When Tinubu Called Me, I Told Him My Deputy Should Be A Young Female, And He Said, It’s Okay -Hamzat

According to a report by Vanguard on Friday, July 17, 2026, Obafemi Hamzat, the Lagos State Deputy Governor and the All Progressives Congress (APC) governorship candidate for the 2027 election, has revealed that he neither knew nor had any prior interaction with his running mate, Damilola Sonayon-James, before the party picked her as the deputy governorship candidate.

He said her emergence was the outcome of the party’s internal consultation process rather than any personal relationship between them.

Speaking on Thursday during the public presentation of Who Is She? held at the Syrian Club Event Centre in Ikoyi, Lagos, Hamzat explained that the selection of his running mate followed deliberations among leaders of the Lagos chapter of the APC.

He said the process began after President Bola Tinubu directed the state leadership of the party to decide on the individual who would occupy the deputy governorship position.

Hamzat stated that during the discussions, he suggested that the party should nominate a woman as his running mate.

According to him, the proposal received the approval of President Tinubu, who agreed with the recommendation without objection.

He added that he also proposed that the candidate should be a young woman, and the President equally endorsed the idea.

The APC governorship candidate said the party did not rely solely on gender and age in making the decision.

He explained that the zoning arrangement within Lagos State was another important consideration that influenced the selection process, noting that the party sought to maintain its established political balance across the state’s senatorial districts.

He further explained that because he is from Lagos East and the incumbent Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, is from Lagos Central, it was considered appropriate under the zoning arrangement for the deputy governorship position to be allocated to a candidate from Lagos West.

He said this formed part of the factors that guided the party in arriving at its final decision.

Hamzat reiterated that his running mate’s emergence was based entirely on the APC’s consultation and selection process.

He stressed that before Sonayon-James was chosen, he had never met her, spoken with her, or maintained any form of personal relationship with her, emphasizing that the decision was driven by the party’s agreed criteria rather than personal familiarity.

“The president called me and said, ‘You guys go and sort it out.’ I said, ‘Sir, I think it should be a female.’ He said, ‘It’s okay.’ I said, ‘It should be young.’ He said, ‘It’s okay,’ Hamzat said…....