Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has refuted claims by former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo that former military President Ibrahim Babangida was among those who tormented Tinubu during the military era.
Last week, Osinbajo, while reviewing Babangida’s autobiography, A Journey in Service, in Abuja, remarked that Tinubu—who was a senator at the time—resisted the military’s dissolution of the Senate after the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election. He described Tinubu’s presence at the book launch as ironic, given that he had once been “tormented” by Babangida’s government.
However, speaking on Channels TV’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, Onanuga dismissed Osinbajo’s statement, asserting that Babangida was, in fact, a key influence on Tinubu’s political career.
“I think the former Vice President got it wrong. Babangida was not really a tormentor of President Tinubu. In fact, Tinubu himself acknowledged at the event that Babangida inspired him to go into politics,” Onanuga stated.
He explained that during Babangida’s regime in the late 1980s and early 1990s, the former military leader advocated for new-breed politicians, which encouraged technocrats like Tinubu to join politics.
Onanuga clarified that Tinubu’s real confrontation with the military came under General Sani Abacha, when he and other lawmakers attempted to reconvene the Senate in Lagos.
The presidential aide also lauded Babangida’s recent acknowledgment that Chief MKO Abiola won the 1993 presidential election, although he noted that such recognition came too late.
