Military leaders didn’t want Tinubu to become Lagos governor, says Marwa

Buba Marwa, chairman of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), says military leaders tried to prevent President Bola Tinubu from becoming governor of Lagos state.

Marwa, former military governor of Lagos from 1996 to 1999, said the military hierarchy wanted to stop Tinubu because of his pro-democracy activism with the National Democratic Coalition (NADECO) at the time.

The NDLEA chairman spoke in Abuja on Saturday at the public presentation of Buni Boy, a book authored by the late Niyi Ayoola-Daniels.

He said Lagos residents warmly embraced his leadership and supported his administration, even though they opposed military rule.

The retired brigadier general said the trust Lagos residents placed in him motivated his decision to oversee a transparent, credible democratic election.

“Even though the head of state then, Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar, did not interfere in my conduct of the governorship election, the military hierarchy did,” Marwa said.

“After seeing the then-Senator Bola Tinubu’s strong campaign and popularity, the military hierarchy instructed me to prevent him from becoming governor because of his pro-democracy activism in NADECO against the military government then.

“But I chose to conduct a free and fair election that produced the most popular candidate as governor of Lagos State. The rest today is history.”

Marwa said his 30-year military career further solidified his belief in the country’s unity, adding that the army’s ethos was built around one Nigeria.

“In the army, intermarriage and close fellowship pushed us to look past ethnic lines and stand together as one,” he said.

“Wherever I stand in this country, whether among the Ogoni, the Bachama, the Igbo or the Idoma, anywhere at all, I am at home.”

‘TINUBU’S PRO-DEMOCRACY STRUGGLE’

Tinubu joined the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in 1991 and actively campaigned for MKO Abiola, the party’s presidential candidate.

In 1992, he was elected to the senate, representing Lagos west district, where he chaired the committee on banking, finance, appropriation, and currency.

Following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election, Tinubu became a founding member of the NADECO, a coalition that pushed for the restoration of democratic rule and recognition of Abiola as the rightful winner of the election.

During the struggle, Tinubu and other pro-democracy activists fled into exile, continuing the fight for democracy through NADECO’s international network.

He was elected governor of Lagos state under the Alliance for Democracy (AD) in 1999.