Research Professor of International Relations and Strategic Studies at the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Femi Otubanjo, has said the political structure in Lagos State remains heavily influenced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, particularly regarding the emergence of future governors in the state.
Speaking during an interview on Arise News, Otubanjo discussed the growing conversations surrounding Lagos politics and speculation over the possible emergence of Deputy Governor Kadri Obafemi Hamzat as the next governor of the state.
According to the professor, Tinubu’s political influence in Lagos remains so dominant that no political force within the state can successfully oppose his preferred candidate if he eventually decides to endorse one person for the governorship position.
“If President Tinubu does not choose one person in Lagos to be governor and does not say ‘this is the person I want,’ then nobody, all the one billion people cannot upturn his decision,” Otubanjo said during the interview.
The professor’s remarks came amid ongoing debates about succession politics within the All Progressives Congress in Lagos State and the role Tinubu continues to play in shaping the political direction of the state decades after serving as governor.
Tinubu, widely regarded as the central figure in Lagos politics, has often been credited with building a strong political structure that has consistently produced governors and key political office holders in the state since 1999.
