The cord of consanguinity within the All Progressives Congress (APC) family in Lagos State seems to be waxing strong with the refreshing sight of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and his immediate predecessor Akinwunmi Ambode.
In the sight rare as hen’s teeth, the two men beamed with pleasing teeth-opening smiles after a meeting on Monday.
“Today, I welcomed my brother and predecessor, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, back to Lagos House on a courtesy visit,” an elated Sanwo-Olu captioned social media photos of himself and his predecessor.
“Our conversation centred around the future of Lagos and building on the solid foundation already in place. I value his perspective as we all work together to ensure that Lagos remains on the path of growth and development.”
Monday’s meeting came over one year after Sanwo-Olu and Ambode met publicly at a reception organised in honour of President Bola Tinubu at the Lagos House in the Marina area of the state in June 2023.
It was the first time Sanwo-Olu, Ambode and another ex-Lagos governor Babatunde Fashola met in over four years since the wind of internal wrangling slapped the ruling political class in the state.
How It All Started
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 took over in 2015 but lost his re-election at the APC primary in the 2019 electioneering process due to intra-party squabbles as APC strongman in Lagos (Tinubu) was reported to have favoured the incumbent governor (Sanwo-Olu), over Ambode.
Since he 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.
The former governor has also been reticent at the few times he 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.
There were reports that Ambode would contest the party’s governorship ticket with Sanwo-Olu at the primary in May 2022. Rather, his ally, Wale Oluwo, threw his hat in the ring but lost to Sanwo-Olu.
Unlike Fashola and Sanwo-Olu, Ambode did not publicly endorse Tinubu’s 2023 presidential ambition. Ambode also did not make any comment on Tinubu’s victory after the polls. However, there were hints of reconciliation when Sanwo-Olu attended Ambode’s 60th birthday party in Lagos on June 14, 2023.