⬆️Gov Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos.
Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu has publicly recounted, for the first time in his own words, how his deputy, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, sacrificed his own governorship ambition in 2018 at the request of All Progressives Congress (APC) leaders so that he (Sanwo-Olu) could emerge as the party’s candidate.
The governor made the disclosure on Friday during the presentation of Hamzat’s 2027 governorship manifesto, titled “The Lagos PROMISE,” at the Wole Soyinka Centre for Culture and Creative Arts (formerly the National Theatre) in Iganmu, Lagos.
“Most of you know this story, but none of you have heard it from me,” Sanwo-Olu began. “Back in September 2018, Femi Hamzat wanted to be Governor of Lagos State. He had thirteen years of public service under Asiwaju and BRF, with the record and backing to win. Then party leaders asked him to step aside for me.”
He described the decision as one that revealed rare 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 emphasised that while anyone can read a curriculum vitae, true character is revealed in private. “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.”
He recalled that Hamzat stood with him through the toughest periods of their administration — the COVID-19 pandemic, the most difficult weeks of the tenure, the commissioning of the Blue and Red Lines, and the opening of the Lekki Deep Sea Port.
“In many states, deputies are kept in reserve. On day one, Femi promised to be the best deputy governor in Lagos history. He kept his word. In seven years, there has not been a single day I wondered whose side he was on. We have had one government, one direction, and one voice.”
Sanwo-Olu framed Lagos governance as a continuous relay race that has run since 1999. “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.”
He highlighted Hamzat’s deep roots in the state’s progressive tradition: the engineer who supervised the Lekki-Ikoyi Link Bridge under former Governor Babatunde Fashola, who drove digitisation of government under Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, who holds a doctorate in engineering, and whose father served under Lateef Jakande. “This is in his blood,” the governor said.
Responding to critics who accuse Lagos of recycling the same political class, Sanwo-Olu countered: “I say Lagos trains its people. With major projects underway and a master plan stretching to 2052, this is not the time to experiment. 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 concluded by presenting Hamzat as the continuity candidate already in motion. “Lagos does not hand the baton to a man standing still. Today, you have seen the man who is already running. Let us move forward together with The Lagos PROMISE.”
The speech amounted to a strong public endorsement of Hamzat as Sanwo-Olu’s preferred successor ahead of the 2027 governorship election, underscoring loyalty, institutional memory, and the need for uninterrupted progress on the state’s long-term development agenda.