OYO State Governor Seyi Makinde has revealed that President Bola Tinubu selected Bayo Adelabu as Minister of Power despite his nomination of Bimbo Adekanmbi, who served as commissioner for finance under former governor Abiola Ajimobi, for a ministerial position.
News Point Nigeria reports that Makinde made the disclosure on Sunday during a media chat with Fresh FM, where he also stated that the Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Nyesom Wike, emerged as the ultimate beneficiary of the G5 governors’ alliance with Tinubu.
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The governor explained that Tinubu had initially asked him to recommend a development economist for the position of Minister of Budget and Economic Planning.
According to Makinde, he nominated Adekanmbi because he believed his nominee had played a significant role in stabilising the previous administration in Oyo State.
However, he said Tinubu later informed him that he had decided to appoint Adelabu, whom Makinde contested 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.
He further disclosed that Tinubu subsequently asked him to take ownership of the appointment by publicly presenting Adelabu as his own choice.
“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,’” the governor recounted.
Makinde said he rejected the request, insisting that the appointment was Tinubu’s decision and should be acknowledged as such.
“So I said, ‘No, sir. Bayo is your choice, and let it be known to the people that it is your choice,” he added.
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The governor explained that his responsibility was to recommend competent individuals who could contribute meaningfully to the administration, stressing that the president was free to make his own choices.
“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.”
Makinde said he would later discover that other governors had also been asked to adopt ministerial nominees personally selected 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.”
The Oyo governor also accused Tinubu of failing to consider geographical spread in making appointments, arguing that political affiliation with the president played a significant role in determining who secured positions in the administration.
Makinde said some people had accused the South-West of dominating the administration, but he maintained that the appointments were not necessarily based on regional considerations.
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 involving five Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors and Tinubu, who contested the 2023 presidential election as the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
The members of the alliance were Makinde, Wike, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.
The five governors refused to support their party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, during the 2023 election because of disagreements over the PDP leadership.
