Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has criticised the composition and direction of President Bola Tinubu’s administration, saying it has fallen short of expectations of a government driven by national unity and competence.
Makinde stated this on Tuesday during a media parley with select journalists in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The governor said he had, on several occasions, expressed the hope that the Tinubu administration would focus on competence rather than political considerations as part of efforts to reset the country.
“I’ve mentioned it more than maybe three, four times, that our expectation would be a government of national unity, a government of national competence, where you can start the process of resetting this country,” he said.
However, he questioned whether that expectation had been realised.
“But is it what we are seeing right now? Is it a government of national competence? Is it a government of national unity?The answer is no.
Makinde recounted his interaction with the President during the ministerial nomination process, saying Tinubu had asked him to recommend a developmental economist for the position of Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.
According to him, he submitted the name of a qualified indigene of Oyo State, but the nominee was not selected. Instead, the individual eventually appointed was named Minister of Power.
“When the president said, ‘look, nominate somebody who may be appointed as a minister,” I said, ‘sir, what position do you want to give to us?’ Then he said, ‘I’m looking for a developmental economist who can be the minister of budget and economic planning.’
” I said, ‘OK. I will look for somebody that fits that bill’ and I sent somebody’s name, who is a state indigene, and I sent it to him, the individual wasn’t selected, Rather, they selected the current minister of power. He wasn’t taken to ministry of budget and economic planning. He was taken to ministry of power.
“A subsequent meeting with the president, he said, actually, I think I must have gone to him to seek for approval for the upgrade of the Ibadan airport. He said, ‘I will sign it for you, I’ll give my nod. But, oh, sit down. What’s happening politically? I heard you’re upset because your nominee was not given the ministerial slot.’”
Makinde stated that if the appointment of the Minister of Power, Bayo Adelabu, was influenced by the desire to strengthen the All Progressives Congress in Oyo State, then the decision was misplaced.
“I said, ‘sir, in Yoruba land, if you don’t want the pregnancy to be aborted, you won’t want the baby to die. Because it’s easier to abort a pregnancy than to kill a baby.’ I said, you will decide at the end of the day who you want to work with. We can only suggest people. But if you know people that fit your bill, about the kind of individual you want in your cabinet, we are just to support you.
“However, let me say this, if you’ve selected the minister of power because you want him to help you organise the APC in our state, he doesn’t have the capacity. I told the president,” he added.
He further disclosed that Tinubu later clarified that he wanted him personally to help organise the APC in Oyo State, a request he said he declined.
“He said, no, no, no, no, Sheikh, it’s you that I want to help me organise the APC in your state. I said, no, sir. I can never help you organise the APC in our state because I am of the PDP,” he added.
Punch
