Fayemi, Fashola absent but APC bigwigs flood Tinubu’s colloquium

Who can hug an elephant, for the elephant is so huge and to hug it you are forced to decide which part you wish to hug… it is impossible to capture the essence of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu in a tribute limited by space.

Those were the words of Babatunde Fashola, minister of power, works and housing at the 6th colloquium of Tinubu.

Three years later, Fashola was not among the dignitaries who decided to “hug the elephant” at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos.

And so was Kayode Fayemi, minister of solid minerals,

During their days as governors of Lagos and Ekiti states, Fayemi and Fashola played key roles in the programme which friends and loyalists of the national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC) put together annually.

Both men fell out with Tinubu shortly before the 2015 general election, and there are discussions in the political circle that the ministers are building a base in the south-west ahead of the 2019 elections.

Although there were cracks in the relationship between Tinubu and his successor during the time Fashola governed Lagos, things went from bad to worse when the minister lost his bid to pick his successor.

While Fashola backed Supo Sasore, a lawyer like him, Tinubu threw his weight behind Akinwunmi Ambode, the incumbent governor of Lagos.

The acrimonious relationship could have rubbed off on Ambode and Fashola, who made the headlines weeks back over a road project in Lagos.

On the last day of his inspection of federal government projects in the south-west, Fashola visited Ambode at the Lagos House in Ikeja.

In brief remarks, Ambode commended his successor for stepping his feet in Alausa for the first time since he handed over to him.

Although they exchanged handshakes and smiled, it was evident that there were issues to sort out, and how this will be managed between now and the next election, would be of keen interest to political observers.

While Fayemi and Fashola were conspicuously absent at the programme, their counterparts like Kemi Adeosun (finance), Okechukwu Enelamah (trade and investment), Abdulrahman Dambazau (interior), Ogbonnaya Onu (science and technology), and Lai Mohammed (information) attended the programme.

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo was also in attendance, and so were governors like Nasir el-Rufai (Kaduna), Bello Masari (Katsina), Rauf Aregbesola (Osun), Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Ibikunle Amosun (Ogun) and Abiola Ajimobi.

Others at the progamme were Simon Lalong (Plateau), Atiku Bagudu (Kebbi), Godwin Obaseki (Edo), Aminu Tambuwal (Sokoto) and Abdullahi Ganduje (Kano).

Former Vice-President Namadi Sambo; Rasak Okoya, billionaire businessman and Rilwan Akiolu, oba of Lagos, were also there.

Among the bigwigs also absent were President Muhammadu Buhari, who has not made a single trip out of the presidential villa since he returned from a 49-day medical vacation in the UK; Senate President Bukola Saraki and Yakubu Dogara, speaker of the house of representatives.

Apart from Saraki, the other two sent congratulatory messages to the celebrant