Veteran journalist and spokesperson for the Bola Tinubu Campaign Organization, Bayo Onanuga, said he was the one who introduced Prof. Yemi Osinbajo to the then Governor of Lagos, Bola Tinubu, in 1999, a decision he now regrets.
Onanuga said this in a statement on Monday in response to a Newsmen interview with the late Congress of Congress for Progressive Change National Secretary Buba Galadima, who criticized Osinbajo for daring to run against Tinubu, his former boss.
In his article, Onanuga said Osinbajo was a clergyman in 1999 when Tinubu convened his cabinet in the presence of Otunba Gbenga Daniel (later Governor of Ogun State) and Dele Alake (later Lagos Information Commissioner).
He recalled that Tinubu had written down the name of Bayo Oriola as Commissioner for Justice and Attorney-General of Lagos State when he asked Tinubu to appoint his best friend, Osinbajo, instead.
“Looking back now, I regretted what I did in January 1999. Yes, I can say that I have some regrets, especially since my action hurt Bayo Oriola; and my apologies to Oriola again. I could not have foreseen the turn of events between Tinubu and Osinbajo, whom I have appointed as the new commissioner of justice, ”Onanuga said.
He said that when he nominated Osinbajo and talked a lot about him, Tinubu was eager to meet him and asked him (Onanuga) to invite him.
“After the meeting, I went to Osinbajo’s house in Ogudu to invite him to meet the new governor, Bola Tinubu. I remember walking into the apartment from the kitchen. My wife was there when I delivered the message and I took her out of the house, later.
“I have never published this story before, so I apologize to my name Bayo Oriola, for blocking what should have been his right, in line with his role during the campaign. I hope Oriola will have the heart to forgive me, ”said Onanuga.
The former Executive Director of the News Agency of Nigeria noted that Alake, who studied with Osinbajo and Babatunde Fowler (later Chairman of the Federal Inland Revenue Service) at Igbobi College Lagos, also called for Osinbajo’s appointment. commissioner of justice.
Tinubu will later nominate Osinbajo as running candidate for Major General Muhammadu Buhari (back), who is running for president of the All Progressives Congress in the 2015 elections in which he won.
However, Osinbajo, who has served as Deputy President for seven years, is now competing with APC primary against Tinubu for the Presidential ticket.
After all, the Special Adviser to the President for Political Affairs, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, in an interview with media businessman, Chude Jideonwo, said he introduced Osinbajo to Tinubu when the latter asked him to nominate a suitable candidate for the Lagos attorney general.
Ojudu, who is currently campaigning for Osinbajo, had said, “If I support Osinbajo, he deserves support; I have known him since 1989. Then, in 1999, while I was working for Ahmed Bola Tinubu as governor, he asked me if I knew someone who would be a good general attorney if I had a good, professional lawyer. he said go and call her, ”he said.
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