2015: We Are Searching For Fashola’s Successor – ACN

Posted by Peter Omagbemi

Lagos State Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola

The Lagos State chapter of the Action Congress of Nigeria has refuted speculations that Senator Oluremi Tinubu, the wife of the National Leader of the Party, Bola Tinubu, has been chosen to succeed Governor Babatunde Fashola as Lagos governor.

The speculations, which have become a subject for debate on the Internet, has it that Tinubu has decided to impose his wife on the state, by ensuring that she emerges as the candidate of the ACN in the 2015 governorship election.

But the Publicity Secretary of Lagos ACN, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, told us that it was mere fabrication, saying the Senator was not interested in governing the state.

“No, it’s not true. There is no element of truth in that. It is a figment of the imagination of the people who are propagating the idea. The woman is not interested in that. There’s nothing like that. We see it as a rumour of the marketplace. It’s all noise and no substance. She is satisfied with where she is in the Senate,” he said.

Igbokwe added that the party was still searching for Fashola’s successor and was not in a hurry to choose anyone for the position.

He said “We are still searching. Ruling Lagos is not a tea party. The moment Fashola was elected for this second term in office, the search started. To rule Lagos is more tedious than the Federal Government in Abuja. It is not a job for the small boys or the weak. It’s a job for somebody that is intelligent; somebody that is focused; somebody that is widely travelled; a strong person with courage, that can take the bull by the horns and get things done. The job is tasking, it is not for little-minded elements.

“The search is on, 2015 is still far away. The problem we have in this country is that we don’t search for leaders. We just pick anybody and give him an office that is higher than him. Such a person will not do anything, he will just drag that office to his level and that is why we are suffering.

“Leaders are searched for, especially when it comes to the presidency of any country. Somebody with antecedent; somebody with a track record of achievement; somebody that can put up something and stand by it; that is the kind of person we are looking for.”

Though Tinubu had in June denied having ambition to govern Lagos, the speculation has continued to spread. [Punch]