Apprehension yesterday gripped political stakeholders in Lagos State ahead of Today’s launch of three books chronicling the stewardship of Mr. Babatunde Fashola as governor of Lagos State between 2007 and 2015.
The apprehension follows the perceived political rivalry between the camp of
Fashola and his erstwhile political godfather, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, himself, also a former governor of the state. The political unease was compounded upon last week’s assertion b
y Fashola that he would not allow himself to be dragged into the mud by those who want to fight like pigs.
However, a third force within the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC it was gathered yesterday has pushed the leadership of the party to convene an emergency state caucus meeting tomorrow where the unfolding issue between the camps of the two former governors is expected to be discussed.
Ahead of today’s book launch it was learnt that activists in the two camps were working to use the occasion to score political points. While some were working to frustrate the book launch as a way of projecting what they claim as Fashola’s political incapacity in the state, the former governor’s loyalists were working to counter the move.
“They are planning but they will not succeed,” an associate of the immediate past governor told Vanguard on telephone yesterday.
Associates of Tinubu were, however, indignant yesterday that they would not honour the book launch, alleging that the immediate past governor had not shown enough respect to his erstwhile political benefactor.
Associates of Tinubu were, however, indignant yesterday that they would not honour the book launch, alleging that the immediate past governor had not shown enough respect to his erstwhile political benefactor.
“A man that has not seen it as wise to visit or thank his master since he stepped down from office, why should we be there,” a close associate of Tinubu said yesterday.
His assertion was, however, countered by a Fashola associate who disclosed yesterday that Fashola’s repeated efforts to speak with Tinubu since the handover had been impossible.
“Tinubu is not picking his calls, so those people saying that Fashola has not visited Tinubu simply do not know what they are talking about, they just don’t know,” the Fashola associate said.
Meanwhile, the frosty relationship between the two camps is set to worsen upon assertions of imminent plans by the new authorities in Lagos to prosecute those involved in alleged hike of contract figures during the immediate past administration.
Normally dependable sources told Vanguard yesterday that officials involved in the award of the contract of the N78 million upgrade of the website of the former governor are among those to be prosecuted.
The three books to be launched today include The Great Leap, a book written by Mr. Hakeem Bello, who served as Special Adviser on Media to Fashola and two others co-authored by Dapo Adeniyi.
The other two are: In Bold Prints: Thoughts of Babatunde Fashola and Lagos Blow Down: West Africa’s First Controlled Demolition.
- Vanguard reportage.
*
Is this rivalry for real or Man made?I cannot for the life of me imagine what Fashola could have done to his former oga to piss him off so bad that it is now termed Rivalry!
"A man that has not seen it as wise to visit or thank his master since he stepped down from office, why should we be there,”
ReplyDeleteIssorait.
Fashola did plenty
DeleteSee, i personally see fashola as not being grateful considering where he came from and how tinubu single handedly made him governor. Fashola has no political clout whatsoever. And to think he was supporting a candidate during the primaries against that of tinubu is complete disloyalty.
Tinubu is not God.
DeleteHe will die and leave the scene one day.
You talk as if Tinubu is the one that supplies oxygen to Fashola's nostrils.
Ambode had better get busy instead of spending his time fighting Tinubu's battles.
At least their is an argument of Fashola's achievements.
Ambode should not make his own a clear cut case of failure.
They should free Fashola abeg. He's more of a technocrat than a politician, hence isn't going to kiss ass. The man has paid his dues to both the state and the party. He made it abundantly clear, although subliminally, that he is NOT seeking for employment anywhere, therefore all the propaganda being sponsored to truncate whatever chances they think he has is unneeded. If they like they should use head begin waka, the man is so done and he bowed out honorably. It is time for him to enjoy the dividends of his hard work and they won't allow him take a breather. They should face Ambode who's only a few months in office and is already stepping on toes bigger than him. Ambode may seem a stooge now, but time will tell. His own pranks will exceed that of Saraki if care isn't taken. Tinubu would be in for a shocker. I'm sure he hasn't recovered from the disgrace Saraki dished him. He should continue.
DeleteI have long suspect that Tinubu is behind all the fruitless campaign to tarnish fashola's image.
ReplyDeleteSince fashola refused to be his stooge, there has been no love lust btw dis 2.
*Lost darling
DeleteTinubu sha wants to be everybody's small god...hian!
ReplyDeleteTinubu needs to chill and stop acting like a scorned ex..its wide knowledge that fasola didnt allow himself to be manipulated by thiefnubu..and the truth is fasola outshone him.baba pls deal wth this...has this answered ur quedtion stella?
ReplyDeleteGood for them, who knows this could just be man made quarrel
ReplyDeletea.k.a EDWIN CHINEDU AZUBUKO said..
ReplyDelete.
Am sure one writer wrote everything shah....
.
.
***CURRENTLY IN JUPITER***
Both should chill and make this talkative APC work.
ReplyDeleteWhat is d book all about ? To talk about ur stewardship in government . Hahahaha .
ReplyDeleteIf dz book does not talk about hw Lagos state treasury n resources was looted . It will not grace my book shelf . Ndi ori ,ndi ori .
Gerrawaayyyy frm here !
Leaders should learn to be selfless. All I see is group of selfish pple who want to score political points.
ReplyDeleteTinubu the selfish politician
ReplyDeleteNa dem sabi
ReplyDeleteTinubu is definitely fighting dirty with a view to rubbishing Fashola's commendable legacy in Lagos state to which the former had earlier admitted was more spectacular than his. This was the same Fashola that deferred to Tinubu in the appointments of over 95% of the State Commissioners and Local Government Chairmen. This was a man that kowtowed to the orders of Tinubu but only resisted when it became obvious that Tinubu was going beyond the ordinary, in terms of fleecing the State.
ReplyDeleteMost of these media attacks are directed at the incumbent Governor to make him succumb to the overbearing demands of Tinubu. Who else can appease this ROGUE and Political Robber called Tinubu, that corners over 20% of the State's monthly IGR and yet is not pacified. I blame Fashola's for his humility and refusal to allow himself to be used to tarnish the image of Tinubu, even when AIT went for his jugular, with all his fraudulent acquisitions.Must Tinubu acquire the whole of Lagos State to be satisfed?
Tinubu and Saraki are the obvious stains in the APC's change mantra. But for Fashola, APC would have long lost Lagos to the PDP because Lagosians are tired of the greedy antics of Tinubu. Why use Fashola's achievements to gain political advantage at both the State and the South West only to turn against him at the national level. The obvious fact is that nobody must outshine Tinubu just like Pa Adesanya, Jakande and many others discovered too late to their chagrin. It is a shame that Tinubu could extend the same philosophy to his erstwhile political son, who had made great conquests and more or less advanced the Tinubu brand. Lagosians voted for the Fashola in Ambode given the fact that Fashola was more or less a creation of God and Tinubu.How and from where does Tinubu expect Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to accommodate his excessive financial demands through short notes,other than through inflated contracts by Tinubu's cronies?.
Tinubu is aware of Buhari's preference for Fashola and all attempts are been made to frustrate this, same with Dr Fayemi. Tinubu's morbid fear is that, Fashola could be used by Buhari to replicate his achievements in Lagos at the Federal level. Who can satisfy this GREEDY BEING Called THIEFNUBU .
Fashola's problem with Tinubu started immediately Buhari commended the achievements of Fashola in Lagos State and nominated him as his Vice President. Tinubu became envious, distraught and livid with anger which caught Sai Buhari unawares because Baba wanted to leverage on the Fashola brand.
Due to the Muslim-Muslim ticket issue, Sai Buhari settled for Fashola as his Chief of Staff. The bubble burst during one of Sai Buhari's external trips to Germany, Fashola was shown moving to the Presidential jet with files when heaven broke loose and numerous negative sponsored media campaigns commenced against him, calling him Sai Buhari's poster boy. Buhari was so irritated by postponing the appointment of a substantive Chief of Staff and rather decided to secretly use the Dr Fayemi, Fashola, El-Rufai, Pat Utomi and many more brilliant heads by the Presidency as Secret Advisers.
Tinubu and his cohorts became more and more frantic on learning Sai Buhari's tactics by submitting numerous petitions against Fashola, even when most of these contracts and expenditures were either made on behalf of or sponsored by Tinubu himself. When this became too much, Fashola outrightly told Sai Buhari that he needed to rest due to his ill-health having served his fatherland meritoriously for 8years, with grey hairs to show for it.Sai Buhari became sad and there and then decided to postpone the appointment of Ministers till September.
Who is afraid of a future President Fashola. POWER BELONGS TO GOD.
I love u with the whole of my loins. You should have seen me read this piece on my toes. My tired dreamy eyes gave way to brightness, my already sleepy brain became alert. Brilliant. You sure are an insider who knows the core TRUTH. No more no less. You've summarised the saga succinctly.
DeleteWell said you are definitely aware of the dirty politics , being played out in full view of every one. Buhari is not stupid he already knows how certain people operate and can see through their schemes and plots. Regardless of all that is happening only God's will shall prevail. " GOD fraustrates the token of liars and make their diviners mad.
DeleteTinubu is definitely fighting dirty with a view to rubbishing Fashola's commendable legacy in Lagos state to which he had earlier admitted was more spectacular than his. This was the same Fashola that deferred to Tinubu in the appointments of over 95% of the State Commissioners and Local Government Chairmen and who kowtowed to the orders of Tinubu but only resisted when it became obvious that Tinubu was going beyond the ordinary, in terms of fleecing the State.
ReplyDeleteMost of these media attacks are directed at making the incumbent Governor succumb to the overbearing demands of Tinubu. Who else can appease this Political Robber, that corners over 20% of the State's monthly IGR and yet is not pacified. I blame Fashola's for his humility and refusal to hijack the party even when Lagosians wanted him to and even when AIT went for his jugular, with all his fraudulent acquisitions.Must Tinubu acquire the whole of Lagos State to be satisfed?
Tinubu and Saraki are the obvious stains in the APC's change mantra. But for Fashola, APC would have long lost Lagos to the PDP because Lagosians are tired of the greedy antics of Tinubu. Why use Fashola's achievements to gain political advantage in the South West only to turn against him at the National level. The obvious fact is that nobody must outshine Tinubu just like Pa Adesanya, Jakande and many others discovered too late to their chagrin. It is a shame that Tinubu could extend the same philosophy to his erstwhile political Son, who had made great conquests and more or less advanced the Tinubu brand. Lagosians voted for the Fashola in Ambode given the fact that Fashola was more or less a creation of God and Tinubu.How and from where does Tinubu expect Fashola, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria, to have accommodated his excessive financial demands through short notes,other than through inflated contracts by Tinubu's cronies?
Tinubu is aware of Buhari's preference for Fashola and all efforts were been made to frustrate this, same with Dr Fayemi. Tinubu's morbid fear is that, Fashola could be used by Buhari to replicate his achievements in Lagos at the Federal level. Who can satisfy this GREEDY BEING Called THIEFNUBU .
Fashola's problem with Tinubu started immediately Buhari started commending Fashola in Lagos State thereby nominating him as his Vice President. Tinubu became envious, distraught and livid with anger which caught Sai Buhari unawares because Baba wanted to leverage on the Fashola brand.
Due to the Muslim-Muslim ticket issue, Sai Buhari then settled for Fashola as his Chief of Staff. The bubble burst during one Sai Buhari's external trips to Germany, Fashola was shown moving to the Presidential jet with files prior to the departure of the President. Heaven broke loose and numerous negative sponsored media campaigns commenced with his being called Sai Buhari's poster boy. This got Buhari so irritated that he decided to postpone the appointment of a substantive Chief of Staff and rather decided to secretly use Dr Fayemi, Fashola, El-Rufai, Pat Utomi and many more brilliant heads are being used in the Presidency under the acronym-Secret Advisers.
Tinubu and his cohorts became more and more frantic on learning Sai Buhari's tactics by submitting numerous petitions against Fashola, even when most of these contracts and expenditures were either made on behalf of or sponsored by Tinubu himself. When this became too much, Fashola outrightly told Sai Buhari that he needed to rest due to his ill-health having served his fatherland meritoriously for 8years, with grey hairs like Obama to show for it.Sai Buhari became sad and there and then decided to postpone the appointment of Ministers till September.
Who is afraid of a future President Fashola. POWER BELONGS TO GOD.
OK now I know who u are. Lol
DeleteWho be master, who be servant? Nonsense!
ReplyDeleteFashola is free at last. Nothing lasts forever.
ReplyDeleteA LOT OF PEOPLE DO NOT KNOW HOW DIRTY BOLA AHMED TINUBU CAN FIGHT WHEN HE DOES NOT GET HIS WAY. ALL OF THIS BATTLE IS JUST BECAUSE BABATUNDE RAJI FASHOLA IS GOING HIGHER TINUBU DOES NOT LIKE ANY ONE AIMING HIGHER OR PROGRESSING ABOVE HIM. ALL THIS TROUBLE LIKE A SPOILT CHILD THAT IS NOT ALLOWED TO HAVE HIS WAY. LEAVE BRF ALONE LEST GOD DISGRACE AND FRUSTRATES ALL YOUR PLANS. IT IS EITHER HIS WAY OR NO WAY HE DOES NOT UNDERSTAND THE MEANING OF COMPROMISE. HE IS A DICTATOR TO THE CORE DISGUISING AS A DEMOCRACY CHAMPION. MAY GOD ALMIGHTY DELIVER LAGOS STATE FROM THIS BONDAGE AND OPPRESSION.
ReplyDelete