When a politician assumes a public office in Nigeria, he does not wield the influence associated with the office alone. Friends, family members and political associates wield such influence with him. Some of them even wield influence more than the public office holders. They nominate people for juicy positions such as making people ministers or commissioners and members of the boards of government agencies. There is no level of government that this is not applicable to. It plays out at the local government and state levels. There is also no exception at the federal level and President Bola Tinubu is not immune against this scenario. The Nigerian leader has more than enough people who wield the influence of his office more than he himself can do or imagine. Some of them became influential by virtue of the responsibilities the President saddled them with while some others are only leveraging their closeness to him. In this piece, ROTIMI DUROJAIYE attempts to unmask these individuals who wield their influence in the polity in a manner that makes them qualified to be referred to as the real powers behind the President.
Dr. Tunji Olowolafe – The ultimate power broker
One very silent African billionaire people hardly get to hear much about is Dr. Tunji Olowolafe. The business magnate is one of those top Nigerian figures whose charm and connections enable them to cautiously command both political and economic power.
He is the chairman of GZ Industries, West Africa’s leading aluminum can manufacturer. The well-trained medical doctor decided to stop practicing medicine in 1988 and ventured into private equity out of interest, and he has remained a huge success ever with him being listed among Nigeria’s richest.
For the Are Ekiti-born mogul, there is no gainsaying that he’s dedicated to addressing Nigeria’s infrastructural gaps. In 2008, Olowolafe, as Chairman of the Lekki Concession Company, spearheaded the upgrade and expansion of the Lekki-Epe Expressway and coastal road.
In the area of Nigeria’s critical power supply issues, Olowolafe also commits substantial part of his wealth into Eko Electricity Distribution Company as a major stakeholder. The business magnate is also a non-executive Director of Infracorp Nigeria, a $15bn infrastructure investment entity.
Asides his entrepreneurial interest, one critical area Olowolafe has also been hammered on is how best Nigeria and the entire continent can realise her full potential.
To him, the only antidote to true freedom and prosperity is to ensure a stable democracy, rule of law and quality education.
Olowolafe has quietly been working towards achieving this. He has combined his strategic contributions to Nigeria’s infrastructure and promoted a promising future for the country under visionary leaders like him.
“President Tinubu is at home with Olowolafe. His closeness to the President has made him influential in some of the major decisions so far taken by this administration as they concern policy direction and appointments”
Just recently, he was appointed the Chancellor of Ekiti State University, Ado-Ekiti by the Visitor to the University, Governor Abiodun Oyebanji.
Olowolafe was selected by the state governor given his devotion to improving his homeland and contributions across various sectors of the economy. A World Fellow of the Duke of Edinburgh, Olowolafe has previously served as a member of Ekiti State COVID-19 Resource Mobilization Committee.
He graduated as a medical doctor from the University of Ilorin, Kwara State, Nigeria and has been working in medicine since 1984.
His passion for medicine culminated in the formation of Deux Project Limited – a company initially focused on restructuring and fitting world class hospitals across various parts of Nigeria.
Deux Project Limited is now focused on general civil engineering, construction, consultancy and maintenance. Deux Project has clients throughout Nigeria, including the Federal Government, various state governments, teaching hospitals, and MTN, Shell, Nigeria LNG Limited, Exxon Mobil, United Nations Development Programme, World Bank and National Universities Commission.
President Tinubu is at home with Olowolafe. His closeness to the President has made him influential in some of the major decisions so far taken by this administration as they concern policy direction and appointments.
Chief Kunle Adedayo – Tinubu’s tested friend
Chief Kunle Adedayo, the Chairman of Tastee Fried Chicken, Lagos, no doubt, wields a big influence in the present administration.
When President Tinubu left Ibadan for Chicago, United States of America to study, among his classmates at that time in Chicago was Adebayo, alias BABA YUNGBAYUNGBA, from Ila Orangun in Osun State.
President Tinubu and Adedayo were both living in the same apartment at 7959 South Phillips, Chicago, USA.
When Adedayo got married in Chicago in 1976 to his alluring Ijebu Ode wife, Yinka Pamela, President Tinubu was one of his groomsmen at the marriage event.
When their late son, Bunmi, was born in 1977, President Tinubu was the godfather.
During the recent yuletide holidays, President Tinubu hosted Adedayo at his Queen’s Drive, Ikoyi new residence. He was in the company of his wife.
It is believed that Adedayo had his hands in some appointments made by the President.
Dr. Tunji Alausa – A friend like no other
Dr. Tunji Alausa is the Minister of State, Health and Social Welfare.
The Minister has remained a long-time ally of the President hence his ability to wield influence.
Alausa hails from Epe, in Epe Local Government Area of Lagos State.
Alausa obtained his Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery from the University of Lagos in 1993 and has since become a board-certified Nephrologist.
Between 1997 and 2001, he completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Cook County Hospital in Chicago, where he held the position of Chief Medical Resident, responsible for coordinating training programmes for interns and residents as well as serving as an Attending Physician.
Alausa became an Assistant Professor at Rush University Medical School before pursuing specialized training in Nephrology and Hypertension at the prestigious Medical College of Wisconsin from July 2002 to June 2004.
Through his company, Alausa has created a national brand that focuses on optimal care for patients who have chronic kidney disease in underserved communities.
Alausa has also contributed tremendously to these communities by providing significant employment opportunities for various stakeholders.
He has built a strong team of professionals across the United States who are committed to his vision and mission.
He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Cook County Hospital, Chicago, between 1997 and 2001; where he was appointed Chief Medical Resident responsible for co-coordinating the training programmes of several interns and residents as well as an Attending Physician.
Upon completing his tenure at CCH, Alausa was appointed to the faculty of Rush University Medical School as an Assistant Professor before moving on to the prestigious Medical College of Wisconsin to pursue a specialist training in Nephrology and Hypertension from July 2002 and June 2004.
He also had Residency Training in Internal Medicine at Royal Bolton Hospital and University of Newcastle, both in the United Kingdom, from 1995 to 1997.
He has published multiple medical papers covering a diverse range of practices. His publications have transcended both basic medical research and clinical medicine and have appeared in the New England Journal of Medicine.
In 2007 and 2012, Alausa was named one of America’s Best Physicians.
His philanthropic efforts have earned him numerous awards, and he has published several medical papers, with some appearing in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Alausa, as a member of the Eko Club International Medical mission, has been at the forefront of leading multiple missions from the US to Lagos State.
In addition to his involvement with the Eko Club International, which represents Lagos indigenes in the diaspora, he is also an active member of Lagosians of Chicago, an association that brings together Lagos indigenes residing in Chicago, Illinois, USA.
He is estimated to be worth approximately $1 million.
There is no way the issue of the powers behind the throne in the presidential villa will be discussed without a generous mention of Tinubu’s friend, Dr. Tunji Alausa.
Alhaja Bintu Tinubu – Iron lady behind the scene
Alhaja Bintu Fatima Omosefe Tinubu, the mother of billionaire businessman and Group Chief Executive of Oando Plc, Jubril Adewale Tinubu, is a steely-minded political operator and a shadowy kingmaker with Bini blood running through her veins.
She is a former Christian, married to a young police cadet officer, Kafaru Oluwole Tinubu, when he was on a posting to Benin.
Born on July 2, 1943, into the noble Osunbor family of Benin, she is the Iyalode of Lagos.
It was Alhaja Tinubu who influenced former Governor Babatunde Fashola to take up the position of Chief of Staff to President Tinubu as the governor of Lagos State in 2002 when the pioneer occupant of the office, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, resigned to contest for the governorship position in Kwara State.
Alhaja Tinubu and her late husband, Kafaru Tinubu, had met at CMS Girls School, Benin City, where she was a student and Kafaru came to officiate at an event.
Alhaja Tinubu followed her husband to the UK where she did secretarial courses while he, too, was on official training.
On coming back to Nigeria, she worked in the ministries before settling down into private business. Today, she has a water factory that produces the popular bottled water brand, Elan Water, two Oando filling stations on Awolowo Road, Ikoyi, Lagos and a popular event centre.
In principle, she is a business woman, but does not hesitate to dabble in political matters, not as a player, but more as a kingmaker.
She certainly does not hesitate to swing into political action when she has to, aware of the enormous powers conferred on her by virtue of her marriage to K.O. Tinubu, a powerful broker who was a former Commissioner of Police in the old Western Region, now broken into six states.
In the course of his career, the late K.O. Tinubu had mentored many top-ranking police officers, including the current Oba of Lagos, Rilwan Akiolu, and a former Inspector General of Police, Musiliu Smith.
The late K.O. Tinubu was highly networked and his wife, Alhaja Tinubu, is deeply hooked into his network as a natural power broker.
She is one of the most powerful presidential and ultimate power brokers in Nigeria today.
Chief Bisi Akande – A grassroots mobilizer
There are also some individuals who are not too visible but are wielding huge influence because of their closeness to the President. Such people include Chief Bisi Akande.
In December 2003, in controversial circumstances, Akande was persuaded by his colleagues (the former Alliance for Democracy governors) to accept to be the National Chairman of the AD.
As soon as his nomination became supported by the only then serving governor of AD (Senator Bola Tinubu), certain leaders became irked and secretly sponsored an alternative national chairman who, they claimed, enjoyed the support of the People’s Democratic Party Presidency, thereby throwing AD into two factions.
The Akande faction was finally adjudged to be the authentic AD by the Appeal Court of Nigeria. However, in December 2006, Akande decided to resign and subsequently contested for and accepted the chairmanship of the newly-formed Action Congress. In 2010, at the Benin City Convention, Akande was unanimously elected, again, as the National Chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria.
He was the founding National Chairman of the All Progressives Congress.
“It was Alhaja Tinubu who influenced former Governor Babatunde Fashola to take up the position of Chief of Staff to President Tinubu as the governor of Lagos State in 2002 when the pioneer occupant of the office, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, resigned to contest for the governorship position in Kwara State”
Chief Akande can walk up to President Tinubu any time and any day whether in his office or his official residence.
Chief Pius Akinyelure – Strategist extraordinaire
When President Tinubu returned to Nigeria from America, he was employed at Mobil Oil Nigeria Plc, Bookshop House, 50/52, Broad Street, Lagos. Some of his co-workers at that time were Chief Pius Olu Akinyelure
Akinyelure was the former national vice chairman of the All Progressives Congress, South West zone (2014-2018).
He is a certified accountant and oil industry technocrat.
Following a 35-year career in both the Upstream and Downstream Sectors of ExxonMobil from where he retired as Executive Director, Finance & External Relations, he has continued to maintain interests across business, industry and politics.
He was first appointed a member of the NNPC Board in 2016 by former President Muhammadu Buhari and reappointed to the Board in June 2020.
On November 27, 2023, President Tinubu appointed Akinyelure as the non-executive board chairman of the NNPCL.
Chief Akinyelure is also a man of influence in the Presidential Villa. He is a dependable ally of Mr. President.
Chief Olusegun Osoba – The President’s shadow
Chief Olusegun Osoba is a Nigerian journalist and politician who served twice as the governor of Ogun State first from 1992 to 1993 during the Nigerian Third Republic and then from 1999 to 2003.
Osoba was elected on two occasions as Governor of Ogun State first from January 1992 until November 1993 with the Social Democratic Party. He was removed from office by Sani Abacha’s administration on November 17, 1993. In the 1999 Ogun State gubernatorial election, he was elected again as governor with the Alliance for Democracy party, holding office between May 1999 and May 2003.
He holds the National Honours of the Commander of the Order of the Niger. He is a member of the National Conference 2014.
Osoba holds the chieftaincy titles of the Akinrogun of Egbaland and the Aremo Awujale of Ijebu.
He is among those who can visit the presidential villa without any security bottleneck. Osoba is also a man of influence in the Presidential Villa.
Alhaji Tajudeen Olusi – A patriarch per excellence
Prince Tajudeen Olusi, 87, is the son of a late Oba of Lagos, King Sanusi Olusi. The renowned political leader was a councillor in Lagos Island shortly after independence.
He is one of the leaders of the All Progressives Congress, as well as the chairman, Council of Elders in Lagos State. He also chairs the Governor’s Advisory Council, a key decision-making group in the state’s political arena.
Prince Olusi is in the circle of people who wield enormous power and influence in President Tinubu’s administration, even more than some constitutionally-recognised officials in government.
