2023 Tinubu Alliance Failed To Deliver National Unity, Competent Govt – Makinde

Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has disclosed that the political alliance he entered into with President Bola Tinubu ahead of the 2023 general election failed to deliver the national unity, fairness and competent government he expected, declaring that he regrets supporting the President.

Makinde said his decision to support Tinubu as the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was driven by the belief that the incoming administration would bring together capable Nigerians from different parts of the country to address the nation’s challenges, rather than govern along narrow political or regional lines.

The governor made the disclosure during a live radio interview in Ibadan on Sunday, while revisiting the circumstances that led him and other aggrieved Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governors to support Tinubu instead of their party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, in the 2023 election.

Explaining the motivation behind the alliance, Makinde said he had expected the President to prioritise the national interest, notwithstanding their different political affiliations and his lack of previous direct dealings with Tinubu.

“I supported the current president, even though in another party at that time, because I thought, even though I never dealt directly with him, I thought we would do what is right for the country,” he said.

Makinde said the expectation was that the administration would pursue national cohesion, fairness and equal opportunities, particularly after eight years of President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration, which he argued made the demand for a southern presidency a question of equity.

He said his position was not merely about securing political advantage for himself or his allies but about ensuring that the country’s leadership reflected fairness and inclusion.

“I supported fairness, justice and equity. I supported a united Nigeria, a Nigeria that gives opportunity to every part of this country,” the governor said.

According to him, the disagreements that culminated in the alliance with Tinubu arose from the PDP’s handling of its presidential candidacy and the party’s leadership structure ahead of the 2023 election.

He said he and other aggrieved governors believed that the emergence of Atiku, a northerner, as the PDP’s presidential candidate, while Iyorchia Ayu, also from the North-Central, remained the party’s national chairman, did not adequately address their concerns about fairness and regional balance.

“So, in 2023, we felt that after eight years of President Buhari who hailed from the north, the presidency should come to the south,” he said.

Makinde disclosed that he initially supported the presidential ambition of the then Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, within the PDP, but the party eventually settled for Atiku, deepening the disagreement between the party’s leadership and the group of governors who had demanded a different political arrangement.

He said the group sought to resolve the dispute by persuading the PDP leadership to replace Ayu with Taofeek Arapaja, who was then the party’s Deputy National Chairman (South), as part of efforts to address the question of regional balance.

Recounting a meeting with Atiku in London, Makinde said the request was straightforward: to allow the party to change its national chairman before proceeding with the election.

“We met with him in London. The only thing I said to him in London was, allow us to go and remove Iyorchia Ayu and then make Taofeek Arapaja the acting chairman because he was the Deputy National Chairman (South) at that time,” he said.

However, the disagreement remained unresolved, prompting the aggrieved governors to explore other political options ahead of the presidential election.

Makinde said he eventually agreed to support Tinubu after an intermediary linked the group to the then APC presidential candidate, despite having no prior direct political dealings with him.

“Because I had never had any political dealings with him (Tinubu) up until that point, someone else did the linking. I said, okay, fine. If this is what we will do, we will support you,” he said.

The governor maintained that the understanding was based on expectations that a Tinubu-led administration would transcend party divisions and assemble a team capable of addressing Nigeria’s economic and governance challenges.

He said he repeatedly made the expectations clear during the election campaign, stressing that the country needed a government built around competence and national unity.

“But even as a candidate, I must have mentioned it three or four times that our expectation would be a government of national unity; a government of national competence where you could start the process of resetting this country,” Makinde said.

However, assessing the administration against those expectations, the governor expressed dissatisfaction with what he described as a failure to establish the kind of inclusive and competence-driven government he had anticipated.

“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,” he said.

Makinde also recounted an episode involving a proposed ministerial appointment, saying Tinubu had asked him to recommend a candidate for a ministerial position.

According to the governor, he submitted the name of an Oyo indigene whom he considered suitable for the position of Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, but the nominee was not appointed to the portfolio.

Instead, Adebayo Adelabu, another Oyo-born politician, was appointed Minister of Power.

Makinde said the episode contributed to his concerns about the political understanding between him and the President, although he maintained that his principal concern remained the quality and inclusiveness of governance at the national level.