How Tinubu and I Escaped Death on Third Mainland Bridge — Ojudu

Former presidential aide, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has recounted how he and President Bola Tinubu cheated death on the Third Mainland Bridge in Lagos.

Ojudu narrated the incident in an open letter to mark Nigeria’s Independence Anniversary.

He said the near-fatal accident happened around 1:30 a.m. shortly before Tinubu became governor, when they were returning from a meeting with a top security chief in Ikoyi to discuss fears that the governorship election could be rigged.

According to him, Tinubu’s driver, the late Mustapha, dozed off on the wheels on the Third Mainland Bridge and rammed into the railings.

“On our way back, at about 1.30 a.m., your driver, the late Mustapha, fell asleep at the wheel on the Third Mainland Bridge. The car struck the railing. We were fortunate to escape with our lives,” Ojudu wrote.

He disclosed that Tinubu thereafter asked him to drive them to Alausa, despite his inexperience with automatic transmission.

Ojudu said he used the story to underscore his long relationship with the President dating back to the pro-democracy struggle and Tinubu’s governorship campaign.

He recalled taking Tinubu to meet a senior security official, Ibrahim Solomon, in Ikoyi who assured them of a fair poll and kept his promise.

After Tinubu won, Ojudu said he assisted with transition and inauguration committees but turned down an appointment to stay in journalism, to remain an honest voice outside government.

“During your eight years as governor, that was the role I tried to play. I did not come to you seeking an appointment or a favour for myself,” he said, adding that then Chief of Staff, Lai Mohammed, would tease him as “our opposition.”

Ojudu said they have not met since 2022 and he did not support or vote for Tinubu in 2023, but was moved to write the letter after two sermons on hunger and poverty, urging the President to review policies making life harder for Nigerians.