By Just when Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu thought his quest for a second term in office was a done deal, an interesting development rocked the political space of Lagos.
It would be recalled that last week, the governor and his deputy, Obafemi Hamzat were publicly endorsed for re-election by the ‘Oracle of Lagos’ and presidential hopeful, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu. This came weeks after the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) — the highest decision-making organ of the Lagos APC — gave its nod to Sanwo-Olu to serve for another four years.
Wale Oluwo, an ally of Sanwo-Olu’s predecessor, Akinwunmi Ambode, on Wednesday, formally joined the 2023 Lagos gubernatorial race after he submitted his APC expression of interest and nomination forms sold at a whooping N50 million. Also in the race is Mustapha Olorunfemi, who retired as a Permanent Secretary in the Lagos State civil service.
The unexpected emergence of Oluwo, who served as Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources during Ambode’s tenure, has predictably got tongues talking in the last 24 hours, considering his portfolio as the chairman of the Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organisation, a political group floated by the embattled ex-governor who was denied re-election.
Here is everything you should know about Sanwo-Olu’s challenger.
Born in July 1966, Wasiu Olawale Oluwo attended the prestigious University of Lagos where he obtained his Bachelor of Science in Economics, graduating in the year 1989.
In 1990, he began his professional career as a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member serving at defunct Prime Merchant Bank Limited. He would go on work with a number of leading banks and served in different capacities.
Upon joining Intercontinental Bank in 1997 before it metamorphosed into Access Bank, Oluwo set up and served as the pioneer General Manager of Intercontinental Capital Markets (subsidiary of Intercontinental Bank).
An experienced banker, he was critical to the first bank merger in Nigeria involving Standard Trust Bank Plc and UBA Plc. He also handled other major bank merger and acquisition deals.
Oluwo was the running mate to Senator Tokunbo Afikuyomi when the latter ran unsuccessfully for the governorship seat in Lagos under the platform of the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) in the 2007 polls.
In 2015, he was appointed as Commissioner for Energy and Mineral Resources by the then Lagos State governor, Akinwunmi Ambode. Following the controversial denial of the second term ticket for his principal, Oluwo resigned from office and defected to the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
In the last few days, Oluwo has made headlines after entering the Lagos gubernatorial race ‘like a thief in the night’, as he intends to go head-to-head with Sanwo-Olu in the battle for the APC ticket at the primaries billed to hold this month.
