What does Mobolaji Sanusi want from Ambode?

LAGOS, Nigeria – It is a funny twist of political irony that a serving head of a major parastatal is the same person orchestrating the ceaseless and outrageous smear campaign against the same governor that appointed him into office.

Welcome to the centre of drama or shall we say theatre of the absurd as this is precisely the case with the MD of Lagos State Signage and Advertising Agency (LASAA) a certain Mobolaji Sanusi who in cohort with a few implacable elements within and outside of Lagos State government is hell bent on destroying Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

Even after all principal players in Lagos APC have moved on with a forgiving spirit after the dramatic turn of events that produced Babajide Sanwoolu as the gubernatorial candidate of the party, Mobolaji Sanusi and his shadowy gang are not ready to back down from the ‘Hack Ambode Down’ self-imposed project. And it is all for selfish, pecuniary reasons (more on this later).

To these promoters of evil smear campaigns, Governor Ambode conceding defeat after the primaries and pledging total loyalty to the party and its candidate were not enough, the development must create financial windfall for those like Mobolaji Sanusi who fancy themselves as the foot soldiers of the powers that be in Lagos. This is how his ilk has fed fat on Lagos – deliberately create disharmony and strife, blew it up in the media as handiwork of the enemy and turn around to request for huge sums to douse the tension that they masterminded by themselves.

These master fabricators know this formula has always worked except, perhaps, with Ambode. And so with expectations of post-primary brouhaha harvest dashed, the usual suspects entered another gear accusing Ambode of all sorts from lies about anti-party activities, to funding Jimi Agbaje, PDP and Accord party, to hobnobbing with the Presidency and lately to spending hundreds of millions to foil the attempted removal of Edgal Imohinmi, Lagos State Commissioner of police. And for reasons of personal vendetta and the usual evil machinations, nearly every close associate of the governor is being mentioned to be involved in the Governor’s alleged moves just to garnish their evil fabrications and malign those they believe can’t be compromised to betray the governor.

Governor Akinwunmi Ambode inspecting one of the ongoing Projects in Lagos State.

This of course is not in any way connected to the party leadership in the state or the Sanwoolu campaign team that is working in harmony with Ambode men to deliver Lagos State for APC and ensure continuity? This evil plot from known perpetrators is just the way of Mobolaji Sanusi and the like to arm-twist the governor. It’s all about money money money.

If LASAA is now perceived to be a shadow of its old self with in-fighting and counter petitions becoming the order of the day at the once vibrant agency, Mobolaji Sanusi is unperturbed. He divides his time solely between looking more yellow (ask for his #10Years Challenge to see the colour transformation) and fanning the embers of disunity just for personal gains.

If you wonder why you’ve not seen the LASAA MD grant TV or newspaper interviews or contribute to enriching advertising industry discourses like his predecessors are known to do, this bolekaja MD is not interested. His focus is always to foment troubles for those he couldn’t extort or blackmail or those he just dislikes for no logical reason.

It is in his character though. He is known to have done the same to a former Commissioner of Environment who complained that his bellicose attitude to corporate institutions in the state was giving the government a bad image. This was the same Commissioner he ought to be reporting to. But belligerent Sanusi does not report to a mere Commissioner, only to other powers that be.

His fracas with another Special Adviser over his (Sanusi’s) condescending attitude towards corporate players in the outdoor advertising space nearly embarrassed the government. Sanusi survived the attendant scandal that could have removed him from his plum seat because of a forgiving and compassionate governor only to fire a volley of unsubstantiated allegations and outright libel against the SA thereafter. And this fellow called Sanusi is supposed to be a lawyer and journalist.

But only a few should be surprised.

This is how the untouchables behave in an empire under captivity. Repaying kindness with evil; shaking tables and threatening terror on account of their perceived closeness to the landlords of the farmland.

He did the ‘hack him down’ game on former governor Babatunde Fashola. Ambode and his trusted aides are his current target. And knowing that a leopard does not change his skin, Sanusi will still ultimately apply the same hammer on Sanwoolu when his wild expectations are not met.

However, when Moboloji Sanusi is eventually forced to step away from the lean contaminated finger he is hiding behind; when bleaching substances won’t be able to wash him clean, he will then realise to his chagrin that lies can only travel for so long before exposure comes with sword of damocles; and that power is transient and no empire lasts forever.

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