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What this seems to suggest is that the zone may have started shaking off the fetters of unilateral influence and control. From the results released by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, the PDP surprisingly won in Ondo and Oyo states, and did not do badly in Osun State.
On Thursday, February 28, but for the prompt intervention of officials of Lagos State Police Command, Lagos would have been thrown into a major political crisis when some political thugs allegedly working for Tinubu, attacked and disrupted the peaceful demonstration of some civil society groups operating under the aegis of ‘O to gee’ (Free Lagos Movement.)’
The policemen, were said to have contained the protesters at the Airport Hotel, Ikeja, where some notable political activists were holding a rally ahead of the March 9 governorship election, where Tinubu is believed to have more than a passing interest. That this could happen at all (successful or not), to many, is another indication of the twilight of the influence of a political godfather.
At the height of his powers in the early 2000s, the man many prefer to call Jagaban, one of his chieftaincy titles, dictated the pace and play of politics in the South-West. His yes was their yes and his no their no. Nobody dared question his actions.
However, suspicion of the waning influence of the astute politician became more pronounced in September, 2018, after the Osun State gubernatorial election. In the first election that was declared inconclusive by the INEC, Ademola Adeleke, the PDP candidate, led with a total votes of 254, 698 while Gboyega Oyetola of the APC polled a total of 254,345 to come second in the keenly contested election.
“The result of the Osun State election is the beginning of the political funeral rites of: Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, Rauf Aregbesola and the APC,” Femi Fani-Kayode, former minister for Aviation, had written on his twitter handle, adding: “The final burial will be on Thursday 27th September 2018 when the @OfficialPDPNig’s Demola Adeleke reclaims his stolen mandate.”
Even when the APC candidate was declared the winner and returned elected after the rerun, many still believed it was the outcome of an extreme manipulation, which cannot be attributed to the will of the people.
Tinubu’s political career began in 1992, when he was elected to the Nigerian Senate to represent the Lagos West constituency in the short-lived Nigerian third republic. After the results of the June 12, 1993 presidential elections were annulled, Tinubu became a founding member of the pro-democracy National Democratic Coalition, NADECO, which mobilised support for the restoration of democracy and recognition of the June 12 results. He went into exile in 1994 and returned to the country in 1998 after the death of General Sani Abacha, the military dictator, which ushered in a transition to civilian rule.
In the run-up to the 1999 elections, Tinubu was a protégé of Abraham Adesanya and Ayo Adebanjo, leaders of the Alliance for Democracy, AD,. He won the AD primaries for the Lagos State gubernatorial elections in competition with Funsho Williams and Wahab Dosunmu, a former minister of Works and Housing. In April 1999, he stood for the position of executive governor of Lagos State on the AD ticket and was elected Lagos State governor
His relationship with Senator Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, his deputy became increasingly frosty over issues bothering on clash of interest. The embattled deputy governor eventually left and was replaced by Femi Pedro.
Pedro later competed to become the AC candidate for governor in the 2007 elections, but withdrew on the eve of the party nomination. He defected to the Labour Party while still keeping his position as deputy governor.
Tinubu’s tenure ended on May 29, 2007 when Babatunde Fashola, his anointed candidate, who had served as his chief of staff, took office, to the chagrin of those who felt more qualified for the post.
Following the victory by the PDP in the April 2007 elections, Tinubu was active in negotiations to bring together the fragmented opposition parties into a mega party capable of challenging the PDP in 2011.
In July 2009, he called for implementation of electoral reforms spelled out in the Uwais report to ensure that the 2011 elections would be as free and fair as the 1993 elections.
In December 2009 there were reports that the Jagaban and Fashola had fallen out over the issue of whether or not Fashola should run for re-election in 2011. Tinubu was allegedly supporting Muiz Banire, the then commissioner for Environment. But the fracas would soon be laid to rest, with Fashola going for a second term that ended in 2014.
Similar circumstances brought into office, Akinwunmi Ambode, an accountant, thereafter. But Ambode is not as lucky as Fashola. He will go down in history as a one-term governor. His godfather (Tinubu), has anointed Babajide Sanwo-Olu, an investment banker, to fly his party’s flag.
Through his instrumentality, his mother died as the Iyaloja General of Yorubaland and was replaced by his daughter, who serves in that capacity till date. Oluremi, his wife, has just won a third term as the senator representing Lagos Central Senatorial Zone.
Tinubu formed the APC alongside Muhammadu Buhari, with the aim of wrestling power from the ruling PDP. The dream came true in 2015 when the APC won the presidential elections and most of the polls across the country.
But no sooner that the APC clinched power at the centre than the Jagaban was obviously side-lined and his list of nominees for appointments allegedly kept aside. His wife had once lamented at the Senate chamber of how the Jagaban was relegated to the background immediately after the APC won the election.
“In September, 2018, after the Osun gubernatorial election, I wrote that the outcome of the exercise showed the waning influence of the Jagaban,” Fredrick Nwabufo, a public affairs analyst, said.
“The 2019 presidential election voting distribution in the South-West accents this position.
“Besides, is there no possibility that President Buhari will consign the Jagaban to a space of irrelevance when he returns like he did after the 2015 elections?” he queried.
“It is really hard to say. But the rain falls even after a long period of sunshine.”
Chike Nnamani, a political analyst said: “Today, the once revered Bola Tinubu has been reduced to a party errand boy with his former boys occasionally lashing out at him, all because they knew Buhari and his men have broken the wings of the emperor.”
– March 01, 2019 @ 17:10 GMT |
Tags: Is Tinubu’s political empire waning?
