Northern Govs Will Have Influence On President Tinubu’s Ministerial List – Osinbajo’s Former Spokesman, Laolu Akande

Laolu Akande

Laolu Akande, a spokesperson to the former Vice President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo, has said that President Bola Tinubu’s ministerial appointments would be largely influenced by the Northern governors of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Appearing as a guest on Channels Television’s Politics Today program on Wednesday, Akande discussed the political dynamics within the ruling party.

Akande argued that during the 2022 presidential primaries, the northern governors of APC actively advocated for a balanced approach to the party’s zoning arrangements.

He implied that their advocacy then might now have substantial effects on Tinubu’s choices for his ministerial team.

President Tinubu is expected to sumbit the list of his ministerial nominees to the National Assembly today.

Speaking during the program he said, “The governors of the APC, especially the Northern governors were able to stand for the right thing when we were almost on the verge of tweaking the zoning balance.

“So, you will imagine that people like that will also have a tremendous influence on what is gonna happen.”

He further stated that the governors were instrumental to Tinubu’s success in earning the ruling party presidential ticket.

Akande stated, “You remember what happened when the former chairman of the party went to announce a candidate, The governors of the APC especially those in the North, were able to stand and say, ‘No, it’s time to go to the South,’ which is a very commendable thing that we must also say.

“Now we know that the president is also interested in putting some very important technocratic capacity on the table to be able to deal with the problem of the country.

“So, I see a kind of balancing act and like I said, at least now the law says look, whatever you want to do, take 60 days.”