TVC today, Sanwo-Olu said the party had a good relationship with the Igbo, to the extent they have played major roles in the party’s government over the years.
Recent history shows that many Igbos in Lagos have sympathy for the opposition PDP.
This became a major issue in 2015 when some three Igbo politicians won legislative positions on the platform of the party – PDP.
They had also largely worked for President Goodluck Jonathan while, back in their various South-East states, APC is less popular than PDP.
Many of them also seem to have persistently criticised the political establishment in Lagos, leading to some observers believing that the Igbo in Lagos may not vote for Sanwo-Olu.
But the APC candidate said this morning that such a perception was just sentimental and did not reflect reality.
Sanwo-Olu said, “It is just a perception. When I was in government, the longest-serving commissioner was Mr. Ben Akabueze, who is also the DG of Budget Office. In fact, if you were the Commissioner for Budget and Planning as of that time, you were like the de facto deputy governor because every commissioner comes to you.
“Also, the longest-serving member of the APC exco is Mr, Joe Igbokwe who has been there for 15 years. So, when you give an Igbo man the position of spokesman, what else can we talk about? These are just sentiments.”
