By Ejikeme Omenazu



LAGOS – As lobbyists continue to throng the office and residence of Babajide Sanwo-Olu for appointments as commissioners and other offices, indications have emerged that the All Progressives Congress (APC) governor-elect in Lagos State may in his first term make do with ex-commissioners who served under former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu in his cabinet.

Informed party sources confided in DAILY INDEPENDENT on Thursday that Asiwaju Tinubu, the APC National Leader and godfather of Lagos politics, might have enlisted several of his former commissioners, when he held sway as the state governor, who had wanted to succeed him, but were dropped in the last minute in favour of Babatunde Fashola, his then Chief of Staff.

The sources stated that some of the former commissioners had thought that they were in good books of Tinubu to succeed him then and were preparing grounds for the party’s primary and had even printed posters as well as made few public appearances as aspirants under the then Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) platform.

However, at the dying minute, according to our sources, they were individually called and told in clear terms that the Alausa seat of power was not vacant and were advised to indicate in whatever capacity they could serve the state apart from the governorship.

Some of the then commissioners who managed to stay till the end of Tinubu’s tenure, however, became inactive, though they remained in the party, while others defected to other parties, where they could not make much impact.

Although some of the former commissioners also left to their states of origin to contest for offices, few others bagged federal appointments, while others who left the party, returned and had been very active in the APC and helped the party win the 2015 and 2019 general elections.

Our source maintained that now that the election had been won and people were being penciled down for appointments by the in-coming governor, the party’s leadership in the state felt that the time had come to reward the ex-commissioners and aspirants, whose dreams of governing Lagos were cut short by the special privilege granted to Fashola then.

This, the party leaders felt, would assuage any bitter feelings among the ex-commissioners and pay them back for their loyalty to the platform right over the years from the days of Alliance for Democracy (AD) to ACN and APC.

The source, who pleaded anonymity, stressed, “In fact, Sanwo-Olu will make do with these ex-commissioners as his cabinet members. Many of them will be rewarded this time around. One of them, a very powerful lady in the party who returned from the PDP with her full structures, has been tipped as Secretary of the State Government (SSG).

SanusiGworo:
I still don't get how Tinubu is able to hoodwink Lagosians that he cares about them.

Although some of the former commissioners also left to their states of origin to contest for offices,

SanusiGworo:
I still don't get how Tinubu is able to hoodwink Lagosians that he cares about them.

dukie25:
I have it on good authority that MC Oluomo is the incoming commissioner of finance.

Next level

Esseite:
Why use MAY, sanwo olu being a commissioner and now a Governor elect in Ambode's cabinet was as a result of Tinubu's influence. so, what say does he have on Tinubu installing cabinet members in his own admin.

It's only a strong influential Yoruba group devoid of any other tribal influence funded by a greater power that can dismantle Tinubu's Godfatherism. that was why Jimi gave him a run for his money in 2015, but could not break sweat in 2019.. Another reason why Tinubu would never cross Buhari, because it's only the FG that can take him out of which GEJ acted quite late.