How Senator Ashafa emerges as Managing Director of Federal Housing Authority Against Tinubu’s wish
How the mighty fallen? This is Tinubu’s new acronym as his once very formidable political empire is crumbling before his very own face. Since the coming of the Buhari led government in 2015 Tinubu has never hidden the fact he wants to succeed Buhari, as a matter of fact he tried so much to be Vice Presidential candidate in 2014 but was turned down by everybody working with Buhari because they were of the opinion that a Muslim/Muslim ticket can not work in this country.
In his inordinate quest to be the next president he had drawn up a list of his very loyal protégés that would fight the battle with him. One of his well known protégée is Senator Gbenga Ashafa who was a former director of lands and a former senator until he was disgraced out of office by Tinubu and his then no one loyalist, Rauf Aregbesola who is now the Minister for Interior. According to a very reliable source, Ashafa had betrayed his boss in a very shocking manner, he had crossed the line with something his boss held sacred and when the reports of his disloyalty got to Asiwaju, the plan to humiliate him out of the Senate was put in full swing. This was why Latr Honorable Bayo Osinowo a.k.a Pepperito was drafted in to take his seat at the Senate. Bayo was just a honorable member of the Lagos State House of Assembly and was barely educated, asking him to replace Ashafa at the Senate was more than a big slap on Ashafa face. Even though Gbenga Ashafa tried to fight back during the primaries, he lost out woefully to Pepperito who went on to become the Senator for Lagos West. Unfortunately he died of coronavirus whilst in that position.
However Ashafa never stopped telling anyone who cared to listen how Tinubu betrayed his promise to him; according to the two time senator, he and his other two colleagues at the Senate had been assured that they would all do a 3rd term at the Senate and none of them would be dropped out of the National Assembly only for this robust humiliation. As a smart politician, he remained in Abuja and re-aligned with another of Tinubu’s ally who was definitely running his own game, Babatunde Fashola who is the current Minister for Works and Housing. Even though Fashola used to be a Bola Tinubu loyalist, all that changed when he wasn’t given the choice to pick his own successor in 2014. Tinubu imposed Ambode after him and that very much angered him because he already had his own candidate. On resumption of office the Ambode led Lagos State government opened up a floodgate of shady deals that Fashola had done whilst in office and this greatly stained his hitherto squeaky clean image. Since then Fashola has always been at dagger drawn silently with anything Tinubu lo. He was the one who solely recommended Ashafa for the post of the MD of FHA and the president approved it. Ashafa who was retired prematurely from both Lagos state politics and federal appointment is now back to power and heading a cash rich agency in Abuja against the wishes of Jagaban and his remaining allies in Lagos. That appointment rattled a lot of people close to Tinubu and keen watchers of the power dynamics in Lagos. Fashola has emerged one of the power blocks from Lagos who is playing super big in Abuja and he is not answerable to Tinubu. As all his ex loyalist graciously camp in Abuja and strategize on how to politically bury one of the most unliked figures in Nigeria politics today, 2023 seems to be taking a more interesting and intriguing shape.
