The former presidential aide spoke about persuading the current president, Bola Ahmed Tinubu to reject an offer during Yar’adua’s regime.
Babafemi Ojodu disclosed that he and others desuaded the Tinubu from accepting the offer to be Minister of Finance. He said this during a podcast, Satta Affairs podcast hosted by Edmund Obio.
He shared that accepting the offer would have been a potential risk for Tinubu as the leader of Action Congress.
He recalled that Rauf Aregbesola, former minister of Interior joined in the conversation and persuaded the president. Rauf supported Ojodu’s stance.
Tinubu called me one day and said, ‘Congratulations to me.’ I asked, ‘Congratulations for what?’ He then told me that former President Yar’Adua had called him to join his government of unity as Minister of Finance.
“I said, ‘You are in Action Congress. Are you not a student of history? Do you not see what happened to Bola Ige? You are digging your political grave if you accept that type of job,’”
Rauf walked in and said, ‘Femi is right; that is not a job to take.
“One businessman walked in and said, ‘You guys are too radical. This thing will benefit everyone.’ But I insisted, ‘No, we are not looking for this type of benefit. We are looking for his political survival.
“He is our leader. Our dream for him is bigger than him becoming a minister in Yar’Adua’s government. Nine months down the line, they would arrest him, try him, and finish him off—the way they did to Bola Ige,” Ojudu added
Ojodu also felt that Tinubu becoming the Minister may make him end up like Bola Ige. Who is Bola Ige?
Bola Ige was a lawyer and politician. He became the governor of Oyo State from 1979 to 1983. I canalmost hear you asking so how did all of this correlate with Tinubu. Bola Ige was assassinated on 23 December 2001. He was caught up in the midst of a disagreement in his party at Osun State.
At the Podcast, Ojodu spoke about betrayal during 2023 presidential elections. He stood by Yemi Osinbajo and clarified that his opinions are nor personal.
He said, “We cannot quarrel. It is about our vision taking different routes. I just came from Bayo Onanuga’s daughter’s wedding. People saw me and said, We never knew you would come around.
“I told them, Do you think we are boxing each other? It is not personal. For me, loyalty to friendship is on a lesser scale than sacrifice for the country.”
