Keen followers of Lagos politics are afraid for the strong man of South West politics, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. They are saying that except he handles the issue of who becomes the next governor of Lagos State rightly and justly too, it may spell doom for his political empire; it may also be the end of his reign as the lord of the state politics.
Internally and externally, there’s been murmurings and complaints over who succeeds the man he anointed almost 8 years ago and his then Chief of Staff, Barrister Babatunde Raji Fashola, SAN. Meetings, consultations, schemings, plottings, calculations and permutations have been going on in different camps. Especially as 2015, another election year, beckons. One of the people involved in this high-wired politics told us categorically that Tinubu cannot have his way this time, and like he’s always done in the past. “Except he wants to destroy the empire he’s built over the years by himself, which is okay by me, if that’s what he wants”.
Continuing, the top politico told YES INTERNATIONAL! that the era of imposition is over. “That was before. Not anymore. And that is why this their new plan to foist Ambode on Lagos State will not work. We shall resist it with all our might. Enough is enough”. Still fuming, the source said, a big drama and implosion will soon be witnessed in APC in Lagos State. Some of us may even be forced to move to PDP. They’ve been begging us to cross over. You just wait and see, but our prayer is that it doesn’t consume the party and also consume Tinubu’s political empire”.
Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode, 51, is allegedly the choice of Tinubu as Fashola’s successor. A one-time Accountant-General of the state, Tinubu is said to be rooting for him because of the state’s huge debt profile (alleged to be in the excess of N1 trillion) which he wants him to normalize with his financial background. This argument, however, is not flying with the other politicians and stakeholders in the state. Fashola, on the other hand, is alleged to prefer Toyin Amzat, one of his Commissioners (for Works and Infrastructure). With this again, fears abound that there may also be a clash, between Tinubu, the godfather and Fashola, his godson, as the D-day draws nearer.
Besides the above two persons, there are again others like Dr. Muiz Banire, a former Commissioner in state and current National Legal Adviser to APC; Dr. Leke Pitan, also a former Commissioner, a Christian and from Epe, where Tinubu said the governorship slot has been zoned to; a serving Senator of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and political strategist, Ganiyu Solomon; another distinguished Senator and ex-Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Lands, Gbenga Ashafa; embattled Speaker of the Lagos House of Assembly, Ikuforiji Adeyemi; a serving Minister and another political strategist, Amb. Musiliu Obanikoro; gentleman pharmacist and politician, Jimi Agbaje of the J.K is Okay campaign fame and many others.
Meanwhile, the story in town is that Tinubu is seriously supporting Ambode because he doesn’t want a politician at the helm of affairs of the state. “He wants to continue to retain power, that is why he’s rooting for someone that will concentrate on governance alone while he continues to retain power. Just exactly the way he started with Fashola until much later”.
The Don-G of South West politics, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has been in the game now for decades. A former Senator (representing Lagos West) and Governor, for two terms, he was born on March 29, 1952 and trained as an accountant. Very, very influential, his wife, Remi is currently a Senator; his daughter, Folashade, the Iyaloja of Lagos and one of his sons in law, Oyetunji Oladimeji Ojo, a legislator (Federal House of Representatives). He’s, no doubt, been in control of Lagos politics since 1999. But the equation may be altered should he miscalculate this time. None of the people in either camps wanted to speak on record when we sought their responses. However, some of them confirmed to us that indeed there is ‘fire on the mountain’. And the Lagos State All Progressives Congress is “run, run, run…”