Reports on both traditional and social media have continued to trend that the crisis rocking the past Governors of Lagos State, Babatunde Fashola, Akinwumi Ambode and Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is over as they were seen exchanging banters at a public function for the first time in four years.
The trio met at a reception organised in honour of President Bola Tinubu on Thursday at the Lagos House in the Marina area of the state.
The Media Adviser to the Lagos State Governor, Gboyega Akosile, on his official Twitter account, posted a video of the trio in a cheerful mood, taking pictures and exchanging pleasantries with other guests.
The Quest Times learned that since Nigeria’s return to democracy in 1999, Ambode is the only former Governor of the state who was in office for a single term. Tinubu was Governor between 1999 and 2007 before he handed over to Fashola who was in office from 2007 to 2015 and later Nigeria’s Minister of Works and Housing between 2015 and 2023.
Ambode who took over in 2015 but lost his re-election at the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary in the 2019 electioneering process due to intra-party troubles as APC strongman in Lagos (Tinubu) was reported to have favoured the incumbent governor (Sanwo-Olu) over Ambode who is running his second tenure in office.
According to the report, Since he (Ambode) ended his single term in 2019, Ambode has not been seen at political or social functions with his predecessors – Tinubu and Fashola. He has also not been seen at events with the incumbent governor.
FINDINGS: The Quest Times gathered that the Former Governor was pictured at APC events at the national level like in May 2021 when he was appointed the deputy chairman of the South-West sub-committee of the Contact and Strategy Committee of the ruling party where most of the top stakeholders including FASHOLA was in attendance.
Also just recently, Governor Sanwo-Olu attended Ambode’s 60th birthday party in Lagos on June 14, 2023 precisely, perhaps as part of the reconciliation moves.
VERDICT: The Quest Times concludes that the claim speculating that the predecessors are meeting Governor SANWO-OLU for the first time in public function is untrue and baseless and is just targeted at attracting media attention.