Why Tinubu trusted only Osinbajo, Aregbesola, three others as governor — Ex-SA

By Efe Onodjae

A former special assistant to former Lagos State governor and now President Bola Tinubu, Dapo Thomas, has revealed that Tinubu operated a trusted inner circle of five commissioners during his administration in Lagos.

Thomas, now a professor of history at Lagos State University, made the revelation in excerpts from his autobiography, Lagos Boy and Lagos Politics, scheduled for launch on July 9, 2026, and made available to Vanguard.

According to him, Tinubu privately classified members of his cabinet into different categories based on the level of trust he reposed in them, with only five commissioners occupying the top tier.

“The governor told me the names of the commissioners in the different categories, but in strict adherence to discretion, I will mention only the commissioners that were in category one,” Thomas wrote.

He identified the five as Wale Edun, Dele Alake, Yemi Cardoso, Rauf Aregbesola and Yemi Osinbajo.

Thomas said he had observed that Tinubu treated some commissioners differently, particularly regarding how official files reached his desk.

“He often yelled at some of them for bringing their files directly to him instead of passing them through the Office of the Chief of Staff. However, some of them, especially the ones in the first category, did not pass their files through the chief of staff, yet the governor would not as much as bat an eyelid,” he wrote.

He said what appeared to outsiders as preferential treatment was, in Tinubu’s view, a matter of trust.

“I was not sure he saw it that way, though. To him, it was all about trust issues. When a man has character deficit, he attracts just an ounce of deference,” Thomas added.

The former aide also recalled an incident in which several commissioners surrounded Tinubu with files shortly before he embarked on a trip, hoping to secure his signature.

According to Thomas, the governor, sensing what he described as a coordinated attempt to pressure him, suddenly ordered everyone out of his office.

“Everybody get out of my office now. If I continue this way, a time would come that I would have signed my resignation letter without knowing it. What kind of nonsense is this? Out everybody,” Tinubu was quoted as saying.

Thomas also recounted another occasion when Tinubu was leaving for South Africa and initially agreed to travel with official files before being persuaded against it by Yemi Cardoso.

However, he said Tinubu changed his mind moments later, instructing his driver in Yoruba to return the files to the vehicle.

“Mustapha, wa ko files yi pada sinu moto. Ko s’eni to ma f’ogun s’enu ba mi soro lohun yen,” Tinubu reportedly said, meaning, “Mustapha, take these files back to the car. Nobody can put me under a spell when I am treating the files over there.”

Thomas said the incidents reflected Tinubu’s cautious approach to governance and his reliance on a small circle of trusted aides and commissioners.

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