A silent war is brewing between Oba Rilwan Akiolu of Lagos and President Bola Tinubu. The two, THEWILL exclusively gathered have been at loggerheads over an undisclosed issue and unless they come to an agreement to let sleeping dogs lie, it just may snowball into a situation that will threaten the foundations of the Centre of Excellence.
Although the traditional ruler was one of the few people that Tinubu paid a visit immediately he was announced as president-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, reliable sources close to the two disclose that the visit was intended to ‘fulfill all righteousness’. It was nothing other than a mere photo op.
Society watchers believe however that whatever relationship that existed between Oba Akiolu and President Tinubu in the past may have been tested without fully being mended allegedly on account of Akiolu’s close relationship with Akinwunmi Ambode, a former governor of the state.
The traditional ruler managed to nurture a father/son relationship with Ambode, which started before the 2015 General Election and continued, even after the latter ceased to be in power.
Akiolu manifested how much Ambode meant to him during the period that the former governor’s second term ambition was threatened and finally cut short by Tinubu. He did everything within his power to get the President to rescind his decision to deny Ambode a second term ticket.
The Oba made several trips to Tinubu’s residence in an attempt to iron out things with him and consulted with many others that mattered in political circles across the state and beyond, to help save Ambode’s job, but in vain.
Akiolu was very disappointed in himself on realising that even he could not use his position as a first-class traditional ruler to broker a hugely important truce between the two warring parties. While he has maintained a cordial relationship with Tinubu, his affection for Ambode has not waned one bit till date.
Ivory Ukonu is a versatile journalist with many years of experience, with entertainment and society reporting as her area of core competence.
