Elder statesman Pa Bisi Akande has shared details of his private conversation with President Bola Tinubu before the 2023 election, revealing Tinubu’s initial reluctance to contest.
In an interview with journalist Edmund Obilo, Akande disclosed that Tinubu was not eager to run and even resisted the idea when it was first proposed.
“When I met him, he cited financial constraints and personal doubts. He said, ‘Baba, do you have money? If I had the kind of money that people have to be president, I would rank with Dangote.’” Akande recalled.
Some of Tinubu’s political associates had sought Akande’s intervention, complaining that he was rejecting every suggestion to contest.
Akande said he approached Tinubu with a different perspective, telling him, “We don’t want you to be president because of you. But Yoruba wants to be president, and you are the one we have now. It is to sacrifice you so that we can have a president.”
He revealed that Tinubu later confided in him about his arthritis, expressing concerns about his health.
“He asked me, ‘Baba, you now say I should run. What about this, my leg?’ And I assured him to go and treat it, that it would heal in six months,” Akande said.
The elder statesman also noted that while Tinubu had deep knowledge of Lagos and American politics, he was largely unfamiliar with Nigeria’s political terrain at the time of his emergence as president.
