Tinubu is not ‘an accidental president’ says Ex-Ekiti Dep Gov. Prof Adelabu

Professor Modupe Adeola Adelabu, a former deputy governor of Ekiti State, has come to the defence of President-elect Bola Ahmed Tinubu, addressing any doubts about his capabilities.

Prof. Adelabu, 71, a distinguished professor of Educational Administration at Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU), Ile-Ife, Osun State. She has previously served as the Chairperson of Ekiti State Universal Basic Education Board. She said, “Tinubu had been preparing for this job for over 20 years.”

She was responding to the Standard Gazette Editorial titled“Bola Tinubu: Another 4 Years’ Presidency Of Setback And Obscurity”, published on Saturday, 15 May 2023.

On numerous occasions, Mr Tinubu, who was the governor of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007, has taken credit for the development of the state.

Many of Tinubu’s friends and allies, including former Deputy Governor Prof., have made this claim, stating to The Gazette that Tinubu “has a proven record of achievements through hard work and efficient manager of men and resources.”

Not everyone agrees with these claims. The Delta State Governor’s Special Assistant on Media, Mr Ossai Success, asked Tinubu to “stop lying about the development of Lagos State.”

“I am tired of hearing the lies being speculated by the Presidential candidate of the All Progressive Congress APC Bola Tinubu, that he built Lagos.

“That lies need to be stopped as soon as possible because Tinubu is used to lying to Nigerians.

“Lagos was already developing before Tinubu became governor and he made more money than the money spent on the development of Lagos State.”

A representative of Atiku Abubakar’s 2023 campaign, Dr Daniel Bwala, has rejected the assertion made by supporters of the newly elected president that he was responsible for building Lagos during his tenure as governor.

He emphasized that the notion that Tinubu is the creator of modern-day Lagos is unfounded. He maintained that Tinubu’s performance was inferior to that of many other governors in his time.

“They are pushing it as an agenda or as a rhetoric that he did well in Lagos. But I will tell you that between 1999 and 2007 if you take out context, he actually performed worse than some governors in Nigeria.

“This is because even the Lagos they said he improved the revenue, he only collected tax. All the infrastructure needed for a state or for a country to develop was already on the ground.

“Lagos used to be the Nigerian national capital. Before Nigeria was formed, Lagos was a colony. You had all the infrastructure for economic development. Asiwaju Bola Tinubu did not establish them.

“There was a seaport; there was an airport; you had commercial activities. All the embassies were there. So transactions with foreign embassies in Lagos, all the hotels were headquartered in Lagos. All the banks are headquartered in Lagos. All the security agencies operated from Lagos.

“Every facility and infrastructure for economic development was in Lagos. He didn’t build them. Asiwaju did not invite or introduce or bring to Lagos any serious foreign or domestic investor and these revenues we are talking about that they claimed he generated, it’s just that the previous governments didn’t have the infrastructure in collecting them,” he opined.

Prof. Adelabu told The Standard Gazette that Tinubu “is not an accidental president,” but when asked about Tinubu’s health speculations, the former governor said, “I’m sorry, only God knows that. What of Buhari? In spite of all predictions about his health. He is still alive and very active and healthy looking.”

Currently, Mr Tinubu is out of Nigeria on his second trip to Europe since being declared the winner of the 25 Presidential elections. This has led to speculation that his health may have deteriorated due to the strenuous nature of the election campaign.

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