President Bola Tinubu and Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu have officially reconciled following a private peace meeting facilitated by the Governance Advisory Council (GAC), the highest advisory body to the Lagos State governor.
According to Presidency sources, members of the GAC met with Tinubu at his private residence in Ikoyi, Lagos, on Sunday.
The meeting, which included Governor Sanwo-Olu, was led by GAC chairman Tajudeen Olusi and had in attendance other key party leaders including former Lagos West senator Ganiyu Solomon and former minister of state for defence Musiliu Obanikoro.
Also present, though not members of the GAC, were the chief of staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa and deputy governor of Lagos State, Obafemi Hamzat.
Sources at the meeting said Olusi, who led the discussion, appealed to the president to forgive the governor without delving into the details of what caused the rift.
It will be recalled that the rift between Tinubu and Sanwo-Olu became public after the president refused to shake the governor’s hand during the commissioning of the Phase 1 of the Lagos-Calabar Coastal Highway.
Sanwo-Olu was also conspicuously omitted from a Presidency statement acknowledging arrivals for the 50th anniversary of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Sallah holiday, despite arriving through the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed International Airport.
A Presidency source had explained that the refusal to exchange a handshake was Tinubu’s way of expressing his anger at Sanwo-Olu.
The source traced the dispute to the 2023 presidential election, in which Tinubu lost Lagos to Peter Obi of the Labour Party, while Sanwo-Olu won his re-election bid.
The belief, according to the source, was that the governor did not give sufficient attention to Tinubu’s campaign in Lagos.
Some also point to the temporary removal of Obasa as speaker of the Lagos Assembly—allegedly with Sanwo-Olu’s backing—as a factor that escalated the matter. Obasa has since returned to his position.
After the reconciliation meeting, Sanwo-Olu told the Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) that there was no dispute between him and the president.
He said, “Did you see any discord? There is none. There are people that believe that they are more Catholic than the Pope. There are things that you see people that cry more than the bereaved.
“Father and son are things we will always ensure that we clear. It’s nothing at all. He’s my father, he’s my leader. And we are grateful that he has given us the audience today to come in and say hello to him.”
In a gesture of humility, Governor Sanwo-Olu and others reportedly prostrated before the president. A source said, “It was just for peace. In Yoruba culture, that is what is expected. Even when the father is at fault, the younger one must show remorse.”
The governor later told journalists that the visit was part of the GAC’s traditional homage to party elders during the Sallah season.
He said, “It’s a good time to come and say thank you to our National Leader and also to thank Mr. President for the great work that he’s doing for Lagos and the country.”
