Former presidential Special Adviser on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu, has revealed that President Bola Tinubu strategically outmaneuvered ex-President Muhammadu Buhari during the 2022 All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential primary election.
Ojudu, in a conversation on Edmund Obilo’s podcast State Affairs on Monday evening, told PulseNets that Buhari did not support either his then Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, or Tinubu during the APC’s primary.
He explained that Tinubu employed several tactics to outwit Buhari, securing the party’s ticket and eventually emerging as president.
“I knew Osinbajo was going to lose the primary; I saw it coming,” Ojudu told PulseNets. “Because of the system we operated and still operate, I kept saying at our meeting that all of the efforts we are making—traveling around, convincing people, and addressing delegates—is only 40 percent.
“Sixty percent of it lies in Buhari’s hands unless and until Buhari mobilizes people around him—the governors, his aides—we are going nowhere. I used to refer to Buhari as a one-man majority, and he never mobilized his team toward Osinbajo. I think Tinubu outsmarted him in so many different ways.”
PulseNets learned that leading up to the 2023 presidential elections, there were speculations that Buhari had a preference for then Senate President Ahmad Lawan over Osinbajo and Tinubu.
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However, the results of the APC primary told a different story. Tinubu emerged victorious with 1,271 votes, followed by former Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi, who secured 316 votes. Osinbajo received 235 votes, while Lawan managed 152 votes.
