Former Lagos State Governor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, may have dismissed speculation that he and his successor, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola are at daggers drawn after his representative, Prof. Tunde Samuel at the launch of three books on Fashola’s stewardship of Lagos State, poured encomium on the immediate past governor.
Reports of issues between the pair have emerged in recent time, and Tinubu’s absence and that of incumbent Lagos governor, Mr. Akinwunmi Ambode at the occasion on Tuesday at Muson Centre may have further fuelled the rumour mill.
But Prof. Samuel who represented Tinubu at the occasion came with a message from him full of praises for his successor.
He said, “Fashola acquired a lot of apprenticeship in a wired political engineering and this further helped his actions while in office. I am happy that your ruggedness in office has shown Lagosians and Nigerians that Asiwaju took a very good decision when he made you his Chief of Staff and later two time Governor of Lagos state.
“We are happy about your success in office and we believe the sky is your limit,” the former commissioner concluded.
The Chairman of the occasion, Mr. Fola Adeola said Fashola was a reference point to other governors while he was in office.
“I was in Benin and somebody was talking about Lagos State and Fashola, I was surprised and wondered where they knew him from. Also, in Kano State during Governor Kwankwanso’s tenure, a young man was saying his governor is trying to replicate what Fashola is doing in Lagos in the state. So in my dictionary, Fashola represents every good thing,” he recounted.
In his remarks, Fashola owed his successful tenure to support he received from people who worked with him while in office, and spoke glowingly of his then Chief Press Secretary, Akeem Bello, the writer of the books launched.
He said: “I think it will be wrong for anyone to believe today belongs to me but it is not. It belongs to Hakeem Bello, who painstakingly documented these three books. It also belongs to Dapo Adeniyi, who worked with him. And to all those who joined us in this event, what you have done is to join us in celebrating Hakeem Bello, a gentleman, family man whose passion for his work epitomises his fidelity in what he believes in.
“We need to know that there are people who started this journey before me especially my predecessor in office, Bola Ahmed Tinubu. There are also men and women who served with me while I was n office for eight years. So, those achievements would not have been possible without these people who served with me who also include judges in this state.”
