- Hamzat is emerging as Lagos APC’s consensus governorship candidate, backed by the GAC and Tinubu ally James Faleke.
- His candidacy would give Epe Division a second consecutive Lagos governor after Ambode.
- With no rival declared and primaries weeks away, Hamzat may be heading for an uncontested ticket.
The Lagos State governorship ambition of Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, which is yet to be publicly declared, is gathering clear momentum, with key endorsements from within the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) suggesting that the succession question in Nigeria’s most consequential state may already be settling.
EKO HOT BLOG reports that the most significant public endorsement came on Friday when James Faleke, the ranking federal lawmaker representing Ikeja Federal Constituency and Chairman of the House of Representatives Committee on Finance, threw his weight behind Hamzat in unambiguous terms.
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“As we prepare for Party primaries next month, I urge all our supporters in Ikeja Federal Constituency and Lagos State to support Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat as the next Governor of Lagos State from 2027–2035,” Faleke posted on his verified X account.
The endorsement carries weight beyond Faleke’s personal stature. He is widely regarded as a close political ally of President Bola Tinubu, and within Lagos APC circles, his declaration is being interpreted as an indirect signal of the president’s preference — a reading that political observers say is difficult to dismiss.
More telling, however, is the position of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), the highest decision-making organ of the APC in Lagos. Sources confirm that the GAC has rallied behind Hamzat as its preferred candidate — a development that, in the architecture of Lagos politics, carries near-determinative weight.
The GAC’s influence over delegate mobilisation, ward-level structures, and primary outcomes has historically made its preferred candidates unstoppable. Its alignment with Hamzat effectively transforms him from frontrunner to presumptive candidate.
Recall that EKO HOT BLOG had reported on March 26, 2026, that the GAC had endorsed the deputy governor and President Tinubu was set to announce him as the party’s consensus choice. However, the party leaders in the state, including the president, later decided to throw the contest open through a direct primary process that still sees Hamzat considered as the favourite to prevail.
With APC primaries scheduled for between April 23 and May 30, and no rival candidate having publicly declared, the number 2 Lagos resident appears to be cruising toward a historic coronation.
Epe’s Second Chance And What It Must Do With It
Hamzat’s frontrunner status also aligns with earlier reporting by EKO HOT BLOG that the APC governorship ticket had been quietly zoned to the Epe Division — a report that was met with scepticism in some political quarters at the time.
Should Hamzat secure and win the governorship, it would represent a second consecutive opportunity for Epe to hold the Lagos governorship, following former Governor Akinwunmi Ambode’s single term between 2015 and 2019. Political insiders and community stakeholders within the division say the question now is not just whether Epe produces the next governor, but whether the division is prepared to convert that political fortune into lasting developmental gains.
The lesson of the Ambode years, they say, is instructive. For all his landmark achievements in infrastructure and urban renewal across Lagos, Epe did not fully leverage its position at the centre of power to secure enduring structural gains for its own communities. The opportunity, in the view of many Epe stakeholders, was not seized with sufficient unity or strategic intent.
Insiders say that for history not to repeat itself, Epe’s traditional rulers, community leaders, local government authorities, and political actors must set aside the factional rivalries and personal interests that have long fragmented the division’s political voice. A divided Epe, they warn, cannot negotiate effectively at the table of power, regardless of who occupies Government House.
The opportunities are clear, insiders note: Epe’s fishing economy, its tourism potential, its long-neglected road networks, and its large youth population all represent areas where a sympathetic administration could make transformative interventions, but only if the division presents a coherent, unified agenda rather than competing individual demands.
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Veteran political observers in the area insist that community interests must take precedence over personal ones. The opportunity, they say, may not come a third time.
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