Tinubu picked Adelabu, asked me to claim credit — Makinde

Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde has accused President Bola Tinubu of asking him to take ownership of the appointment of Bayo Adelabu as Minister of Power, despite his recommendation of Bimbo Adekanmbi for a ministerial position.

Makinde said Tinubu made the decision to appoint Adelabu and subsequently asked him to present the appointment as his own choice.

The governor disclosed this during a media chat with Fresh FM on Sunday, adding that he rejected the request because he did not want to take credit for a decision he did not make.

Makinde said the President had initially asked him to recommend a development economist for the Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning.

He said he nominated Adekanmbi, a former Commissioner for Finance under the administration of the late former Oyo State Governor, Abiola Ajimobi, because of his role in stabilising the state’s finances under the previous government.

However, Makinde said Tinubu later informed him that he had settled for Adelabu, whom he 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,’” the governor recalled.

According to Makinde, Tinubu subsequently asked him to publicly claim the appointment as his recommendation.

“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,’” he said.

Makinde said he refused to do so, insisting that the appointment should be attributed to the President.

“So I said, ‘No, sir. Bayo is your choice, and let it be known to the people that it is your choice,’” he quoted himself as telling Tinubu.

The governor explained that his responsibility was to recommend competent individuals who could contribute to the administration, rather than take credit for appointments made by the President.

“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,” he said.

Makinde also alleged that the arrangement was not peculiar to him, claiming that several governors were asked to adopt ministerial nominees selected by Tinubu.

He said the experience gave him an insight into how political considerations influenced ministerial appointments under the administration.

“The G5, minus, of course, Wike, was not given ministerial appointments,” Makinde said.

He added that many of his colleagues, including governors outside the G5 alliance, were given nominees and asked to present them as their choices.

“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,” he said.

The governor further accused Tinubu of failing to adequately consider geographical spread in making appointments.

He said criticisms that the South-West dominated the administration overlooked what he described as the influence of political loyalty in the selection of appointees.

According to him, some appointees of Yoruba extraction were chosen primarily because of their political affiliation with the President.

He said “that they may be Yoruba people, but the majority of them were appointed on the basis of affiliation with Bourdillon”.

The G5 was an alliance of five Peoples Democratic Party governors who opposed the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2023 general election.

The group comprised Makinde, Nyesom Wike, Samuel Ortom, Okezie Ikpeazu and Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi.

The governors’ disagreement with the PDP leadership over the party’s national chairmanship and power-sharing arrangements weakened the party’s unity ahead of the election.

Wike, who later became Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, was the only G5 member specifically identified by Makinde as an exception to his claim that the alliance did not receive ministerial appointments.