The incumbent governor of Lagos State, Akinwunmi Ambode’s chances of becoming re-elected in the 2019 elections might have just gotten slimmer as two other prominent members of the APC in Lagos, Sanwonolu and Obafemi Hamzat, also picked nomination forms and indicated interest in the Lagos State governorship seat come 2019.

Also, it has been alleged that 50 council chairmen loyal to Ahmed Bola Tinubu, have met and pledged their support for Jide Sanyaolu Sanwonolu, the current managing director of Lagos State Property Development Corporation (LSPDC), following Tinubu’s declaration of support for Sanwonolu as his preferred candidate.

It is suspected that Ambode lost the support of Tinubu and other party members because the governor had been detached from the party and its leaders who consistently complained to Tinubu. One of the party leaders alleged that the governor had, on three occasions, asked some of the party leaders to meet him in the office for interaction and on each occasion, they had to wait for hours to meet him and which their wait ended up fruitless.

The governor is also believed to have lost the needed support due to some of his unpopular policies such as the increment in taxes, especially the Land Use Charge by over 400 per cent, a decision which impacted negatively on the image of the APC in the state.

Politics in Nigeria has become a game and a business sort of and as such, making your friends before you need them has proven to be of utmost importance. Ambode’s loss of support from Tinubu who used to be solidly behind him and other party leaders can be attributed to his inability to make his friends and keep them close before he needed them.

Also, Femi Otedola, the CEO of Forte oil and also one of the most popular billionaires in Nigeria has also accepted the offer to contest for the governorship seat under PDP.

The forthcoming 2019 elections, at the federal and state level, is obviously going to be a blend of shock and surprises.