Ex-spokesperson of former Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, Laolu Akande has lamented that the All Progressives Congress (APC), has wasted eight years of Nigerians’ time and Muhammadu Buhari failed to stamp out corruption in Nigeria but President Bola Tinubu in 2023 was allowed to fulfil the party’s promises to Nigerians.
Akande said this while speaking on the topic, State Of The Nation: Fuel Scarcity, Hunger, Hardship. Which Way Forward?’ hosted on X by Political analyst, Kehinde Adefulu.
Akande said that Nigerians have given the APC another chance to ensure that the promises that were made in 2015 by the party are fulfilled.
“I think the APC has wasted eight years of Nigerians’ time and I am disappointed. Now, President Bola Tinubu is the one who has the opportunity to redeem that for both the party and the country. I will not give excuses for the party.
“Many of us joined the campaign in 2014 because we supported the idea of Muhammadu Buhari in power, we felt he was not corrupt and that he would solve the problems but I got involved when Prof. Yemi Osinbajo was picked as his running mate, with that, I was convinced that they meant business and I served in the government in the office of Prof. Osinbajo.
“Nigerians know that any time Osinbajo acted as President, there was always a difference.
He added: “The government I served did not solve the problem of corruption, that is the truth. Buhari came in 2015 and everyone calmed down because they were afraid that there would be consequences for their actions but after six months, people saw that those around Buhari were business as usual, and people continued to do what they were doing. Now, President Tinubu can rise and do the needful and end corruption, making people involved in corruption answer for their involvement. If the number one does not have the determination, then corruption will go on in circles so, my advice to the president is that we must deal with corruption. Other things will fall into place when we deal with corruption.
The Inside Sources host added: “There were cabals in the Buhari’s government. After the 2019 elections, there was an attempt to fire almost all the aides of the Vice President there was a public announcement that 35 aides of the VP were sacked so, there was enough information for people to imagine what happened. I’m going to write a book soon where I will detail what happened.
Speaking on the rise in detaining of journalists, he said: “This is an issue of serious concern. I have been a journalist since 1989, I became the editor of Tribune on Saturday in 1997. I left Nigeria in 1998 because we were confronting General Sani Abacha’s military regime. President Tinubu was one of our supporters in the media then so, he understands the importance of press freedom and that is why we are worried that press freedom is becoming an issue under his watch. My advice to Tinubu is to make it clear to the security agencies that he doesn’t want his name to be messed up in the area of press freedom. It will be an irony if the administration of Tinubu is the one antagonizing the media and a big problem. I hope the trend will end.”
