Tinubu, a man who had endured two critical denials must have a shot at presidency — Chief Bisi Akande

By Olaseinde Gbenga – Abuja

In the endearing new book titled “My Participations,” launched on Thursday for the former Osun State Governor Chief Bisi Akande, has amazing powers of recall how Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, The All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader had the misfortune to run twice for Vice presidential candidate but ended up a victim of political circumstances.

The book has eulogized the All Progressives Congress (APC) National Leader Bola Tinubu for his dedication and efforts, which produced the formation of APC as a party and which swept Muhammed Buhari to victory during the 2015 presidential election.

According to him, in 2011, Tinubu was on the verge to become the running mate to Atiku Abubakar the former Vice president of Nigeria, but was sniffed out as an act of betrayal and breach of trust, and Atiku ended picking Sen. Ben Obi ahead of Tinubu. It is said that in politics,the only thing that is permanent is interest.

Again, in 2015 when Major-General Muhammadu Buhari (retd) was showing enthusiasm to contest for the presidential ticket under the platform of APC, Tinubu was considered as running mate. Having secured the APC ticket,Buhari suddenly renege on his agreement, and instead asked Tinubu to present three names.

Tinubu was discontented with this development,and eventually presented Osibanjo as Buhari’s running mate.

The former Governor of Osun State autobiography captured these with enormous details, thus justifying Tinubu’s presidential ambition at the moment as well deserving for a man who had endured two critical denials to have a shot at the presidency.

Reactions from political savvy view that for Osinbajo to now stand as a fence to Tinubu’s presidential ambition will be tantamount to betrayal.

”Bisi said In April 2014, that I was in Abuja when Buhari called me and asked me to persuade Bola to be his running mate, Governor Masari was the one who came to call me. When I followed him into Buhari’s private lobby, Bola Tinubu was already seated there.

“So, when Buhari tabled the matter, I cautioned them that this must not get out beyond the four of us. ‘How could he be talking of a running mate when he had not secured the ticket?”

I thought such information, if leaked to the general public, might affect the conduct of the party’s congress at the presidential primaries, if not its choice of candidate. I thanked Buhari for thinking so highly of our friend.

“Bola later told me that Buhari’s emissaries had been coming to him, but he tried to dodge the gesture and not to show interest. We agreed that we would reopen the matter when Buhari had secured the ticket,” he explained.

However, he expressed surprise that thereafter, when Buhari became the party’s candidate, things changed, with former APC chairman, Odigie Oyegun, who was supported by Tinubu to become chairman of the party, asking for names from the geopolitical zones from where Buhari will pick his running mate.

“He said it was from this list that Buhari would choose a running mate. I objected. I turned to Buhari. ‘General, where are you choosing your running mate from?’ He answered, ‘The South-west.’ ‘Oh! I didn’t know,’Oyegun said. He apologised.

“I didn’t know why Oyegun made that proposition and at whose behest. As the chairman of the party, maybe some people pushed him to do that,” he noted.

Akande states further: “Then, I called Buhari aside. ‘Is our arrangement still standing?’ I referred him to our discussion in April. He said yes!”

According to the author, some members of the party eventually agreed that a committee should be set up to search for Buhari’s running mate, a move himself and former governor of Edo State, Adams Oshiomhole, opposed.

Akande adds that he later came to know that some people constituted themselves into a group, called the Northern Interest Group, and they prevailed on Buhari not to allow a Muslim-Muslim ticket.

According to him, it was the following day after the Elders’ Committee meeting which was deadlocked, that Buhari phoned Tinubu to give him three names from which he would pick a running mate.

“We were all in Abuja and Tinubu rushed to me with this information. He wanted to know whether the understanding we reached with Buhari had changed. I called Buhari and he told me he now needed three names from us. I was angry with him.

“General, this was not what we agreed upon,’ I said in annoyance. ‘You are changing our agreement?’ He knew I was getting angry. He said he was under pressure from some governors from the north, including those who were Muslims. I told him the slot belonged to the South-West and among the Yoruba, religion is not a factor in leadership,” he said.

The former Osun governor explains, in the book, that he didn’t know what that meant because before they discussed the issue of Tinubu as the partner or vice-president’s ticket, a merger had been accomplished and they had already partnered.