Seyi Makinde, governor of Oyo State, says President Bola Tinubu selected Bayo Adelabu as Minister of Power despite his nomination of Bimbo Adekanmbi, Commissioner for Finance under then-governor Abiola Ajimobi.
Makinde spoke on Sunday during a media chat with Fresh FM,
where he also said Nyesom Wike, minister of the Federal Capital Territory
(FCT), became the ultimate beneficiary of the G5 governors’ alliance with
Tinubu.
The governor said Tinubu initially asked him to recommend a
development economist for the budget and economic planning portfolio.
Makinde said he nominated Adekanmbi because he believed his
pick played a significant role in stabilising the previous administration in
Oyo.
However, he said Tinubu later informed him that he had
decided to appoint Adelabu, whom Makinde ran against in the 2019 governorship
election.
“I said: ‘Okay, I know Bayo. I contested against Bayo in
2019. He is a first-class material,’” Makinde said.
“And then the president eventually said: ‘Well, since I’ve
taken this decision to appoint Bayo, you should go and take ownership of him,
like go out and say it was your choice.'”
Makinde said he rejected the request, insisting that the
appointment was Tinubu’s decision.
“So I said, ‘No, sir. Bayo is your choice, and let it be
known to the people that it is your choice,” he added.
“I’m supposed to help you by nominating people who can add
value to your administration. If you’ve seen somebody who can do that, that’s
good.’”
The governor said he would soon discover that other
governors had also been asked to adopt ministerial nominees handpicked by
Tinubu.
“The G5, minus, of course, Wike, was not given ministerial
appointments,” he said.
“The point I’m trying to make is that most of my colleagues,
not just those in the G5, my governor colleagues, right, were given people and
asked to adopt those people as theirs.”
Makinde also accused Tinubu of failing to consider
geographical spread while making appointments.
He said some persons had accused the south-west of
dominating the administration, but he argued that many appointees were selected
based on their political affiliation with the president.
He added “that they may be Yoruba people, but the majority
of them were appointed on the basis of affiliation with Bourdillon.”
The G5 was a political alliance between five Peoples
Democratic Party (PDP) governors and Tinubu, who was the All Progressives
Congress (APC) presidential candidate in the 2023 election.
Members of the G5 included Makinde, Wike, Samuel Ortom,
Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
The five governors refused to support their party’s
candidate, Atiku Abubakar, because of disagreements over the PDP leadership.
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