Hate him or like him, Ogun State Governor, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, is gradually asserting himself as Nigeria’s Most Influential Governor. On more than two occasions now, and especially when it mattered most, Amosun has been seen with the President – even when others couldn’t.
On Monday, May 23, 2016 when President Muhammadu Buhari was scheduled to be in Lagos for an official visit, the man cancelled it barely hours to the D-day. And not long after, his photographs with Amosun surfaced on the social media, with both of them smiling and looking very safe and comfy in each other’s company.
On Saturday, January 28, 2017 again, and amidst the President’s death rumour gripping the entire country and also the world, the duo was seen, alongside Senator Daisy Danjuma and one other fellow, chilling and relaxing in London where the President had gone for his annual vacation cum medical check-up.
It would equally be recalled that since ousting Dr. Goodluck Jonathan as Nigeria’s President, Buhari and Amosun, who are both Muslims, have been to Saudi Arabia for hajj a few times. Again, Ogun, the Gateway State, was one of the earliest states President Muhammadu Buhari went on a state visit upon his second coming. The Monday, February 1, 2016 visit did not only see Buhari commissioning some big-budget projects being executed by the administration, but also having a gigantic estate – President Muhammadu Buhari Estate – named after him. Those who should know traced the chummy relationship that currently exists between both men to years back and during their days in ANPP (All Nigerian People’s Party). ‘Back then’, one source told YES INTERNATIONAL! Magazine, ‘Buhari always stayed at Amosun’s Ikeja GRA, Lagos home anytime he was in town. And their relationship grew from there’.
Born on January 25, 1958, Amosun, a father of five (four girls and one boy), is married to Olufunso. An accountant by profession, prior to succeeding Otunba Gbenga Daniel as the Governor of Ogun State, he represented the people of Ogun Central in the senate.
Currently savouring his second term in office, one of the most noticeable things about him is his sky-bound cap, which hardly leaves his head.