Atiku-Sanwo-Olu Gate: Unwitting Validation Of Disputed Claims | Olabode Opeseitan
A corporate entity was in the middle of one of its most embarrassing crises. The organization reached out to the most accomplished Public Relations expert in town. He studied the case, and advised the organization to “DO NOTHING.” When I read the response by Paul Ibe, the Media Adviser to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, on the reports making the rounds that Governor Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State funded Atiku’s 2023 presidential election campaign, I was shocked by the framing. A “SAY NOTHING” response or a concise media statement would probably not have given the Atiku camp away the way that statement did.
Three things stood out. First, Paul, a seasoned media veteran, wrote: “How is it possible for an Atiku that does not know and had no connection with Sanwo-Olu to be having a transaction with him involving the exchange of money—let alone during the Presidential election of 2023, in which his boss was a contestant? To what end would that be?” Mr. Ibe, please! You don’t need to know or meet someone before funding their campaign! Second, he said: “We wish to, therefore, state emphatically and for the record that it is a political hatchet job aimed at providing a much-needed justification to jettison Governor Sanwo-Olu, who appears to have fallen out of favor with the ‘Bourdillon Cult.’”
That is the biggest clue that confirms the opposite of what the media statement was intended to achieve. It betrays sympathy, alliance, and affinity. Otherwise, why should Atiku’s camp be concerned about a supposed justification for jettisoning Babajide Sanwo-Olu? Ordinarily, Atiku’s camp should be over the moon if there were a crisis in the camp of their biggest political rival. Strangely, they are not. Again, of what significance is this part of the media statement? “An unnamed aide of Sanwo-Olu is quoted in the news story trashing his principal and adding fuel to the fire. Pray, who does that?”
If I may ask, Mr. Ibe, why is that a concern for the Atiku camp if Sanwo-Olu is an absolute stranger to you, as you claimed? I hope and pray this allegation is not true. Otherwise, it would be one of the biggest acts of political betrayal in Nigeria. It is like throwing one’s boss under the bus. The 2023 presidential election was the biggest political fight of Tinubu’s life. That was what he had been waiting for. From what I gathered, it was one of the reasons he helped trusted allies to attain power—to facilitate the actualization of his ambition to be President.
Remember that Tinubu lost Lagos State in that election. There is no smoke without fire. What snowballed into this smoke? Deep within himself, Sanwo-Olu knows whether the story is true or not. If it is not true, he should continue to discharge his duties diligently but if it is true, he should take the next honorable step.
