The Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, Bayo Onanuga, has said former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo got it wrong in labeling ex-military President Ibrahim Babangida as Tinubu’s tormentor.

 

Recall that during the public presentation of Babangida’s autobiography, A Journey in Service, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja last week, Osinbajo, who was the book reviewer, recalled how Tinubu, then a senator, resisted the dissolution of the Senate by the military government following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

 

He jokingly remarked that Tinubu, who was then tormented by the military, including Babangida, for attempting to reconstitute the dissolved Senate, was now at the event to honor one of his tormentors.

 

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Onanuga faulted Osinbajo’s statement, saying that Babangida was, in fact, an inspiration for Tinubu in charting a course in politics.

 

“I think the former Vice President got it wrong. I think Babangida was not really a tormentor of President Tinubu. Don’t forget that President Tinubu said in his own extempore speech that he held Babangida in high regard, that he was the person who inspired him to get into politics.

 

“When Babangida came in, he was talking about new-breed politicians and so on, and Tinubu, like many others, was already a technocrat or in private business. Many of them came out to participate in politics, and that was what brought him in. So, he came there to pay homage,” Onanuga said.

 

According to Onanuga, the real torment actually began under General Sani Abacha when Tinubu, along with some colleagues, attempted to reconvene the Senate in Lagos.

 

The presidential aide also praised Babangida’s admission that MKO Abiola won the 1993 presidential election but noted that his admission came too late.