President Muhammadu Buhari has described former governor of Osun state, Chief Bisi Akande, as a victim of former President, Olusegun Obasanjo’s diabolical double cross.
President Buhari made this assertion on Thursday during the autobiography launch of Akande, a former interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Speaking at the public presentation of “My Participations,” the autobiography of Chief Akande, the President said the author has retained his “inflexible integrity,” in and out of public office, never accepting or offering bribes.
Reflecting on the political history of the author, particularly his bid to seek a second term as Governor of Osun, President Buhari declared: “It is common knowledge that Akande was the victim – along with other AD Governors – of a diabolical double-cross which ended his gubernatorial career. Only the steadfast Asiwaju Bola Tinubu escaped the electoral massacre masterminded by President Obasanjo.
“Desperately disappointed though he was, and being a good Muslim, he accepted this setback as part of the trials of life. He looked to the future of service to the country.”
Reminiscing on APC’s ascent to governance at the Federal level in 2015, President Buhari said: “Chief Akande was in the thick of further attempts in 2011 and 2014 to fuse together different groups and dislodge PDP from governance.
“The key to his thinking which coincides with mine is that Nigeria can only be successfully managed by alliances between major groups.
“Although we failed in 2011 but by persistence and knowledge that PDP was driving the country towards disaster, several major parties were able to finally coalesce into APC in 2014 .
“Chief Akande was unanimously chosen as the first Chairman of this great coalition.
“Throughout the difficult negotiations, I found Akande truthful, steady and always with an eye to the ultimate goal.
“In or out of office, he has retained his inflexible integrity. On p.400 of his book, he wrote: ‘I never gave to or demanded bribe from anyone all my life.’ A perfect gentleman. A perfect public officer, he said.
Quoting a famous Hausa saying, ”Labarin zucciya a tambayi fuska” (loosely translated -if you want to know what is in a man’s heart watch his face), President Buhari affirmed that Akande has a permanent smile on his face, saying “He is the type I will go into the jungle with.”
On the book, President Buhari recommended it to students of Nigeria politics and the general public alike.
“This book is a historical document. Students will find this an invaluable source of Nigeria’s politics, notably between 1999 and 2020,” he said.
