2027: Tinubu Backs Hamzat As Lagos APC Consensus Candidate

President Bola Tinubu has endorsed Lagos State Deputy Governor, Obafemi Hamzat, as the consensus governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the 2027 election, following a high-level meeting with the party’s Governance Advisory Council (GAC) at the State House, Abuja.

Speaking to State House correspondents  after the meeting, Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the delegation, led by GAC Chairman, Tajudeen Olusi, formally presented Hamzat to the President, who subsequently ratified both his candidacy and the council’s decision.

Sanwo-Olu described the GAC members as seasoned leaders whose collective judgment guided the process.

“These are fathers, they are leaders, they’ve seen a lot of Christmases, they’ve seen a lot of Eid El Kabir, so they have experience, and therefore I’m really, really excited that they brought me here to meet Mr President, and Mr President has blessed us and blessed the decision of GAC,” he said.

Responding to questions on his preparedness for the governorship race, Hamzat acknowledged the enormity of the task but expressed confidence in his experience as deputy governor.

“Nobody is ready because the assignment is audacious. But what you have is experience. Having served as Deputy Governor of Lagos under Governor Sanwo-Olu, I’ve learned a lot. I know the room. I know where the kitchen is.

“You know, if you want to cook for people and you don’t know the kitchen, it doesn’t matter how good a chef you are, you must know the kitchen.

“So with God’s blessings and the support of all my fathers here, I really don’t have any fear,” Hamzat said.

Wednesday’s endorsement follows Governor Sanwo-Olu’s earlier public declaration of Hamzat as his preferred successor at Lagos House earlier in the week. The GAC had also unanimously adopted him as its consensus candidate after a special meeting at Lagos House, Marina.

Addressing reporters after the State House meeting, Olusi dismissed objections raised by other aspirants, including APC chieftain, Samuel Ajose, who had questioned the legitimacy of the consensus arrangement.

“We are in the arena of politics, and people are free to express their opinions in a free society.

“But I have been in politics for a very long time. I was part of the team that raised the system and have been part of every typical race. I know all the governors except one.

“It is part of the system that we come together, put our heads together and take a course of action. People are free to comment, but what they comment on is nothing with all of us,” Olusi said.

The delegation to the State House included Governor Sanwo-Olu; the Chief of Staff to the President, Femi Gbajabiamila; Senator Ganiyu Olarewaju Solomon; Mrs Orelope Adefulire; and Senator Musiliu Obanikoro, alongside other prominent leaders of the Lagos APC.