EndSARS protest was targeted at Tinubu’s political career & Tinubu was reluctant to be president– Bisi Akande, first APC national chairman
Bisi Akande, former governor of Osun State and first national chairman of APC who is a close ally of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, has alleged that the #EndSARS protests were strategically planned to sabotage Tinubu’s political aspirations.
As reported by Politics Nigeria, Akande made these claims during an interview on State Affairs with Edmund Obilo, which was published on YouTube on Wednesday.
Akande revealed that Tinubu initially hesitated to run for the presidency due to financial concerns and personal uncertainties. He recalled a conversation where Tinubu expressed doubts about his ability to fund a presidential campaign, comparing his financial status to that of billionaire Aliko Dangote. “When I met him, he said, ‘Baba, do you have money? If I had the kind of money people have to be president, I would rank with Dangote,’” Akande shared. He also mentioned that Tinubu was initially resistant to the idea of running for president, even arguing with those who suggested it.
To change his mind, Akande framed the presidency as a responsibility to the Yoruba people rather than a personal desire. “I told him, ‘You are unimportant in this matter. 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 we have now. It is to sacrifice you so that we can have a president,’” Akande explained.
Despite Tinubu’s eventual acceptance of the idea, Akande claimed that powerful forces worked to derail his presidential bid, with the #EndSARS protests being one of the key attempts to discredit him. “#EndSARS was designed to be the end of Tinubu,” Akande alleged. He suggested that the Obidient movement, which emerged from the protests, was behind the initiative. “The Obidients were behind #EndSARS. It was manufactured from America and brought in just to stop him,” he stated, clarifying that he was not directly accusing Peter Obi, but rather the movement that developed following the protests.
Regarding the relationship between Tinubu and former President Muhammadu Buhari, Akande dismissed rumors of opposition to Tinubu’s candidacy. “He didn’t tell me so. I asked him many questions, including whether he instigated Osinbajo to contest against Tinubu. He said no and explained that, in his culture, when your mentor is interested in a position, you don’t contest with him,” Akande explained.
Reflecting on Tinubu’s political journey, Akande noted that while Tinubu had extensive experience in Lagos and American politics, he initially lacked a deep understanding of Nigerian politics. “He may have known a lot about the politics of Lagos and America, but he was very ignorant about the politics of Nigeria. Now that he is president, I don’t know how much he has learned,” Akande concluded.
