Former presidential aide and journalist [Senator Babafemi Ojudu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Babafemi_Ojudu) has revealed that he and [President Bola Ahmed Tinubu](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bola_Ahmed_Tinubu) narrowly avoided a serious accident on Lagos’s [Third Mainland Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Third_Mainland_Bridge).
Ojudu says the episode took place shortly before Tinubu assumed the governorship of [Lagos State](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lagos_State), and he disclosed the details in an open letter addressed to the president on Nigeria’s Independence Day.
He used the letter to also call on the president to reconsider policies that, in his view, have made everyday life harder for millions of Nigerians.
According to Ojudu, the mishap occurred around 1:30 a.m. when Tinubu’s driver, the late Mustapha, fell asleep while driving back from the residence of senior security official Ibrahim Solomon in Ikoyi. The car hit the bridge railing but both occupants survived.
Ojudu quoted the late driver’s mistake: “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.”
He added that Tinubu asked him to take the vehicle to Alausa even though Ojudu had never driven an automatic transmission before, but he managed to get them there.
Ojudu recalled the incident as evidence of the long‑standing bond he shares with Tinubu, dating back to their joint struggle against military rule and Tinubu’s campaign for the Lagos governorship.
He noted that, just before Tinubu’s gubernatorial election, he escorted the future governor to Ibrahim Solomon’s home in Ikoyi because of concerns that the vote might be rigged. Solomon reportedly assured them that the security agencies would guarantee a fair process, which he later fulfilled.
After Tinubu won the election, Ojudu helped coordinate transition committees and the inauguration, but turned down an invitation to join the new administration, opting instead to return to journalism so he could speak candidly to the president without personal gain.
He said his role during Tinubu’s eight‑year tenure as governor was to provide honest counsel, not to seek appointments or favors.
Ojudu also recalled that Tinubu’s former chief of staff, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, would sometimes greet him at the governor’s office with a light‑hearted remark about opposition criticism.
The open letter, he explained, was written in the same spirit despite a strained relationship and his decision not to back Tinubu’s 2023 presidential campaign.
Ojudu confirmed that he has not seen Tinubu since 2022 and that he neither worked for the 2023 campaign nor voted for him, although recent sermons on hunger and poverty prompted him to voice his concerns directly to the president.