Re: Lagos Speakership tussle – Sanwo-Olu’s powerplay to displace Tinubu

Hired gun at work

At first glance, any serious-minded, right-thinking person would be jolted into the reality that another season of political ‘çhop-chop’ by briefcase journalists is around the corner. It is inconceivable that anyone with a clear and unbiased idea of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s mastery of Nigeria’s political landscape will ever fathom that Governor Sanwo-Olu will confront his achievements, let alone attempt to displace the Jagaban Borgu of the Universe in Lagos. But is there anything incredible when a hired gun is at work?

Ikumapayi Ajanlekoko’s sponsored epistle said, “What initially seemed like a mere struggle for the Speakership has now revealed itself as a grand political scheme – one designed to completely erode Tinubu’s influence in Lagos and place Sanwo-Olu as the supreme ruler of the State’s politics”.

How? Where are the facts?

How does one rationalise a statement suggesting that Governor Sanwo-Olu is behind a scheme to erode the influence of Nigeria’s sitting President in Lagos? Is it the same Sanwo-Olu whom so many have accused of being Mr. President’s ‘boy’ that would plan the so-called ‘civilian coup’ in which the assembly members rejected the servitude foisted on them by the former Speaker?

Indisputably, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has set a distinct reputation for himself as a true and tested democrat since he ascended the political landscape. His election as Governor changed the economic fortunes of Lagos with Tinubu leveraging his experience as an accountant and financial expert in the oil industry. His emergence in the Senate of the Federal Republic of Nigeria was also through the ballot. In Y2023, the Nigerian people chose Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu to lead the nation as its President and Commander-In-Chief.

The likes of Ajanlekoko (obviously a ghost writer) are commissioned writers who latch on to any minor incident of discord in the polity to churn out rubbish and perpetrate falsehood for financial gains. The Yoruba call such charlatans – Arije ninu u madaru!

How can Ikumapayi imagine that Governor Sanwo-Olu, an avowed ‘Omoluabi’, is part of any plot to oust the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly? Mr. Governor and Mr. Speaker are both mentees of Mr. President. They are his children; they can disagree. However, Governor Sanwo-Olu will not bring down his father’s house, irrespective of the evil machinations of those who sow discord because they always reap from crises.

Worse still, the writer in one swipe taints the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) as a band of corrupt lawmakers with a careless statement, claiming they were induced with $50,000 to support the removal of former Speaker Mudashiru Ajayi Obasa. The paymasters of Ikumapayi Ajanlekoko, while fighting dirty over fabricated narratives, should be cautious of the long-term consequences of their offhand utterances and immodest ambition.

Touting names of party stalwarts in Lagos’ politics to earn some credibility for his standpoint, the writer identified the APC Chairman, Hon. Cornelius Ojelabi, former Minister Musiliu Obanikoro and Mr. Fouad Oki as allies of Governor Sanwo-Olu, simply because, according to Ikumapayi, they harboured grievances against the President. Mr. Ajanlekoko (if he exists) would recall that President Tinubu has several times acknowledged that his success as Lagos State Governor thrived on robust arguments, disagreements and periodic debates with some Executive Council members. These, he said, birthed the emergence of a prosperous Centre of Excellence. They always disagreed to agree in the best interest of Lagos. That is the spirit of democracy.

The party chieftains remain loyal to the President and the APC. They will not divide the house against itself, despite temporary divergent views that might exist at any point in time.

The irrefutable fact is that , Mr. Obasa was chosen by his fellow legislators to lead them as Speaker in Y2015. About ten years later on January 13, 2025, the legislature representing the people in Lagos also decided to remove him from office. Every other interpretation is biased; a baseless conjecture.

Those who choose to fan the embers of discord among Mr. President, Mr. Governor and Mr. Obasa by blaming the developments in the House on the Executive should be alert enough to know that the President, the Jagaban Borgu, is attentive to all his ‘disciples’, but is not swayed by the machinations of those who thrive on feeding fat on the minor occasional family disputes within his political enclave.

Ikumapayi Ajanlekoko will not go far with his scheme to ‘ri je’ in this ‘madaru’. He simply will not earn any trophy along the unpopular path he has chosen to tread.

Omojoye, a social commentator and senior, lives in Palmgrove, Lagos.