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"On your Mandate we shall stand
On your Mandate we shall stand
On your Mandate: Bola
On your Mandate: Bola
On your Mandate shall stand" �������

The above are the lyrics of the anthem of Mandate Group: the faction that reigns most supreme, in the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress, (APC). Like a fascist organization, the group bears total allegiance to the person of their Supreme Leader Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu and not to the constitution of the party, nor to any ideology.

The group is the successor outfit that rose out of the defunct Bola Ahmed Tinubu Campaign Organization, (BATCO). Led by Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola, the immediate past Governor of Osun State and current Minister of Interior, the group holds the Lagos APC chapter by the jugular, leaving no mile, sparing no quarter.

The group in the beginning had to share power with other factions in Alliance for Democracy, (AD), such as the Justice Forum, Ase Group, as well as contending with the commanding influence of "Afenifere", the socio political leadership of the pan Yoruba nation, under the leadership of Late Chief Abraham Adesanya then.

However a group that was peopled by technocrats, volunteers and young party men and women, dislodged other groups and gained complete power ascendancy in Lagos State as the years rolled by.

The first move was to impeach the Afenifere nominated Deputy Governor, Kofoworola Akerele Bucknor, thereafter install a banker and politicial neophyte Femi Pedro, who himself was later impeached; the group successfully thrashed the Ganiyu Dawodu led state executive committee of the party, Dawodu had to defect to contest Lagos Governorship in another political party.

Immediately Tinubu got his second term. He broke free from AD to establish Action Congress, (AC), which later metamophosed into Action Congress of Nigeria, (ACN), one of the legacy political parties that merged with others to form the All Progressives Congress, (APC).

The exploits of Mandate Group in Lagos are humongous, their politicial reach most extensive and their enforcement unit is well oiled to deliver, using brute force, if the need arises.

The fact is that the group members over the years have been indoctrinated to accept Tinubu's directives as that of a god, mere questioning of a directive leads to expulsion, one can only imagine the fate of members who dared to go against Tinubu's dictate(s). In turn Tinubu had used, and is using these men and women to hold all the politicial levers of power in Lagos State.

Vicious backbiting, name dropping and tale telling are tools deployed by members of the group to promote and demote each other.

Tinubu not trusting them had serially shopped for non Mandate Group members: Babatunde Raji Fashola SAN and Akinwunmi Dapo Ambode FCA as Lagos helmsmen in 2007-2015 and 2015-2019 respectively.

However in 2018: he had to pick Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who has imbibed the "Mandate Group" culture long enough, as he came into Lagos power establishment along with Femi Pedro from the banking industry, but Tinubu used Kadiri Obafemi Hamzat, the son of the Leader of the politically faded Justice Forum to checkmate him.

The group produced the 57 council chairmen in Lagos State and their vice, all the members of the 57 council executive committees were members of Mandate Group as well as their downline appointees.

As powerful as the group portends to outsiders, one thing they shy away from are elective primaries. They use conclave selection to foist their way through, when and where it became apparent there must be an election, the group mainly adopts intimidation and violence to brow beat their opponents to submission.

If the lot of other factions who left AD to AC and were much later together in the defunct ACN can be low. One can imagine the lot of the members of Congress for Progressive Change, (CPC), All Nigeria Peoples Party, (ANPP), the faction of Lagos All Progressives Grand Alliance, (APGA) and the New Peoples Democratic Party. (n-PDP) who merged with the party in Lagos State chapter of the APC.

Members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, (NURTW), are the official enforcement arm of the group. They have free access to Tinubu and the sub heads of the group at will.

It was the fight for Sanwo-Olu's attention and retainership by these NURTW enforcement sub leads, that led to the free for all during his gubernatorial flag off rally at the Skypower ground in Ikeja the Lagos State capital.

Alleged non-patronage by Akinwunmi Ambode FCA was one of the reasons they went all out to physically assault his supporters, during the controversial and fraud ridden gubernatorial primary of the party in 2018.

The former administrative leader of Mandate Group whom members refer to as "Mandate 1" was Cardinal James Odumbaku, (Baba Eto), was from Ikeja circuit, his reign was characterised by bribe taking, lousiness, loudness and other sundry vices. He was relieved intermittently by Alhaji Badru and Alhaji Abdullahi Ayinde Enilolobo from Alimosho circuit took charge and now Enilolobo has been formally installed as the new “Mandate 1”.

Enilolobo currently double as the State organising Secretary of the Lagos APC

Strangely Mandate leaders are also members of the State Party Executive, they were and are more powerful than the party chairman.

Cardinal Odumbaku as Vice Chairman wielded greater powers than that of Otunba Henry Oladele Ajomale, who was the party chair he served under. Cardinal Odumbaku held a larger political clout than Otunba Ajomale.

Enilolobo as "Mandate 1" was in charge in the later years of Otunba Ajomale, is also fully in charge in this era of Tunde Balogun. In fact Chief Funso Ologunde the Vice Chairman panicked when Enilolobo the State Organising Secretary joined issues with him. While Balogun the current APC state party chairman defers to Enilolobo as his political senior and leader.

Mandate leaders in the twenty recognised councils in Lagos State decide who gets what politically and the only man that can over rule their nominee is Tinubu. In fact Tinubu dare not touch nominees from "Mandate 1" circuit such as Alimosho LGA and her five development authorities.

During Fashola era state appointment lists were handed over to him by Mandate Group liaison. While he was on the podium about to reel out the offices of commissioners and special advisers. Mandate Group Deputy Supreme Leader Rauf Adesoji Aregbesola tapped him on the shoulder and in public glare handed him the list of offices allotted and sanctioned by the group.

The group openly kicked against and saw to the dissolution of the defunct Babatunde Raji Fashola Campaign Organization, (BRFCO), Akinwunmi Ambode Campaign Organization, (AAMCO), and most recently Babajide Olushola Sanwo-Olu Campaign Organization, (BOSCO). They stand no competition in the Lagos political fiefdom of their Supreme Leader Tinubu.

There are State government contracts that have become statutory for the group members to handled exclusively in Lagos State, among which are tax collection, outdoor advertising ,motor park services collection details, market services collection details, Drain Duck Managers, Highway Managers, Support Service Providers and Private Sector Participators for LAWMA. A sore point between them and the Ambode administration was the reorganisation he sought to achieve in the Lagos waste industry.

Mandate Group members hardly accept non-members, they prefer to replace themselves with their children, spouses or close relatives, hence the springing up of mini politicial dynasties in Lagos. They pride themselves as copying the Supreme Leader Bola Ahmed Tinubu whose spouse, children, in-laws, cousins, nephews, nieces & aides dominate the Lagos political system.

The greatest agenda before the group is to see Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerge as President and Commander in Chief of the Federal Armed Forces in 2023.

Independent and rational individuals who have not imbibed the Mandate Group despotic culture cannot be of value in the task ahead.

One of the tools by Tinubu to reinforce his political god ideology and a critical back end unit is the mind control of media centres established via proxies. The Nation newspaper, Television Continental, Max FM, Adaba FM and a retinue of paid opinion writers, program producers and presenters on payroll of these outfits.

Tens of thousands of copies of The Nation newspaper are subscribed to daily in all the public offices and establishments in Lagos State. The State also patronises other media outfits in the firm control of Tinubu.

Tax consultancy and collection is the major income earner for the lead and selected members of Mandate Group. Alpha Beta Consulting is owned by Mandate Group financial muscle arm, with over 20 years of retainer with the Lagos State government, netting as much as 10% cut on all state internally generated revenue. In the 20 year rule one can only imagine the the humongous amount this group had cornered for itself.

Another empowerment platform for her leads are State lands allocations to Tinubu, leaders of the group and their high net worth supporters and business partners.

Settlement culture permeates the entire fabric of Lagos politicial structure. Raw mega bribes and pittances to bind members in, while returns are made to local Mandate Group leads routinely by those they planted in public offices via occultic rites to obtain their loyalties, as well as undated resignation letters.

Mandate Group despotic rule in Lagos is established no doubt, and waning too: as there are fallouts and fall aways, by hitherto subservient members who are beginning to think out of the vicious narrow interests and agendas of the politicial organization run by psuedo democrats.

The serial forages into South West political zone had brought embarrassingly low returns for Mandate Group. Especially the failed Osun project, where Aregbesola, the Deputy Leader stretched the government of the agrarian State beyond measure and was booted out of the Osun politicial terrain, after eight years anti climax, his effort to relaunch himself suffered a major set back as the Osun Muslim Ummah rebuffed his turban as Wiziri Muslim Ummah of the state, the failure to nail down Ogun, Ekiti, Oyo and Ondo States for their members. This cast the group as a Lagos affair alone and they are still strategising how to relaunch themselves in those States.

Mandate group's ultimate political quest is Nigeria's presidency and the man with the clout, contacts and capital is Bola Ahmed Tinubu their numero uno. The alternative to Tinubu can only be Aregbesola his Deputy. If they succeed then their object will be to replicate their lagos political hegemony and total control at the Federal level.