EXCLUSIVE: Untold Story of Sanwo-Olu’s Imminent Fall From Grace, The Obi Connection

By Akinjide Aina, Abuja Bureau Chief

Babajide Sanwo-Olu is in his last days as the  governor of Lagos state. The only light at the end of the tunnel that could save him has now dimmed. That light are the Progressive Governors Forum and eminent Yoruba politicians, monarchs. This Magazine can authoritatively reveal that the embattled governor’s differences with President Bola Tinubu have degenerated beyond any amendment or settlement as the Nigerian leader is resolute in baying for his ( Sanwo-Olu) head and has spurned entreaties from the Progressives Governors Forum led by Imo state governor, Senator Hope Uzodinma to forgive him( Sanwo-Olu).

The President, the Magazine was reliably informed, has equally rejected appeals from some respected Yoruba monarchs and politicians across parties to let Sanwo- Olu be.Instead, the President has reportedly given the governor two options: Resign or be ignominy kicked out. Governor Sanwo-Olu’s impeachment documents,  already prepared, stamped and sealed, are said to be, allegedly, in the kitty of the Speaker of Lagos state House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, and will be immediately served on the Governor as soon as as the Speaker receives the green light to do so. “And this will be sooner than the public expects”, a source familiar with the anti- Sanwo-Olu plots told The Source.

And what wrong did Sanwo- Olu do to Tinubu, his godfather who plugged him from obscurity and made him governor? Why does President Tinubu now wanta to see his godson’s back?

Obasa, the powerful and longest reigning House Speaker in Nigeria is President Tinubu’s longtime political ally and a trusted foot soldier. Multiple Aso Rock sources told the magazine that the President felt betrayed and let down when, under Sanwo-Olu’s nose, and without a recourse to him( Tinubu), members of Lagos state House of Assembly, early February effected Obasa’s impeachment. Though, he later got the House to reinstate the Speaker, the President was said to have squarely held Sanwo- Olu responsible for the initial impeachment, accusing him of engineering and bankrolling it with the view to undermining his influence and hold on Lagos politics. He equally accused the governor of trying to chart an independent political course for himself.

Apart from the Obasa impeachment saga, there is also the Peter Obi angle to the President’s anger against his godson. The magazine was informed that shortly after the 2023 Presidential election in which Obi trounced Tinubu in Lagos, Tinubu, then President-elect,  expressed a displeasure to the Lagos state governor to the effect that under his watch, he ( Tinubu) lost Lagos, a state he had ruled as governor and a state considered his stronghold, his fortress. He went on, it was learnt, to wonder if Sanwo -Olu was a mole and aided Obi’s triumph in Lagos by not deploying enough state machinery.

The president allegedly complained that the Labour Party Presidential candidate’s victory in Lagos was an embarrassment to him and an indelible slur on his political career even though he was eventually declared winner of the presidential election.

The President’s ill- feelings towards Governor Sanwo-Olu was initially muted and concerned political stakeholders were making frantic efforts to resolve it before the Nigerian leader blew it open by snubbing the governor at the commissioning of the 30km out of the 700km Lagos – Calabar Coastal road recently.

A source who witnessed Sanwo-Olu’s humiliation at the Murtala Muhammed Airport when Tinubu arrived Lagos for the commissioning ceremony informed the magazine that the President deliberately bypassed the governor, ignoring a customary handshake and instead greeted Deputy Governor, Hamzat.

Governor Sanwo-Olu, the magazine gathered, was initially refused appearance for the airport formalities, it took intense last-minute lobbying and persuasion to get included in the schedule, his Deputy had already been added to the protocols list as his replacement at the Airport, the source reveal”

And allegedly at the instance of the President, another source informed, Sanwo-Olu was asked to stay away from the commissioning of 37km Lekki Deep Sea Port Access road last week. His deputy, Hamzat, instead took his place.

Meanwhile, this magazine has learnt that interest groups and some Lagos political leaders pushing for the emergence of the President’s son, Seyi as the next Lagos state governor are mounting pressure on the President for Seyi to be named Deputy to  Hamzat ( when Sanwo-Olu resign or is impeached) preparatory to his (Seyi) contesting the Lagos governorship in 2027.

“This arrangement is seamless and less acrimonious and it will pan out this way: Hamzat becomes governor after Sanwo-Olu is gone, Seyi is named his Deputy. In 2027, Seyi, the sitting Deputy Governor is nominated as the APC governorship candidate and Obasa his Deputy; and Hamzat proceeds to the Senate or is compensated with a ministerial appointment”