A fresh angle to the ongoing speculations about behind-the-scenes political agreements that shaped alignments during the 2023 general elections has emerged.
This is coming as a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and political commentator, Mutalubi Adebayo Ojo, publicly withdrew an earlier claim he made concerning Governor Seyi Makinde of Oyo State (GSM), offering what he described as an “unreserved apology” over the controversy surrounding the state’s ministerial slot in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet.
Ojo, in a statement circulated on Tuesday, said fresh information made available to him indicated that there was indeed an understanding between the All Progressives Congress (APC), then presidential candidate Bola Ahmed Tinubu (now President), and the G5 governors’ bloc, particularly Governor Makinde, ahead of the 2023 general elections.
According to him, the agreement allegedly included a concession granting Governor Makinde the right to nominate a minister to represent Oyo State in the Federal Executive Council, a pact he claimed was later breached.
Ojo said the disclosure came during an encounter at the Murtala Muhammed Airport Terminal Two (MMA2), Ikeja, Lagos, where he met with someone whom he described as a “national statesman” who headed the negotiation team between Tinubu and the G5 governors during the pre-election period.
“The patriot confirmed to me that Governor Makinde’s claim, that part of the agreement reached with the APC and PBAT was the reservation of Oyo State’s ministerial slot for his nominee was true,” Ojo stated.
He further stated that the APC and the President failed to honour the agreement after Governor Makinde had fulfilled his own part of the political bargain during the elections.
“In view of this revelation, I hereby tender my unreserved apologies to Governor Seyi Makinde for my earlier position that what he was promised was only his re-election for a second term,” Ojo said.
Beyond the apology, Ojo issued a political warning, urging the national leadership of the APC and President Tinubu to urgently address the situation to prevent Governor Makinde from defecting to the African Democratic Congress (ADC), a move he claimed could have far reaching political consequences.
He argued that Makinde’s defection would be detrimental to President Tinubu’s second term re-election prospects, particularly given the strategic importance of Oyo State in the South-West political equation.
Ojo also described the current state of peace within the Oyo State chapter of the APC as fragile, warning that internal calm within the party was “pretentious” and likening it to “the peace of a graveyard.”
