The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has refuted former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s description of former military President Ibrahim Babangida as one of Tinubu’s tormentors.
Speaking during the public presentation of Babangida’s autobiography, A Journey in Service, held last week at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja, Osinbajo, who served as the book reviewer, reminisced about Tinubu’s resistance to the military government’s dissolution of the Senate following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.
In a lighthearted remark, Osinbajo noted that Tinubu, then a senator, had faced challenges from the military, including Babangida, for attempting to reconstitute the dissolved Senate, yet was present at the event to honor one of those who had tormented him.
However, during an appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Onanuga disagreed with Osinbajo’s characterization. He asserted that Babangida was, in fact, an inspiration for Tinubu in his political journey rather than an adversary.
“I think the former Vice President got it wrong. I think Babangida was not really a tormentor of President Tinubu, don’t forget that President Tinubu said in his own extempore speech that he held Babangida as something, that he was the person that inspired him to get into politics.
“When Babangida came in, he was talking about new breed politicians and so on, and Tinubu like many of them were already technocrats or in private business and so on. All of them came out to participate in politics, that was what brought him in. So, he came there to pay homage,” Onanuga said.
Onanuga stated that the torment actually began under General Sani Abacha when Tinubu, along with some colleagues, attempted to reconvene the Senate in Lagos.
The presidential adviser commended Babangida’s admission that MKO Abiola won the 1993 presidential election but said his admission came late.