The Oba of Lagos, Rilwanu Akiolu I, on Monday declared that there would be no vacancy in Aso Rock in 2027, expressing confidence that President Bola Ahmed Tinubu would secure a second term in office.
Akiolu, who spoke when the Director-General of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Presidential Campaign Council, Senator Abdul’aziz Yari, and members of his delegation visited his palace in Lagos, said Tinubu deserved another term based on his performance in office.
The monarch also called on Nigerians to embrace honesty, hard work, unity and sincerity of purpose, saying political disagreements should not be allowed to become permanent divisions.
The delegation, led by Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and accompanied by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, was at the monarch’s Iga-Iduganran Palace, Lagos Island, to seek his royal blessings ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The visit formed part of the APC campaign council’s consultations with traditional and religious leaders as the party begins preparations for the elections.
Declaring his support for Tinubu, Akiolu said: ‘One important thing that I know very well is that for the next four or five years, there is no vacancy in Aso Rock.’
He prayed for the success of the Tinubu campaign, saying: ‘This journey you have embarked upon, Insha Allah, it shall be smooth, failure-free, and error-free. No hazardous errors.’
The monarch also appealed to political actors to maintain cordial relationships despite their differences.
‘Politicians don’t fight; they only disagree to agree later,’ he said, citing the Yoruba saying, ‘Kosi ba re e d’aso onino se o, ore e go se be ni’, which he explained as reflecting the changing nature of political alliances.
Akiolu recalled his long-standing relationship with Tinubu, noting that his nomination as Oba of Lagos was approved by the Lagos State Government in May 2003, when Tinubu was governor.
He commended successive administrations in Lagos for contributing to the state’s development and specifically praised Sanwo-Olu and Hamzat for sustaining the state’s infrastructure expansion.
The monarch, however, used the occasion to renew his call for Lagos to be granted special status by the Federal Government.
According to him, Lagos bears a disproportionate infrastructural and social burden as Nigeria’s commercial hub, while continuing to accommodate people from across the country.
Earlier, Yari said the delegation was in Lagos to pay homage to the monarch and seek his support and prayers ahead of the 2027 elections.
He described Tinubu as a political leader whose struggles and experience had contributed to the emergence and consolidation of the APC at the national level.
Yari also urged party members and the media to communicate the administration’s policies and achievements to Nigerians, particularly in the areas of economic recovery, infrastructure, youth empowerment, business development and national security.
He said Tinubu had demonstrated the capacity to address the country’s economic challenges despite limited resources.
Yari said: ‘Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is a foundational leader who has laid the foundation, who has done the structural work necessary for this country to develop-not just for the next 10 years, but as far as 25 years and 30 years.’
He added that Tinubu, having fought for democracy and subsequently served as president, had emerged as ‘the Generalissimo of Nigerian politics,’ with what he described as evidence of his political stature.
Sanwo-Olu, who received the delegation at the airport before accompanying it to the palace, described the campaign council as a team of experienced Nigerians comprising former Senate presidents, governors, speakers and senior political leaders.
He said Lagos was a natural starting point for the council’s nationwide consultations, stressing the importance of traditional institutions in promoting peace, unity and national development.
The governor also joined Yari in urging Nigerians to support the APC administration, while assuring the delegation of Lagos State’s cooperation.
The visit ended with prayers for peace, national unity, divine guidance and the success of the country.