Senator Musiliu Obanikoro and Son Ibrahim Eat Humble Pie

Highlife

There are times in life when everything just seems to go wrong. In the face of such apparent heavy-handedness from the powers of the world, one can either become understandably angry or sad. This is what has happened to the former Minister of State for Defence, Musiliu Obanikoro, his son, Ibrahim, and their political ambitions.

A few days ago, the All Progressives Congress (APC) concluded its senatorial primaries for the determination of who gets the senatorial ticket in Lagos West. There were only 557 votes cast and three individuals who wanted the ticket: Obanikoro, former Lagos State Deputy Governor Idiat Adebule, and former Lagos Commissioner, Kayode Opeifa.

Of the 557 votes, Adebule got 424 which is approximately 76% of everything. The remaining 24% had to be shared by Obanikoro and Opeifa, with the former getting 119 and the latter getting four (there were 10 invalid votes). As expected, Obanikoro is not at all happy with the results and has even rejected them, stating that Adebule was not screened by the party and did not express official interest in the senatorial position before the primaries.

One can understand Obanikoro’s pain. After all, before now, it was assumed that he had been hand-picked by someone high and mighty for the very position he lost even an opportunity to contest. Moreover, this is the same position he allegedly had to quarrel with his son, Ibrahim, for, since the latter was also interested in becoming Lagos West Senator.

Meanwhile, Ibrahim is not doing well himself. The day before his father failed to get his hands on the APC senatorial ticket, Ibrahim also failed to get the party ticket to represent his Eti Osa Federal Constituency. Thus, he will not be returning to the House of Representatives in 2023.

This is certainly not the best of times for the Obanikoros.