By Uche Mbah
The Political dynasty of Asiwaju Bola Tinubu appears to be under high tension in recent times since he decided against the idea of the continuation in office of Akinwumi Ambode, the incumbent governor of Lagos state. Since that fateful decision, the state has been in dilemma on what should be done with the governor, whose loyalty the Tinubu camp are no longer sure of. They toyed with the idea of using the Lagos House of Assembly for his impeachment but the option has its own drawbacks: The state Chief Judge is an appointee of the governor and is unlikely to toe the line of impeachment. The buck stops at his table as the last clearing house. So even if they can muster the majority votes-or play the 8 is greater the 18 political prank-they will still not be sure of the final outcome.
Majority of the members of the house are said to be Tinubu Loyalists.
It is also coincidental that as soon as Ambode has accepted his fate as a one term governor, Jimmy Agbaje, who had been nonchalant about the governorship, suddenly became serious about contesting under the platform of PDP. Rumors that Agbaje has been collecting contracts from Ambode before now, by proxy or otherwise, has been rife. They were said to be very close pals-so close that that it is suspected by the Tinubu camp that Ambode may be financing the gubernatorial ambition of Agbaje. “He has spent over N2billion on Agbaje’s campaign”, a visibly agitated APC member told this Magazine. “The last N350 million was given to him on the day MC Oluomo was attacked”. According to him, most of the money was transferred in tranches through close allies of the governor, or through a new generation bank.
Of course, this may be nothing but political propaganda. But certain occurrences indicate a crisis of confidence and distrust that runs through the relationship between the governor and his estranged godfather. For example, the attack on Musliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, on the day of the rally had many implications. It is believed that he is an important factor in the prosecution of the 2019 general elections in Lagos. It will be recalled that he was drafted to Osun state to help in prosecuting the Osun rerun elections. His elimination therefore is considered a big blow to the APC Lagos election template. Which was why it was rumored that immediately after, the powers that be in Lagos contacted the former Inspector General of Police, IGP, Mohamed Idris, requesting a change of guard in Lagos citing security lapses during the ApC rally as evidence. Idris obliged and sent Tinubu’s former ADC to replace the Police commissioner, Edgal Imonimi, who was allegedly brought in by Ambode. It was said that Edgal was a school mate of Ambode. The new IG has, however, reversed the posting.
It is also noticed that on the day Oluomo was attacked, reports of Tinubu collapsing and being rushed to an Abuja hospital surfaced. Although it was later denied, and those who spread the rumor apologized, particularly when Tinubu appeared in a function the following day, many still believed that there was no smoke without fire.
Since then, Tinubu has lapsed into political silence. He has not been seen at rallies. He was absent in Kogi, Delta, Edo and Kaduna. Buhari, who said he wants to concentrate on governance has been forced to mount the rostrum in each case-with disastrous consequences.
His sudden disappearance is currently fueling speculations about his own health-or disagreement with the so called cabal
