APC's Bisi Akande Unveils Tinubu's Path to Presidency, "He Does Not Have Money"

• Bisi Akande, a former governor of Osun state, has unpacked the political intrigues and behind-the-scenes manoeuvres that shaped the emergence of Bola Ahmed Tinubu as Nigeria's president
• Tinubu, a former governor of Lagos state, is serving as the 16th and current president of Nigeria since 2023
• Akande revealed his 'pivotal' role, offering a rare glimpse into the power plays that defined the 2023 presidential election

Legit.ng journalist Ridwan Adeola Yusuf has over 9 years of experience covering politics, elections, and governance in Nigeria.

Osogbo, Osun state - Bisi Akande, a former national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has said President Bola Tinubu was encouraged to run for the presidency in 2023, because of the alleged agitation by Yoruba people for the topmost Nigerian seat.

Speaking in an interview with Edmund Obilo, monitored by Legit.ng, Akande said before 2020, Tinubu had no presidential ambition—a contrast to the ex-Lagos governor's assertion in 2022 that it is his lifelong ambition to become president.

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The erstwhile Osun state governor said:

“I instigated him, I encouraged him, I worked for it.

“Somebody called me and asked me to come that there is trouble. And I was in Lagos. What’s the trouble? I asked. They said anybody that talked to him (Tinubu) about the presidency, he was quarrelling with them. And then, I met him and he said ‘baba, do you have money? If I have the kind of money that people who run for the presidency have, I would rank with Dangote.

"He told me he does not have money. But I said to him, ‘look, we don’t want you to be president because of you; you are unimportant in this matter. But that, in Yoruba tradition, when you want to worship the deity, you take the fattest animal or the biggest yam. Yoruba wants to be president. And you are the one that we have now'. It is to sacrifice you, so that we can have president, not for you to be anything.”

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Furthermore, Akande said Tinubu was concerned about the arthritis he was nursing. He said he told the former Lagos governor to seek medical attention, which he heeded and came back healed after six months.

Watch the video below:

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Group speaks on possibility of unseating Tinubu

Earlier, Legit.ng reported that a non-partisan umbrella for all southern groups, the Coalition of Southern Groups (CSG), decried the rising cost of living in West Africa's largest economy, Nigeria.

The group said the 'reforms' embarked on by President Tinubu since he assumed office in May 2023 have not really translated into any tangible gains for the Nigerian masses.

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Chairman of the coalition and a former commissioner in Imo state, Professor Vitalis Orikeze Ajumbe, stated that it would be difficult to rig the 2027 presidential election.

Source: Legit.ng