Laolu Akande, a former spokesperson for ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has suggested that northern governors under the umbrella of the All Progressives Congress (APC) may wield considerable influence over President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial appointments.
Speaking on Channels Television’s Politics Today programme on Wednesday, Akande said that the governors were very instrumental in the fight to ensure regional balance in the party’s zoning arrangement during the 2022 presidential primaries.
According to him, the APC governors, particularly those from the Northern region, stood firmly for the principle of zoning, preventing any manipulation of the party’s power balance.
He credited their intervention for Tinubu’s emergence as the party’s presidential candidate, emphasising the importance of their influence in shaping the political landscape.
“The governors of the APC, especially the Northern governors, were able to stand for the right thing when we were almost on the verge of tweaking the zoning balance,” Akande said.
“So, you will imagine that people like that will also have a tremendous influence on what is gonna happen.”
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The aid to the former vice president added that without the northern APC governors influence, it would have been near impossible for Tinubu to have emerged as the party’s presidential candidate.
“You remember what happened when the former chairman of the party went to announce a candidate, the governors of the APC, especially those in the North, were able to stand and say, ‘No, it’s time to go to the South,’ which is a very commendable thing that we must also say,” he said.
Akande explained that one of the main reasons why Tinubu hasn’t submitted his ministerial list is because he wanted to take enough time to scrutinise the candidates so as to get the right portfolio for each of them.
He emphasised that Tinubu aims to bring in individuals with strong technocratic capabilities to address the nation’s challenges effectively.
“Now we know that the president is also interested in putting some very important technocratic capacity on the table to be able to deal with the problems of the country,” Akande said.
“So, I see a kind of balancing act, and like I said, at least now the law says, look, whatever you want to do, take 60 days.”
Tinubu is expected to submit the ministerial list before the end of this week so as not to miss the 60-day ultimatum passed into law by former President Muhammdu Buhari.
