Former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has alleged that some people around President Bola Tinubu do not want former Minister of Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, in the current administration because he would not tolerate certain practices within the government.
Akande said Fashola’s absence from the government could partly be due to fatigue but argued that the opposition of some people around Tinubu was a more significant factor.
He spoke during an interview on the Naija Unfiltered Podcast, where he also discussed Tinubu’s government and the perceived fallout between the president and former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
Akande, who served as Senior Media Aide to Osinbajo under former President Muhammadu Buhari, described Fashola as someone who would not compromise his principles to accommodate those around him.
“I think the reason why Fashola is not in this government, two reasons. I think Fashola himself has a bit of fatigue, more importantly, I think there are people around the president who don’t want to see Fashola because Fashola is not going to tolerate many of those things that you are seeing around,” he said.
Akande added that Fashola was known for standing his ground, suggesting that his disposition might have made some people in the president’s circle uncomfortable.
“Whatever you say about Fashola, he doesn’t take nonsense and the people who wanted to get some nonsense going, they didn’t want Fashola,” he said.
The former presidential aide, however, said Fashola remained close to Tinubu and had not had a major public disagreement with the president.
He suggested that, despite the absence of an open confrontation, there could be underlying tensions between the two politicians.
“Even somebody like Fashola, who is still very close to the president — no problems openly, although they are also under current which he will speak about, but at least he didn’t have any blowout problem with the man,” Akande said.
He maintained that some people around Tinubu did not want individuals like Fashola in the administration for reasons beyond the former minister’s own reluctance to return to government.
Fashola served as governor of Lagos State from 2007 to 2015 before joining Buhari’s cabinet, where he was first appointed Minister of Power, Works and Housing and later served as Minister of Works and Housing. He has not held a position in Tinubu’s administration.
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