Femi Olaniyi, the standard-bearer of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) for the upcoming governorship race in Lagos State, has publicly blamed the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) for preventing successive governors from independently executing their strategic governance plans.
Olaniyi made the allegation during an interview on ARISE News on Sunday while outlining his vision for Lagos ahead of the 2027 governorship election.
He said the problem was not necessarily the absence of good plans by the state government, but the influence of people to whom governors were allegedly answerable.
“You will see that even the governor of Sanwo Olu, we cannot categorically 100% say that Sanwo Olu does not have good manifesto for Lagos people.
“But when you have set of people that you are answerable to, that did not give you a free hand to even project whatever you have in mind and for the people of Lagos state. So there is no way you will succeed.”
Olaniyi was asked whether he believed Lagos politics currently had a godfatherism problem.
“We need to check what is actually the problem of Lagos. Nobody is giving every governor that is coming under APC free hands to move Lagos to the promised land.”
He also criticised the political structure within the APC, arguing that disagreements within the party showed that political cooperation was not guaranteed even among members of the same party.
“Well, even within Lagos state APC, do you think there is synergy? Some people are shouting that why would they bring Hamzat and put it on them? There have been a lot of misunderstandings among them.”
Olaniyi said the issue of political differences should not prevent elected officials from working together.
He argued that politics should provide room for competition while allowing different sides to work within the same democratic system.
“Politics should be like a football match where you have your own team, I have my own team, and everybody must come to defeat. Your supporters must come to hail you. Not that my supporter as Arsenal will now be depriving your supporter as PSG to enter the pit (pitch) to support you.
What You Should Know
Femi Olaniyi’s recent remarks bring the controversial topic of godfatherism and political interference in Lagos State back into the public eye ahead of the 2027 elections. He argues that even well-meaning governors are constrained by powerful external influences, limiting their capacity to deliver transformative governance.
- Positive Impact: Openly debating the autonomy of public officeholders encourages transparency and challenges political establishments to be more accountable to the electorate.
- Potential Concerns: Deep-seated internal political frictions and constraints on leadership could slow down policy implementation and hinder unified governance in the state.
