A former governor of Osun State, Prince Olagunsoye Oyinlola,
has revealed how former President Olusegun Obasanjo truncated the ambition of
the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, to
become the running mate to Muhammadu Buhari who was the APC presidential
candidate in 2015.
Oyinlola explained that even though Obasanjo was the last
person to throw his weight behind Buhari’s candidature, having opposed the
re-election of the then President, Goodluck Jonathan, he was eventually
prevailed upon to support the former military ruler.
In an interview with one of our correspondents, Oyinlola,
who was once the military administrator of Lagos State, pointed out that there
was already an agreement between Buhari and Tinubu before 2015 that they would
be presidential and vice-presidential candidates respectively, a deal he said
was initially hidden from most party members.
This development, according to him, led to some uneasiness
in the party as they feared that a Muslim-Muslim ticket could cost the APC
victory in the election, given the near-equal population of Christians and
Muslims in the country and the sensitivity that surrounds religion issues in
the country.
Prior to the 2015 elections, political parties always
ensured their presidential candidates and their running mates emerged from the
two dominant religions, with the only exception being the MKO Abiola/Babagana
Kingibe candidacy on the platform of the Social Democratic Party in the June
12, 1993 election.
Even though Abiola and Kingibe, who were the presidential
candidate and running mate respectively, eventually won the election, it is
regarded as a one-off scenario. The election was later annulled by the regime
of the then dictator, General Ibrahim Babangida.
Meanwhile, speaking further, Oyinlola explained that if not
for Obasanjo’s intervention, the APC would likely have gone ahead with the
Muslim-Muslim ticket and the party could have found it difficult to displace
the government in power, especially when all reservations that surfaced over
the proposed Muslim-Muslim ticket had been dismissed.
He added, “The agreement was concealed from a good number of
the party leaders until it surfaced after Buhari had got the ticket. Then the
rumour came out and some us felt danger was looming with the idea of
Muslim-Muslim ticket. To further add to our fears, General Buhari on one
occasion said there was nothing wrong in the Muslim-Muslim presidential
arrangement, saying after all he governed with Tunde Idiagbon.
“That statement made us to know it (the Muslim-Muslim idea)
was a fact. On two occasions, Bola (Tinubu) mentioned it in my presence that
they agreed. If you recall one trending video back then, where it was said that
Buhari had jettisoned what they agreed on, that is the room he was sleeping
when Buhari was looking for the post.
“We then told Baba (Obasanjo). We told him that taking power
from an incumbent government was a tough task and we must not give room for
excuse and miss the target. We told him they (Buhari and Tinubu) were thinking
of a Muslim-Muslim ticket. That was when Baba (Obasanjo) said people should not
take the sensibilities of Nigerians for granted.”
He said after Obasanjo’s intervention succeeded in changing
the decision, some people started spreading the news that Obasanjo frustrated
the plan to make Tinubu the vice-presidential candidate.
He added, “After that (Obasanjo’s intervention), they
started saying it in my presence that Obasanjo frustrated the plan to get
Tinubu on the ticket for 2015 but I always acted as if I didn’t hear them. We
then had a stakeholders meeting where the issue of the running mate was
discussed again.”
In addition to Obasanjo’s input, Oyinlola said a former
governor of Gombe State, Danjuma Goje, also cautioned against the Muslim-Muslim
ticket, especially because the party needed all the votes it could get from
different parts of the country.
He added, “At the meeting, ex-governor Goje, rose up and
said in the northern part, there is negligible number of Christians. He said
the APC would need every vote to upstage the incumbent, so nobody should toy
with the idea of a Muslim-Muslim ticket and everybody concurred. I think it was
even Bola (Tinubu) that suggested that the matter should be taken before some
leaders to resolve. But we never saw anything like that again.”
Meanwhile, Tinubu had said at the 7th annual Bola Tinubu
colloquium at Eko Hotel in Lagos on March 25, 2015, two days before the
election, that he pulled out of the contest.
He had said, “They attacked General Buhari, saying he would
not subject himself to a primary. He did and won it as our party held the most
open and transparently honest convention ever held in Nigeria. They said I
connived and conspired my way into the VP seat. They lied so easily that it was
the price I extracted from General Buhari to support his bid. If not, I would
destroy the party on the altar of my ambitions.
“They were wrong. I pulled myself out of contention. The
very brilliant and capable Prof Yemi Osinbajo became our VP candidate. A man of
integrity and impeccable character. Alas, this sent Jonathan’s henchmen into
disarray. In the quiet of their private closet, even they could see clearly
enough through the darkness of their own hearts to recognise that our ticket
was so much better than theirs.”
…says Saraki, Amosun,
others mounted pressure on OBJ to back PMB
Meanwhile, Oyinlola, who was once the National Secretary of
the Peoples Democratic Party, also pointed out that prior to the electioneering
of the 2015 presidential election, Obasanjo was not disposed to supporting
Buhari’s candidacy due to the issue of performance.
He, however, revealed that it took a delegation of prominent
chieftains of the APC to visit the former President in his Ota home in
Abeokuta, Ogun State, to appeal to him to support Buhari.
He identified the chieftains to include himself, former
Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki; a former Governor of Lagos State,
BolaTinubu and a former Governor of Ogun State, Senator Ibikunle Amosun, who is
a known ally of Buhari.
Oyinlola explained that even though Obasanjo was open to
supporting anyone but Jonathan, having written him a letter to express his
disappointment in his administration, he wasn’t convinced Buhari would be able
to deliver, which influenced his reluctance.
Oyinlola said, “The last person to accept Buhari’s
candidature was Obasanjo and I say that one with every emphasis because I was
involved. Yes, Baba (Obasanjo) had fallen out with Jonathan. His projection
then was ‘any option but Jonathan’. That was his stand.
“Taking a look at those candidates from other parties, there
was no other person we felt could handle the delicate governance of Nigeria
better than Buhari among the contenders that time. That was why the choice of
Buhari became the order.
“That, coupled with the fact that he had been at the helm of
affairs in the country before under the military, so he has that edge over all
others. But Baba (Obasanjo) was the last to subscribe to the idea. I can tell
you that it took a team of Saraki, Amosun, Bola Tinubu, Kashim, Imam and
myself, that went and bombarded Baba (Obasanjo) at Ota around 7am before he
succumbed to our pressure.
“That day, he said Buhari that he knew would try in the area
of military matters, but outside that, Buhari knows next to nothing; not economy,
not foreign affairs and he has been proven right.”
Buhari had on January 13, during the run-up to the 2015
presidential election, led over 30 chieftains of the APC to Obasanjo’s Abeokuta
home.
Some of the chieftains who accompanied Buhari include
Amosun, Prof Yemi Osinbajo (now Vice-President), Tinubu, the then APC chairman,
Chief John Odigie-Oyegun, Senator Bukola Saraki and the pioneer interim
National Chairman of the party, Chief Bisi Akande.
Others are Dr Olorunnimbe Mamora (now Minister of State for
Health), Otunba Niyi Adebayo (now Minister of Trade and Investment) and Sharon
Ikeazor (now Minister of State for Environment).
Buhari who spoke at the meeting, described Obasanjo as a
true leader who understood the problems of Nigeria. He also thanked the former
President for appointing him as Minister of Petroleum which was his best
appointment ever (as of then). He also begged Obasanjo to endorse him.
Buhari said, “Your Excellency, under whom I served the most
lucrative appointment of the Minister of Petroleum Resources for three and a
quarter years before he sent me on course. When I set about the programme of
going round the states, somebody has the temerity to ask me that when I come to
Ogun State, shall I call on Chief Olusegun Obasanjo?
“I don’t think I answered the man, I just looked the other
way. I think that I should not come here (Abeokuta) in whatever capacity
without calling to pay my respect. Sir, it’s a fact that you know more than all
we know about the problem that we are in. But what we will do is Nigerians try
to convince you to believe us that we are going to do better.
“We expect your understanding and support, although you
insist in remaining in PDP. I have reached a certain degree of frustration in
my attempt for you to try to shift a bit but you have refused.”
Obasanjo later endorsed Buhari, and on February 16, 2015, he
tore his PDP membership cards to shreds.
The former President, who had on December 11, 2013, written
to Jonathan to express his disappointment in his administration, saying Nigeria
was bleeding under him, later wrote Buhari twice, accusing him of ineptitude.
In his second letter, Obasanjo also advised Buhari against
seeking re-election. “Nigeria is on the precipice and dangerously reaching a
tipping point where it may no longer be possible to hold danger at bay,”
Obasanjo said in one of the letters.
…knocks APC for
reneging on restructuring Nigeria
Meanwhile, Oyinlola also revealed that he had regrets
supporting Buhari. He noted that he realised the party deceived Nigerians with
its restructuring agenda, saying this informed why he resigned as the chairman
of the National Identity Management Commission on May 9, 2018.
He said, “In fact, the whole world has regret now. You see
when he appointed me as the chairman of National Identity Management Commission
on a part-time level, I didn’t feel that was what should be my take, given the
efforts put in. But if you want to serve, you must be ready to serve in any
position.
“I was not looking for money to build house or send anybody
to school. That was why I accepted it. I quit that position when what we have
discussed (what we made the manifesto of our party) was being denied, and that
is restructuring.
“When Mr President said he does not know the meaning of
restructuring and I know I was in all the moves with Afenifere and the
South-West before his election. The principal reason these people (South-West)
bought into the project was because of restructuring, only for Mr President to
say he doesn’t know the meaning of restructuring again. I felt deceived and to
show it, that was why I told him that he could keep his appointment.”
When asked if his defection from the PDP to APC and now back
to the PDP was not a sign of inconsistency, Oyinlola said, “If you look at the
circumstances that made me move, it cannot be considered inconsistency. I did
not do anything wrong, they moved against me in the PDP and removed me. I went
and joined the APC. What we agreed to do, which was restructuring, they reneged
and I said I couldn’t be in the same party with such people.
“Restructuring was the major thing we sold to the South-West
that made people to key into Buhari’s project. So, when Buhari said he does not
know the meaning of restructuring, then I threw in my paper, I can’t be a
chairman under you.”
APC not missing
ex-Osun gov, says APC
Meanwhile, in its reaction to Oyinlola’s statement that APC
deceived Nigerians with its restructuring agenda, spokesperson for the ruling
party, Yekini Nabena, who refused to address the issue, said Oyinlola left the
party because he could not get what he was looking for.
He told one of our correspondents on the telephone, “Gone
are the days when people think because they once held an office they are coming
to a system and they want to take over the system. Gone are those days.
“He came into the APC and didn’t get what he was looking for
and he left the party. What is the population of Osun State that they gave the
party in the first place? If he is talking, he should talk for himself and not
for other people. Others are happy with Mr President.
“So, if he is not happy based on his selfish interest, let
it be. His (being) out of the party did not show any significance. Nobody is
missing him. If you didn’t mention his name now, I never knew he was in the
APC. He is very inconsequential.”
Culled: PUNCH
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