HOW SANWO-OLU EMERGED AS AMBODE’S ALBATROSS
Despite earlier reports that the political feud between Governor Akinwunmi Ambode of Lagos State and his political godfather and national leader of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu had abated, the man- Babajide Sanwo-Olu, currently being tipped to succeed Ambode is set to make a formal declaration for the topmost job in the State.
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By virtue of working in an agency of the state government being led by Ambode, Sanwo-Olu is an aide of the Governor. But politics of the last few weeks within the State is changing the tide. And Sanwo-Olu is staking all he has to slug it out on political turf with his boss at the forthcoming party gubernatorial primary.
Asked what would be his reaction if Tinubu (known to be his and Ambode’s political godfather), asked him to step down, Sanwo-Olu in rather a defiance tone quipped: “He wouldn’t do it.”
He went on: “My national leader is not only Lagos leader; he is a national leader for Nigeria. He has passion for Nigeria. To say that he will call me and all others to back out, he wouldn’t do it. He is a democrat that will allow democracy to grow and thrive. He has entrenched participatory democracy.”
For political observers, Sanwo-Olu’s defiance, notwithstanding subsequent explanation of why Tinubu will not ask him to step down, is sign of full-proof confidence, one that can only come from the proverbial man who has both the knife and the yam.
Daily Trust investigation unearthed what could be Sawan-Olu’s thrust in the battle ahead. “Forget whatever anybody might be telling you. My brother is the next Governor of Lagos State. We have the required support to get there,” Bayo Sawan-Olu’s elder brother told Daily Trust on Sunday.
Speaking further Bayo said: “What else do you expect to happen when all the party structures that worked for the success of Governor Ambode in 2015 have been directed to start working with us? You will hear and see more at my brother’s formal declaration tomorrow (Sunday, September 16, 2018).”
In truth, Sanwo-Olu seems to have the odds in his favour. His recently inaugurated 21-member campaign committee, dominated by all known loyalists of Tinubu, confirmed his anointed claims. Headed by Tayo Ayinde, a former Chief Security Detail to Tinubu as the Director-General, the list also has other loyalists such as Wasiu Eshilokun, the current Deputy Speaker of the State House of Assembly as the Director of Research and Intelligence as well as SOB Agunbiade, the current Majority Leader in the state assembly, as director, legal matters.
Until Sanwo-Olu announced members of his campaign committee on Thursday, September 13, the news that had earlier filtered in the day was that the peace efforts being spearheaded by President Muhammadu Buhari, his wife- Aishat Buhari, Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, the Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, Oyo State Governor, Isiaka Ajimobi among others appeared to be paying off when the leadership of the party in the State asked organizers of the endorsement rally for Sanwo-Olu to put it on hold.
“We received a directive from the top echelons of the party that we should put the rally on hold as it will not portray us well that despite the intervention of Mr. President and other leaders of the party, we seem to be recalcitrant,” a chieftain of the Mandate Group (a political caucus within the Lagos APC), who will not want to be mentioned because he was not authorized to speak to on the development said.
Yet, Sanwo-Olu, a former Special Adviser to Tinubu and two-time Commissioner under former Governor Fashola, is just a beneficiary of the twist and turn that has characterized the relationship between Ambode and Tinubu, in one hand as well as Ambode against other political heavyweights within the Lagos APC at another.
At the heart of Ambode and Tinubu’s feud, Daily Trust on Sunday gathered, is what was considered as “the Ambode’s surreptitious dismantling of Tinubu structures within the state civil service”. A party chieftain and a frontline member of the Mandate Group, explained to Daily Trust on Sunay how Ambode since assumption of office had allegedly been bringing into the civil service some of his loyalists, especially those from his homestead of Epe.
The narrative is that whereas, there truly have been complaints by people of Epe division (one of the five major divisions of Lagos State) about their alleged underrepresentation in the civil service, Ambode was said to have since been making frantic effort to redress the situation. However that seemed to have undermined Tinubu’s hegemony. His loyalists, many of whom were known to have been at the receiving end of Ambode’s actions were said to have insisted on Tinubu to “cut the Governor to size” before he could do further damages.
“I was privy to the move. We knew if this situation continues by way of allowing Ambode to go for second term, he definitely will remove every imprint of Asiwaju in the state civil service. You must have heard about the brouhaha that trailed the procurement of the controversial OB Van and cameras for the Lagos State Television (LTV8). What people knew was that two Directors who were critical of the shady deal behind the procurement were redeployed from the TV station to other ministries. What perhaps was not added was that the duo is Tinubu’s loyalists.
“Of course that was just one out of many others. Do you know that the Governor has been bringing people of less qualification in the service and these were people who are being recruited in contravention of the civil service rule? Rather than employing them through the entry grade of grade level seven and eight, they were placed on level 10 or 12, with the hope of hastening their promotion and placing them in strategic positions within the service,” he said.
Related to this was the alleged stripping of the old Private Sector Participants (PSP) environmental operators of their duties in the State. Inside sources alleged that the Governor had actually underrated what could have been the effect when he brought in new waste management managers.
Another accusation against the Governor is the non-funding of the State secretariat of the party. Two members of the party State Executive also confirmed to Daily Trust on Sunday that if not for the efforts of the likes of Senator Solomon Adeola, representing the Lagos West Senatorial District and Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the party secretariat would probably be under lock and key as the Governor was alleged to have done little or nothing to oil party machinery.
Another grouse against Ambode was described as “technical appropriation of major contracts to his loyalists”. One example cited was the award of key contracts to the popular constructing firm, “O-Planet”. The complaint was that the Governor has been using his office in the last couple of years to raise a new set of wealthy contractors under the guise of executing big projects for the State. The aggrieved party members said the aim is to have these contractors at his beck and call and expect them to finance his re-election.
Several efforts by Daily Trust on Sunday to have the Governor’s side of the story on issues raised against him, through his Chief Press Secretary, Habib Aruna and the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, were unsuccessful as calls and text messages were neither picked nor replied.
However, after participating in the election of delegates for the Presidential primary election and national convention of the party in his home town, Epe, Lagos, on Wednesday, the Governor reportedly told his supporters that there was no rift between him and Tinubu.
Already, the political feud between the Governor and Tinubu as well as his political party appeared to be taking a toll on governance in the State. Aside the fact that political activities of the government appeared to have wane in recent days, the solidarity visit organized by some traditional rulers to the Governor on Thursday was aborted as they could not meet with him. The annual briefing of the state ministry of Justice on the kick-start of another legal year, slated for Friday was also called off at the last minute without any reason prior notice.