By Efe Onodjae
Professor Dapo Thomas, former aide to President Bola Tinubu during his tenure as governor of Lagos State, has recounted how the President defied pressure from influential leaders of the then Action Congress of Nigeria, ACN, to install Babatunde Fashola as the party’s governorship candidate in 2007.
Fashola later won the governorship election, defeating Musiliu Obanikoro of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
Thomas, in his autobiography, Lagos Boy and Lagos Politics, revealed that despite several meetings held by prominent ACN elders, including Olatunji Hamzat, Bushura Alebiosu, Ajisebutu, Baba Taiwo and Baba Pupa, to persuade Tinubu to abandon his choice of Fashola, the then Lagos governor stood his ground.
The Professor of International Relations at Lagos State University in Chapter 73, page 389, of the 445 pages book recounted: “On Thursday, June 1, 2006, our assignment began in earnest. We set our goal, to ensure victory for ACN in the April 14, 2007, governorship election with just one goal: to ensure victory for ACN in the April 14, 2007, governorship election in Lagos State. We set our objectives as well:
