The Southern Examiner gathers that some party chieftains have not forgiven Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, and are holding strongly that his lack of a political base contributed to the All Progressives Congress’s (APC) loss in the presidential poll.
Unarguably, Obi’s campaign attracted young people and urban voters who were fed up with corrupt politics. That could explain why he won most votes in the commercial city.
In its official result, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that Labour Party’s Peter Obi got 582,454 votes, ahead of 572,606 for Bola Tinubu, former governor of the state, and his main stronghold.
Atiku Abubakar of the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP) got 75,750 votes.
Obi’s campaign called on voters to reject the two parties that have run Africa’s most populous country for a quarter century, under whose governance corruption has flourished and insecurity has spread across the country.
He was most popular with the youth, but especially urban, relatively educated voters with access to smartphones and social media.
In the meantime, an intelligence report by Menas Associates, a political risks consultancy, says even before Sanwo-Olu settles into his second and final term as governor of Lagos, Nigeria’s most lucrative state, the shadow battle to succeed him as has already begun in earnest.
The ‘election’ of President Bola Tinubu, who had been the state’s undisputed political patriarch since 2007, has complicated the contest.
“As Tinubu shifts his focus from local to national politics a vacuum has been created as to who will control Lagos future politics”, says the intelligence report.
Tinubu used Lagos as a launch pad to enter national politics and, now that he has achieved this, the state is no longer a priority.
Traditionally, the governor would fill the political void left by Tinubu’s departure but this is unlikely to occur. As Lagos’ political godfather, Tinubu deliberately chose individuals who lacked a political base to challenge him.
“Sanwo-Olu has always relied on Tinubu for political relevance. Now that Tinubu has shifted his focus to national politics, So,
Sanwo-Olu’s move to assert his authority as APC new state leader is being challenged and could result in his removal unless he treads very carefully”, the intelligence report adds.
Continuing, the report says the governor’s alleged weakness was exposed when he was “unable to win the state for Tinubu in the 2023 presidential election which was very narrowly lost to the Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
“Even though he cannot be held completely responsible it was previously unthinkable that another party could outperform it in a state that the APC has governed since 1999.
“Nonetheless, Sanwo-Olu should have recognised that the APC was in trouble and avoid the humiliation of losing to the opposition.”
Though APC eventually won the gubernatorial election aided by what the report described as “massive suppression of votes and heavily ethnically tinged campaigns”, the ongoing clamour however, is, some of those who embarrassed the APC must pay for their sins.
The APC’s hardline faction in Lagos is led by the state House of Assembly Speaker, Mubashiru Obasa. He has held the post since 2015, and wants Sanwo-Olu to be punished.
Obasa has a personal interest in doing so because the governor is his chief rival for the APC’s state party leadership. Unlike Sanwo-Olu, he has his own political base and is a politician with a strong track-record of winning elections.
He has retained his post since 2015 despite opposition from other candidates and has been a member of the state Legislature since 2003 when Tinubu was still the governor.
This makes him the longest-serving legislator and one of the country’s most consistently elected politicians. Unlike Sanwo-Olu, he can claim to have won multiple state elections which demonstrates his political acceptability.
By contrast, Sanwo-Olu has only won two elections and this was primarily because Tinubu chose him to be Lagos State’s governor.
Reportedly, Sanwo-Olu did not support Obasa’s bid for a third term as speaker which necessitated him having to approach Tinubu who endorsed him.
He subsequently received the unanimous support of the state Assembly which comprises 38 APC members and two opposition Labour Party members.
Sanwo-Olu wanted an alternative speaker but, after Obasa emerged, he claimed he had been impartial in the selection process. Even if this is true, Obasa will not forget that he did not receive the governor’s support and therefore no obligation to be loyal to the governor.
Luckily for the embattled governor, the state House of Assembly has finally confirmed 15 of the remaining 18 commissioner-nominees he sent.
Former Commissioners Lere Odusote and Sam Egube were rejected, while the House stepped down Tolani Sule-Akibu’s confirmation for another day.
The confirmation happened after the Chief Whip and Chairman of the screening committee, Mojeed Fatai, laid a report of the exercise before the House during plenary.
Behold, the full list:
Dr. Afolabi Abiodun Tajudeen,
Oluwaseun Oriyomi Osiyemi,
Prof. Akinola Emmanuel Abayomi, Dr. Oluwarotimi Omotola Wahab Fashola, Mrs. Folashade Kaosarat, Ambrose-Medem, Mrs. Akinyemi Bankole Ajigbotafe, Mrs. Bolaji Cécilia Dada, Mrs. Barakat Akande Bakare, and Olugbenga Omotosho.
Others are, Mosopefoluwa George, Dr. Yekini Nurudeen Agbaje, Dr. Olumide Oluyinka,Abayomi Samson Oluyomi,
Dr. Iyabode Oyeyemi Ayoola, and Sola Shakirudeen
