Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode has said his challenger for the ticket of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the state, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is unfit to take over the reins of affairs of the state.

Governor Ambode, who stated this at a world press conference at the Government House, Alausa, Ikeja on Sunday, said that Sanwo-Olu, besides having undergone rehabilitation in a Lagos hospital, was caught spending fake dollars at a club in the United States.

A visibly enraged Ambode said he would overcome his current travails  and urged the party’s leadership in the state to have a rethink about Sanwo-Olu, who is the current managing director of the Lagos State Development and Property Corporation (LSDPC). Said Ambode :

“In the last two or three weeks, they have been putting a lot of campaign of calumny in social media, and also disparaging our personality and character. But, we have been extremely humble.

“We have never responded. We have never abused anybody because we believe that there is always a reason for us to come together. We are one family in APC.

“Now, the truth is the aspirant that is being put up to compete against us is an unfit and improper person. This is the truth. Party leaders and party members have been misled to understand that he is a better candidate than myself.

“I have done everything in the last three and a half years to serve people selflessly. This particular aspirant has been arrested for spending fake American dollars in a nightclub and detained for months.

“It is also known that he does not have the competence to do what he is being propelled to do. The records are there in General Hospital, Gbagada. This is somebody that has gone for rehabilitation before. We do not want to go too far.

“We know our leadership would have a rethink because the truth is this. I will not stand here, on the mandate of Lagosians and allow our great party, APC, to filter away the opportunities it has by putting in somebody that the opposition will easily kick out because of credibility.

“So, I appeal to all our leaders. They should have a rethink. This is not about me; it is about the greatest opportunities that the APC stand to change the progress of Nigeria to a better place.”

Ambode also raised the alarm over the recruitment of thugs to unleash mayhem during the party’s primary, adding that security reports available to the state government indicated an ongoing recruitment and arming of political thugs, to disrupt the tranquil atmosphere of Lagos State in the guise of holding primary elections.

He added: “This is more so that we have the assurances of our party leaders, to conduct free and fair primary elections for aspirants into the various political offices.

“As a responsible government that has invested so much in enhancing security of lives and property in the state to enable Lagosians pursue their lawful endeavours, we will not allow any disruptive elements to cause any security breach in the state.

‘’It has become imperative to put every stakeholder on notice, especially the Federal Government, and security agencies, to take more than a passing interest in the development in this state, that has hitherto been adjudged the safest city in Africa.

“Consequently, the state government will do all within its powers, in collaboration with relevant security agencies, to protect our citizens and insulate them from any condition that may breed insecurity or the breakdown of law and order in the state, throughout the primaries campaign and election periods.”