Even if All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, wins the 2023 elections, he would still gnash his teeth for losing his stronghold Lagos State to the flag bearer of the Labour Party, Peter Obi.
Lagos is the most important state for Tinubu; the state had never fallen out of the hands of the political godfather since 1999 but he watched helplessly how a mixture of the rebellion of the youths, abysmal performance of his party at the centre and lackadaisical attitude of APC leadership in Lagos principally forced him to lose the grip on the state.
The pain is more excruciating for Tinubu that he is the one on the ballot paper when the crushing blow was delivered; this is surely the testimony of the deep-seated resentment against not only his style of rulership but the government he installed at the federal level.
Obi scored 582,664 votes to defeat Tinubu who polled 541,850. Although the margin is not mind-boggling, the fact that he lost the state to the opposition from another ethnic group has put a strain on his credentials.
He lost in many of the strongholds of the party in the state but the most surprising is that of Alimosho which usually delivers the highest number of votes for him.
The presence of non-indigenes in Alimosho is not as heavy as in places like Amuwo-Odofin, Osodi-Isolo, Kosofe and Ojo and it is not expected that he would be let down by the voters at the biggest local government in the state.
Even when things were tough for APC in the past elections, Alimosho delivered the party with overwhelming results.
For some political watchers, the loss in Alimosho was not entirely unexpected as the party had been swimming in crisis since the 2019 elections. There has been deep polarisation which has thrown the chapter of the party into two factions led by Alhaji Enilolobo and former Deputy Governor Adejoke Orelope.
Enilolobo inherited the party structure from the former Governor of Osun Rauf Aregbesola but Orelope allegedly capitalised on the friction between Tinubu and Aregbesola to drag the soul of the party with Enilolobo.
The polarization was so evident in the way the primary elections at the local government were conducted across all levels as it was characterised by violence which inevitably led to the loss of Asiwaju at the polls.
The alienation of the youths by the APC at the state level could also have been responsible following the outcome of the ENDSARS crisis in which scores of youths were said to have been killed.
The APC government at both state and federal levels failed to assuage the feelings of the youth as a result of the alleged massacre at the Lekki Toll Gate and the reward for that insensitivity is revolt votes.
The results showed that Tinubu won 11 local governments while Obi claimed nine but the former Anambra State Governor recorded the popular votesw.
Tibubu has in the kitty Agege, Apapa, Badagry, Epe, Ibeju-Lekki, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikorodu, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Mushin and Surulere while Obi claimed victory in Eti-Osa, Amuwo Odofin, Ikeja, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Kosofe, Oshodi-Isolo and Somolu
Here is how Obi won in Lagos:
Lagos Mainland LGA
APC – 20,030
PDP – 3,005
LP – 18,698
NNPP – 257
2. Epe LGA
APC – 19,867
LP – 3,497
NNPP – 76
PDP – 5221
3. Lagos Island LGA
APC – 27,760
LP – 3,058
NNPP – 79
PDP – 2521
4. Ibeju-Lekki LGA
APC – 14,685
LP – 10,410
NNPP – 104
PDP – 2,329
5. Ikorodu LGA
APC – 50,353
LP – 28,951
NNPP – 400
PDP – 4,508
6. Ikeja LGA
APC – 21,276
LP – 30,004
NNPP – 337
PDP – 2,280
7. Badagry LGA
APC – 31,908
LP – 10,956
NNPP – 153
PDP – 6,024
8. Agege LGA
APC – 29,568
LP – 13,270
NNPP – 1,513
PDP – 4,498
9. Somolu LGA
APC – 27,879
LP – 28,936
NNPP – 476
PDP – 3,449
10. Amuwo Odofin LGA
APC – 13,318
LP – 55,547
NNPP – 330
PDP – 2,383
11. Kosofe LGA
APC – 36,883
LP – 46,554
NNPP – 902
PDP – 4,058
12. Eti Osa LGA
APC – 15,317
LP – 42,388
NNPP – 381
PDP- 3,369
The collation officer for Eti Osa LGA could not specify the number of polling units where the process was disrupted. She was asked to give specifics and return to present the figures again.
13. Surulere LGA
APC – 39,002
LP – 36,923
NNPP – 442
PDP – 2,651
14. Apapa LGA
APC – 15,471
LP – 7,566
NNPP – 338
PDP – 2,957
15. Ifako Ijaiye LGA
APC – 30,756
LP – 25,437
NNPP – 232
PDP – 3,258
16. Ajeromi Ifeledun LGA
APC – 25,938
LP – 35,663
NNPP – 435
PDP – 4,680
17. Oshodi Isolo LGA
APC – 27,181
LP – 51,020
NNPP – 413
PDP – 3,139
Mushin LG
APC- 41,907
LP – 23,390
PDP- 3,478
Alimosho LG
APC- 62,909
LP – 71,32
PDP- 8,201
Ojo LG
APC- 20,603
LP – 38,859
PDP- 3,701
Total Valid Votes – 65,168
Rejected Votes 3,364
Total Votes Cast- 68,567
Ojo
APC- 20,603
LP – 38,859
PDP- 3,701
Alimosho
APC- 62,909
LP – 71,327
PDP- 8,201
Alimosho
APC- 62,909
LP – 71,327
PDP- 8,201
