*Gov’s Alleged Deals With Paramour Cited
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, drawing the President’s attention. The tension may have explained the choice of the President to mark the Eid-el-Fitr celebrations in Abuja instead of Lagos.
Close associates shared the information of the lavish party by Aisha with the President who was scandalised not only by the occurrence itself but by the claims that the paramour had been swaying the Lagos State Governor in matters of governance, especially the deployment of favours in the State.
Indeed the tales of how Ms. Achimugu had become a major influence peddler in Lagos is among what provoked a petition against her to the 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 Lagos State political insiders “what grieved the President most was how the Governor is said to be at the finger tips of the woman, something Asiwaju is known to deeply dislike, that a woman is 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 Kogi 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 the Lagos State Governor say the President was aghast that while he lost the 2023 polls with Sanwo-Olu in the saddle, the Lagos State 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 also to be defeated, he seems 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 President and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, although many top Nigerian politicians believe the Lagos Governor mobilised significant funds for the 2023 Tinubu Presidential campaigns.
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 Asiwaju 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 President Tinubu and Governor 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 confirmed 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 the Lagos Governor to procure the help of elders such as Chief Bisi Akande and Aremo Segun Osoba to appeal on his behalf.
Prior to this, rumors circulated that Sanwo-Olu had covertly supported Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), during the 2023 elections.
Said a keen observer of Lagos politics “the President believes that is true, and such an alignment is considered a significant breach of loyalty in a political landscape where Tinubu’s leadership in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) remains dominant.”
While no concrete evidence has emerged, speculation about divided allegiances has persisted. Atiku Abubakar has publicly denied that Sanwo-Olu supported him, but in the world of politics, narratives fueled by supposedly credible sources often carry more weight than official statements.
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 Achimugu, who it is believed managed to have escaped and left the country steps ahead of the investigation.
