President Bola Ahmed Tinubu still appears displeased with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, with tensions reportedly linked to various concerns
President Bola Ahmed Tinubu still appears displeased with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, with tensions reportedly linked to various concerns, including his association and attendance at Aisha Sulaiman-Achimugu’s extravagant birthday celebration abroad last year which sparked media controversy.
The tension may have explained the choice of the President to mark the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations in Abuja instead of Lagos.
The President who was scandalised by the lavish party Aisha threw for her 50th birthday celebrations with Sanwo-Olu in attendance, in addition to claims that she had been swaying Sanwo-Olu in matters of governance, especially the deployment of favours in the state.
Indeed, the tales of how Aisha had become a major influence peddler in Lagos is among what provoked a petition against her to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC which last week declared her wanted in a statement signed by Dele Oyewale, the spokesman of the anti-corruption agency.
In that statement the EFCC accused Aisha of criminal conspiracy and money laundering.
According to political insiders, what grieved Tinubu most was how Sanwo-Olu is said to be at the fingertips of the woman, something the president is known to deeply dislike, a woman controlling a man in the discharge of a position of public trust.
There are also serious suspicions and allegations spreading in political circles both in Lagos and Abuja that the Benue born Aisha was the conduit who delivered funds from Sanwo-Olu to the Atiku campaign, a claim already disputed by the Atiku media team.
Both the presidency and the EFCC have also said the investigation is not linked to Sanwo-Olu or Atiku.
Informed sources added that the president had also not been very comfortable with the aftermath of the results of the 2023 presidential polls in Lagos which he lost to Peter Obi, the Labour Party Presidential candidate.
Specifically, sources close to Sanwo-Olu say the president was aghast that while he lost the 2023 polls with Sanwo-Olu in the saddle, the governor came out victorious couple weeks later in the 2023 polls with a significant margin of victory.
While the President was not expecting Sanwo-Olu to be defeated, he seemed to have believed claims that the governor didn’t work hard for the presidential polls like he did the gubernatorial polls weeks after.
This created some real political tensions between the godfather and his godson.
But while there hasn’t been significant show of the tension in public, there are multiple factors that continue to strain their relationship.
Infact, a source close to Sanwo-Olu feared that Tinubu would have celebrated the end of the Ramadan fast in Lagos few days ago but may have decided to remain in Abuja because of the frosty relationship between them both.
An Aso Villa protocol source said, “Even some advance party team of the President had been planning to go to Lagos for the Eid-el-Fitr with the hope that the president would travel to Paris from Lagos, until it was clear that President certainly wanted to avoid Sanwo-Olu.”
The president flew out to Paris from Abuja on Wednesday afternoon, a day after the Eid-el-Fitr public holidays.
One of the major flashpoints between Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu was the power struggle involving Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa. The dispute, which saw Obasa challenge certain executive decisions by Sanwo-Olu, reportedly created divisions within the Lagos political establishment.
Tinubu, known for his strong influence in Lagos politics, was said to have taken a firm stance on the matter, in a clear support of Obasa leading to friction with the former governor. Sanwo-Olu’s aides alleged that at least in one instance the president fumed in a phone chat with Sanwo-Olu during the Obasa, state assembly crisis that Sanwo-Olu would have to resign.
This compelled Sanwo-Olu to procure the help of elders such as Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Segun Osoba to appeal on his behalf.
The strained relationship between Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu has raised questions about the former governor’s political future.
Political observers suggest that while Sanwo-Olu has remained largely silent on these issues, his next moves will determine whether he retains influence within the APC or faces political isolation.
But there are serious concerns that the president’s displeasure has become rather deep and may have influenced the recent decision to investigate Aisha who managed to escape the country and has stayed steps ahead of the investigation on her.
