…the story of Lagos’ last 27 years succession plan and the leadership forecast till 2052
Our Political Desk
In a political declaration that effectively signals the direction of Lagos succession politics ahead of the 2027 governorship election, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has made a deeply personal and strategic case for his deputy, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, as his rightful successor.
The Governor’s testimony, titled “Most of you know this story, but none of you have heard it from me,” is not just an endorsement. It is a well-crafted political narrative built on loyalty, continuity, competence and institutional memory – the four pillars that have sustained Lagos governance since 1999.
Sanwo-Olu took Nigerians back to September 2018, a critical moment in Lagos APC history that many political observers still recall. Hamzat, he revealed, wanted to be Governor. He had thirteen years of public service under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu and Babatunde Raji Fashola, with the record and political structure to win. Then party leaders asked him to step aside for Sanwo-Olu.
That single act, according to the Governor, defines Hamzat’s character. “It takes a rare man to put down what he wants without nursing a grudge. Femi shook my hand and five weeks later, agreed to run beside me. I have never forgotten that,” Sanwo-Olu said.
In Lagos politics where betrayals are common and grudges are weaponized, that story of sacrifice resonates strongly within the Governance Advisory Council, GAC, and the APC rank and file. It frames Hamzat not as an ambitious deputy waiting to strike, but as a loyal party man who placed party above self.
But Sanwo-Olu went beyond history. He anchored his argument on 2,711 days of close observation – almost seven and a half years of working together daily. He said, “Anyone can read a CV but only the person in the room with a man when the cameras leave can tell you who he really is. For 2,711 days, I have been in that room with him.”
This is crucial. Lagos deputies have historically been kept in reserve, ceremonial, often in conflict with their principals. Sanwo-Olu is telling Lagosians that Hamzat broke that mould. He was not just a spare tyre. He was in the room when COVID-19 hit, during the EndSARS crisis which the Governor described as “our hardest weeks,” when the Blue and Red Line rail projects faced engineering hurdles, and when the Lekki Deep Sea Port – a $1.5 billion game changer – was being delivered.
The Governor paints a picture of Hamzat as the engineer in government, “asking the tough questions an engineer asks long before any ribbon was cut.” This positions Hamzat as not just a politician but a technocrat who understands the mechanics of Lagos.
Sanwo-Olu also subtly dismissed the narrative of political recycling. Critics often say Lagos keeps choosing from the same pool of Tinubu’s boys. His response: “Lagos trains its people.” And Hamzat, he argues, is the product of that training.
The resume is indeed intimidating: He built the iconic Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge under Fashola as Commissioner for Works, he digitized government processes as Commissioner for Science and Technology under Tinubu, he holds a doctorate in engineering from Cranfield University, and his father, Oba Olatunji Hamzat, served Lateef Jakande, the first civilian governor of Lagos. “This is in his blood,” Sanwo-Olu said.
Perhaps the most powerful metaphor in the speech is the relay race. “Lagos runs on a relay system. The baton is never passed to a runner standing still. You run at full speed inside the exchange zone, together, before the pass. That is how Lagos has been governed for 27 years, from Asiwaju to BRF, to Ambode, to me.”
This metaphor does two things. First, it institutionalizes continuity as Lagos’ governance philosophy, rejecting the disruption model seen in other states where new governors abandon predecessors’ projects. Second, it disqualifies outsiders and latecomers. The baton cannot be handed to a man standing still or running from another track. It must go to the man already running at full speed inside the exchange zone. That man, Sanwo-Olu argues, is Femi Hamzat.
The timing of this endorsement is strategic. With major projects like the Fourth Mainland Bridge, Lekki-Epe International Airport, Omi Eko Water Transport Project and the Lagos Master Plan 2052 underway, the Governor is telling investors and Lagosians that Lagos cannot afford experimentation.
“What Femi presents today is not a campaign promise cooked up on a bus, it is the next leg of a race we have been running since 1999,” he said.
He concluded with the campaign slogan: The Lagos PROMISE.
If the GAC and President Bola Tinubu buy into this narrative, then Lagos APC may have already settled its 2027 question. Femi Hamzat would not just be succeeding Sanwo-Olu; he would be completing a promise made in September 2018, when he shook his rival’s hand and agreed to be second.