A major internal crisis is brewing within the All Progressives Congress (APC) as President Bola Ahmed Tinubu is said to be deeply angered with Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu over the controversial and allegedly illegal allocation of 96 hectares of land in Banana Island — including portions reportedly belonging to Tinubu himself.
According to insider accounts, the land was discreetly sold to a network of politically connected developers without proper authorization. The deal, considered a significant breach of trust, has sent shockwaves through Lagos’s political establishment and is believed to have triggered the recent political shakeups in the state, including the short-lived impeachment of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.
“Tinubu was livid. He felt betrayed because not only was land in Banana Island illegally parceled out to cronies, but part of it was reportedly his,” a senior APC insider told SaharaReporters.
Obasa, a longtime ally of Tinubu, was impeached in January 2025 amid allegations of financial misconduct and insubordination to party leadership. He was replaced by Hon. Mojisola Meranda, who became the Assembly’s first female Speaker. However, following Tinubu’s intervention — reportedly prompted in part by the Banana Island land saga — Obasa was reinstated 49 days later, while Meranda resumed as Deputy Speaker.
Sources say Tinubu saw Obasa’s removal as part of a broader pattern of political betrayal linked to the land scandal.
On Sunday, June 8, President Tinubu and First Lady Senator Remi Tinubu held a private meeting with Obasa. In contrast, Governor Sanwo-Olu was only granted an audience in the presence of influential Lagos Governance Advisory Council (GAC) leaders, led by Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi, who reportedly intervened on the governor’s behalf.
Fueling speculation of a deteriorating relationship, a viral video from a recent Lagos event appeared to show President Tinubu pointedly snubbing Sanwo-Olu.
When asked about the rumored rift during a brief media chat, Sanwo-Olu deflected:
“Did you see any discord?” he asked reporters. “People sometimes act more Catholic than the Pope… He’s my father, he’s my leader. We’re grateful for the opportunity to greet him.”
Behind the scenes, however, President Tinubu is said to be taking decisive steps to revoke all land allocations linked to the scandal. Sources say this is part of a broader move to reassert federal authority over strategic lands and clean up land administration in Lagos.
During the commissioning of the Lekki Deep Sea Port Access Road, Tinubu had issued a stern warning, saying: “We will no longer allow approvals for illegal shoreline expansions. No more licenses for artificial islands without federal consent.”
These developments come in the wake of a SaharaReporters exposé published on May 20, which revealed what investigators suspect may be one of the largest land racketeering and money laundering operations in Lagos. The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) has since launched a probe into the matter.
In a letter dated May 16, 2025, signed by Ahmed Ghali, Acting Director of EFCC Lagos Zonal Directorate 2, the anti-graft agency requested Certified True Copies (CTCs) of permits, equity structures, and ownership documents from the Federal Ministry of Housing and Urban Development.
The EFCC is investigating possible conspiracy, abuse of office, and money laundering under Section 38 of the EFCC Act and Section 24 of the Money Laundering (Prevention and Prohibition) Act, 2022.
Companies reportedly involved include:
The scandal has exposed deepening cracks within the APC’s Lagos power structure and raised troubling questions about elite privilege, governance ethics, and transparency under Governor Sanwo-Olu’s administration.
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