However, the shareholders in both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Lagos state are said to have paddled in, calling for a peace.
A former member of the Lagos state executive council, who pledged to be anonymous, told Tribune that “some elders are planning a peace meeting between the duo.”
The forces loyal to Tinubu reportedly felt angry by the comment released by Fashola on August 13 in which he suggested that corruption accusations were being held on him by those opposed to his getting a federal appointment, an indirect reference to Tinubu and the incumbent governor, Akinwumi Ambode.
“The coming days will be interesting,” an assistant to a chieftain of the ruling party close to both leaders said.
Though the Tinubu camp is said to have pledged to fight on, “to teach the former governor a lesson,” the Fashola side of the rift, according to a source, “is determined to ensure that his integrity is not tainted by those who are jealous of his ascendancy in the polity.”
Meanwhile, both sides renounced from taking direct shots at each other.
Sunday Dare, Tinubu’s spokesperson, said that he had just arrived in the country and would need time to get conferences from his chief before reacting to the statement from Fashola while Ambode’s chief press secretary, Habib Aruna did not answer repeated calls made to his telephone line.
On his part, Ambode’s aide, who wants not to be named, noted that it was too naive for anybody to think that the government, led by Ambode, was behind the current corruption charge campaign against ex-governor Fashola in order to rubbish his record of achievements while in office for eight years.
The source said: “Ambode is not interested in the smear campaign against Fashola, it is a non- issue. It is too simplistic to suggest that, it is left for people to find out who is doing this. I can tell you that government is not involved. It is not possible for government to have a hand in that.
“The governor is a pragmatic person and ready to move on by restructuring the state.”
Other sources said national leader of the APC is determined to block the chances of Fashola from becoming a minister in the delayed cabinet of President Muhammadu Buhari due to his supposed “new found independence.”
This, according to a source, might have forced Fashola to announce in his published statement that he was not looking for a job, emphasizing that “For those who still wish to remain in the mud, they should look in the mirror. For those who wish to throw mud at me, they should look at their own hands. As for me, I have moved on. My job is done.”
Another source even revealed that “Tinubu’s supporters could even be the ones fighting back because of the perceived ill- treatment Tinubu suffered at the hands of Fashola while he was governor of the state.”
It should be noted that Fashola was supposed as AGF/Minister of Justice, while earlier he was predicted as minister of works and housing.
However, there had been reports that President Buhari doesn’t consider the immediate former governor of Lagos state because of the large sub-national outside debts experienced by the state.
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