The Governance Advisory Council, GAC, has brokered peace between President Bola Tinubu and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Presidency sources said members of the GAC, an honorary advisory body to the Lagos State Governor, met with President Tinubu, with Sanwo-Olu also in attendance. The meeting took place on Sunday at the President’s private residence in Ikoyi, Lagos.
In attendance were the Chairman of the GAC, Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, other council members, and several top Lagos politicians. Among those present who are not GAC members were the Chief of Staff to the President, Rt. Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila; Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa; and the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat.
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Also present from the GAC were former Lagos West Senator Ganiyu Olanrewaju Solomon and former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro.
Sources at the meeting disclosed that Olusi led the discussion and appealed to President Tinubu to forgive Governor Sanwo-Olu. He reportedly did so without going into specific details of the dispute. President Tinubu was said to have accepted the plea and declared the matter resolved.
The disagreement had escalated recently, notably when Tinubu publicly snubbed Sanwo-Olu at a Lagos event. The tension intensified further when the governor was not acknowledged in an official Presidency statement during his arrival at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport for the ECOWAS 50th anniversary and Sallah celebration.
Political watchers assume that the rift stemmed from Tinubu’s dissatisfaction with his loss of Lagos State during the 2023 presidential election to Peter Obi of the Labour Party. In contrast, Sanwo-Olu secured re-election, leading to suspicions that the governor had not fully supported Tinubu’s campaign.
Additionally, the situation reportedly worsened when Speaker Obasa was temporarily removed from office—allegedly with the backing from Sanwo-Olu, a claim the governor has consistently denied. Obasa has since been reinstated.
With GAC’s intervention, the long-standing political tension now appears to have been laid to rest.
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