There are cracks in the South-west home base of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, months to the formal commencement of activities leading to the 2027 general elections.
The South-west being the president’s natal base where he cut his political teeth to become one of the most influential political leaders in the country is regarded as his turf and linchpin for 2027.
Recent happenings in the zone have, however, shown that the cohesion in the president’s base is being threatened by many issues in no less than three states in the zone, especially his home state, Lagos.
Our correspondents observe that there are schisms in the president’s camp in Oyo, Osun and Lagos with the most serious threat coming from Lagos where the president appears not to be in good terms with the state governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Recently, the pan-Yoruba socio-political organization, Afenifere, also issued a scathing criticism on the president’s tenure, saying Tinubu’s renewed hope has turned into a nightmare for Nigerians.
The group, in a statement by its leader and national publicity secretary, Oba Oladipo Olaitan and Justice Faloye, said the midterm report of the Tinubu administration has shown that every human development and sociopolitical index in the country has regressed.
Facts have also emerged that in Osun State, the initial plan to allow the former governor Adegboyega Oyetola to fly the APC flag in 2026 as he did in 2018 and 2022 may have been altered which has not gone down well with those in the Oyetola camp.
Though, Oyetola is now serving as minister for Marine and Blue Economy, sources say he prefers to return and complete his second term in office.
In Oyo State, there’s a serious division between the camps of Minister of Power, Adebayo Adelabu and Senator Teslim Folarin over who the president should support for the party’s ticket in 2027.
The reluctance of the president to intervene in the two states currently under the PDP rule is further affecting the cohesion in the president’s camp.
In Lagos, Tinubu’s snub of Governor Sanwo-Olu during the commissioning of the completed portion of section one of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Road covering 30 kilometres came as the confirmation of a long held suspicion that the governor may have fallen out of the good books of the president.
However, the governor dismissed the existence of any rift between him and the president, saying the relationship is that of father and son.
Addressing journalists after a meeting with President Tinubu and members of the Governors Advisory Council (GAC) in Lagos on Sunday, Sanwo-Olu said those alluding to any crisis are trying to be more Catholic than the Pope.
The governor said, “Did you see any discord? Can’t you see, you are smiling, I’m smiling? There’s none(discord). They are people that believe that they are more Catholic than the Pope.
“There are people that you see, they cry more than the bereaved. You know father and son relationship, we will always, always ensure that. There’s nothing at all. He is my father, my leader and we’re grateful that he has given us the audience today to come in and say hello to him.”
Sanwo-Olu also disclosed that the president was happy to see him and members of the GAC.
“Nothing beyond the fact that he was very happy to see us; extremely, very happy to see us. He was very excited that we are one big happy family, and we are not divided in any form, and we all honestly also pledged our full loyalty to him, to his government, as our leader, as our father, and it was unanimous, and he has charged us to ensure that the forthcoming local government election, that we should all go and do our very best and ensure that we continue to keep the flag of the party flying,” he said.
A source also said that the president declared at the meeting that he was no longer angry with the governor. The source said the president did not go into details about the cause of the rift, but accepted the plea for reconciliation. “It is all over now. All is forgiving,” the source quoted Tinubu as saying.
A 28-second video that emerged last week and viewed by our correspondent, showed Tinubu who arrived for the commissioning of the coastal road having a handshake with other governors who were already seated at the venue, but when it was the turn of Sanwo-Olu, he side stepped him.
Also, the governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun was chosen to speak at the event well above the host governor, Sanwo-Olu, who is also the chairman of the South-west Governors’ Forum.
What initially started as speculation has now become an open secret, threatening the cohesion, peace, stability and tranquility in the party and is already causing rifts among party leaders in the state, Daily Trust gathered.
Two things are said to be the major issues that strained the relationship between the president and the governor, leading to the current ripples within the political camp of Tinubu.
2023 election and Peter Obi/Atiku connection
An APC leader told Daily Trust over the weekend that the recent revelation that the governor allegedly contributed to the campaign funds of Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential candidate in 2023 by proxy was what raised the red flag for the president.
This has been interpreted to mean that the governor wasn’t committed to Tinubu’s presidency in 2023, alleging that, that was why the president lost Lagos under his watch as governor.
Obasa’s impeachment
The impeachment of Speaker Mudashiru Obasa as the House of Assembly presiding officer was one of the issues that pitted the president against Governor Sanwo-Olu.
On January 13, there was a drama in the House of Assembly when Mudashiru Obasa was impeached as Speaker of the legislative house. The impeachment of the Speaker, who was far away in the United State, was seen as a rude shock given the enormous power and clout enjoyed by Obasa. Until that moment, Obasa appeared untouchable due to his position as a long-term ally and political godson to the president.
However, the impeachment of the Speaker was said to have irked Tinubu, who directed that he should be reinstated. It was a tough battle for the 49 days that the impeachment saga lasted. At exactly 49 days after Obasa’s impeachment, the status quo was restored as Mojisola Meranda, who was elected after Obasa’s purported impeachment returned to her former position as the Deputy Speaker of the House of Assembly.
Despite the impeachment getting the imprimatur of the majority of members of the 40-man house of assembly, Obasa was reinstated as the Speaker though feelers say the relationship in the legislative house is no longer as it used to be.
Since that crisis, sources said, the president has not been happy with the governor for his alleged role in the saga.
“The president was very furious that the governor disrespected him by supporting the impeachment of Obasa without informing him. The return to status quo was to tell you that the president would not tolerate such an act of rebellion against his political empire and since then the relationship between the duo has not been cordial,” said an APC leader who pleaded anonymity.
While the relationship has been sour since the Obasa’s impeachment saga, they have continued to manage it until the president’s public snub of the governor at the commissioning of the coastal road.
Prior to that, the governor was said to have been less visible in several engagements involving the president while it was learnt that his colleagues in the progressive governors’ forum were making frantic efforts to reconcile them.
The governor was also not at the commissioning of projects in Lagos on Thursday including his visit to the Dangote Petrochemical Refinery. The president also commissioned some roads linking the Lekki Deep Seaport and other projects by the Ministry of Works. Instead, the Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamza was most visible at the commissioning. The absence of the Sanwo-Olu further fueled speculations, especially after he was sighted in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State, barely 24 hours later, during the defection of the governor, Umo Eno, from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to the All Progressives Congress (APC)
DAILY TRUST.
