He resigned from the CBN in 2018 to contest the 2019 governorship election in Oyo State on the platform of APC but lost the election to Mr Makinde, who contested under the banner of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).<\/p>\n
He again contested against the incumbent governor in 2023, this time on the platform of the Accord Party, but lost.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Adekanmbi, whom Mr Makinde said he unsuccessfully nominated for a ministerial appointment, served as commissioner for finance and budget planning under Mr Abiola Ajimobi.<\/p>\n
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<\/a><\/div>\nMr Makinde said his decision to recommend the former commissioner was based on his assessment of his performance in public office rather than party affiliation.<\/p>\n
The governor said he had asked Mr Tinubu what role he intended to assign to Oyo State in his cabinet and was told that the president wanted a developmental economist to handle the budget and economic planning portfolio.<\/p>\n
According to Mr Makinde, the president subsequently informed him that he had settled on Mr Adelabu for the ministerial position.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know Bayo. I contested against Bayo in 2019, bright, first-class material, but I went ahead to nominate Bimbo Adekanmbi,\u201d Mr Makinde said.<\/p>\n
He said he recommended Mr Adekanmbi because of his experience in public financial management and his contributions to the administration of the late Governor Mr Ajimobi.<\/p>\n
Mr Makinde said he had reviewed the records of officials who served under Mr Ajimobi after assuming office in 2019 and concluded that Mr Adekanmbi had played a role in stabilising the administration\u2019s finances.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought, well, I\u2019m blind to party affiliation. If you can help Nigeria or you can help your state, I will give you the opportunity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Makinde said Mr Tinubu eventually told him to take ownership of Mr Adelabu\u2019s appointment by presenting the former minister as his preferred choice.<\/p>\n
But the governor said he rejected the suggestion, insisting that the appointment should be publicly acknowledged as the president\u2019s decision.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, sir. Bayo is your choice, and let it be known to the people that it is your choice,\u201d he recalled telling Mr Tinubu.<\/p>\n
The governor said Mr Adelabu was appointed despite his objection to presenting the decision as his own nomination.<\/p>\n
\u2018We supported Tinubu for national unity\u2019<\/strong><\/h3>\nMr Makinde also revisited the political understanding that, according to him, informed his support for Mr Tinubu during the 2023 presidential election.<\/p>\n
He stated that he and other political leaders supported the APC candidate in the hope that his administration would bring together political actors across party lines to address the country\u2019s security and economic challenges.<\/p>\n
The governor said the agreement was intended to produce a government of national unity at a time when Nigeria was facing insurgency in the North-east, banditry in the North-west, farmer-herder and other security challenges in the North-central, separatist agitation in the South-east, militancy in the South-south and kidnappings in the South-west.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe said to the candidate, then who is now the president, that, look, we\u2019re supporting you, but we are hopeful because of all the challenges we have in Nigeria. We\u2019re hopeful that you will put in place a government of national unity,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mr Makinde said the agreement was signed by representatives of the political leaders involved and subsequently presented to Mr Tinubu, who, he claimed, expressed support for it.<\/p>\n
He said the arrangement was not simply about sharing ministerial positions or other political appointments but about bringing people together across party lines to find solutions to the country\u2019s problems.<\/p>\n
However, Mr Makinde said the appointments made after the election did not reflect the understanding he believed had been reached.<\/p>\n
He alleged that political affiliation and connections to the president\u2019s political circle influenced appointments that should have reflected a broader national consensus.<\/p>\n
The governor also argued that the concentration of influential appointments among people from the South-west had fuelled perceptions that the administration favoured one region.<\/p>\n
Mr Makinde\u2019s account also brings renewed attention to the role of the G5 governors<\/a><\/strong>, a group of five PDP governors who opposed the party\u2019s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2023 general election.<\/p>\nREAD ALSO:\u00a0Fuel Discount: Makinde asks Tinubu to release petroleum pricing template<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\nThe group comprised Mr Makinde; Nyesom Wike, then governor of Rivers State; Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.<\/p>\n
Their dispute with the PDP leadership deepened after Mr Abubakar emerged as the party\u2019s presidential candidate, despite the governors\u2019 position that power should return<\/a><\/strong> to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s eight-year administration.<\/p>\nFollowing Mr Abubakar\u2019s emergence as the party\u2019s presidential caididate, the G5 governors demanded the resignation<\/a><\/strong> of the then-national chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, arguing that the party\u2019s presidential candidate and national chairman should not come from the same region.<\/p>\nThe group\u2019s opposition to Mr Abubakar weakened the PDP\u2019s campaign and fuelled speculation about its members\u2019 political alignments ahead of the presidential election.<\/p>\n
Mr Tinubu eventually won the election, defeating Mr Atiku and the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, in the G5 it was only Wike that was given the appointment. The rest, you know, they were left in the river,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The governor, whose second and final term ends in May 2027, is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement<\/a> <\/strong>(APM), Seyi Makinde. He will be running against Mr Tinubu, who is seeking reelection, in 2027.<\/p>\n
READ ALSO:\u00a0Fuel Discount: Makinde asks Tinubu to release petroleum pricing template<\/a><\/strong><\/h3>\nThe group comprised Mr Makinde; Nyesom Wike, then governor of Rivers State; Samuel Ortom of Benue State; Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi of Enugu State; and Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia State.<\/p>\n
Their dispute with the PDP leadership deepened after Mr Abubakar emerged as the party\u2019s presidential candidate, despite the governors\u2019 position that power should return<\/a><\/strong> to the South after President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s eight-year administration.<\/p>\nFollowing Mr Abubakar\u2019s emergence as the party\u2019s presidential caididate, the G5 governors demanded the resignation<\/a><\/strong> of the then-national chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, arguing that the party\u2019s presidential candidate and national chairman should not come from the same region.<\/p>\nThe group\u2019s opposition to Mr Abubakar weakened the PDP\u2019s campaign and fuelled speculation about its members\u2019 political alignments ahead of the presidential election.<\/p>\n
Mr Tinubu eventually won the election, defeating Mr Atiku and the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.<\/p>\n
\u201cOf course, in the G5 it was only Wike that was given the appointment. The rest, you know, they were left in the river,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
The governor, whose second and final term ends in May 2027, is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement<\/a> <\/strong>(APM), Seyi Makinde. He will be running against Mr Tinubu, who is seeking reelection, in 2027.<\/p>\n
Following Mr Abubakar\u2019s emergence as the party\u2019s presidential caididate, the G5 governors demanded the resignation<\/a><\/strong> of the then-national chairman of the PDP, Iyorchia Ayu, arguing that the party\u2019s presidential candidate and national chairman should not come from the same region.<\/p>\n The group\u2019s opposition to Mr Abubakar weakened the PDP\u2019s campaign and fuelled speculation about its members\u2019 political alignments ahead of the presidential election.<\/p>\n Mr Tinubu eventually won the election, defeating Mr Atiku and the Labour Party candidate, Peter Obi.<\/p>\n \u201cOf course, in the G5 it was only Wike that was given the appointment. The rest, you know, they were left in the river,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The governor, whose second and final term ends in May 2027, is the presidential candidate of the Allied Peoples Movement<\/a> <\/strong>(APM), Seyi Makinde. He will be running against Mr Tinubu, who is seeking reelection, in 2027.<\/p>\n