Demola Olarewaju, the Special Assistant to former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, slammed President Bola Tinubu’s appointment of Bianca Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, calling it a desperate attempt to gain support in the South-East.
Bianca is the widow of former Biafra president Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu.
Olarewaju dismissed the move by the recent government as a mere ploy to rig the 2027 elections. He added that Bianca’s appointment would not sway voters in the region.
Tinubu’s cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday saw the appointment of seven new ministers, including Dr Nentawe Yilwatda (Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction); Muhammadu Dingyadi (Labour & Employment); Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu (State Foreign Affairs), and Dr Jumoke Oduwole (Industry, Trade and Investment).
Others are Idi Mukhtar Maiha (Livestock Development), Yusuf Ata (State, Housing and Urban Development), and Dr Suwaiba Ahmad (State Education).
However, Olarewaju, in a statement on social media, accused Tinubu of prioritizing power over genuine relationships. He questioned the sincerity of Tinubu’s recent appointments.
His words:
Bianca Ojukwu has zero electoral value and not one sane Obidient voter in the SE will switch to BAT for her sake – not one.
Her appointment is however a political gambit to soften the ground amidst other moves to be made by Tinubu ahead of elections.
Understand first of all that Tinubu is nothing, if not political. Everything he does is about power. If he opposes subsidy in 2012 – it is power. If he upholds it in 2024, it is for power. He can say “Yoruba Ronu” to woo Yoruba ethnocentrists, but can also say “One Nigeria” when necessary. I’m not sure that man has had even one genuine friendship in the past three decades, unless there is some political leverage or advantage to be gained.
Bianca is a ‘nobody’ in the political configuration of the SE. But remember APC currently has Governors in two states of the SE all three Senators from Ebonyi, two from Imo and one from Abia, where Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu is from and where a Bola Tinubu University of Nigerian Languages may soon be sited.
Recall also that Bola Tinubu/APC scored more votes in the SE than Atiku Abubakar/PDP – based on “it is the turn of the South/let Tinubu have it if not Obi, but not a Fulani.”
The present tactics of Yoruba vs Igbo on social media is also to first instil a sense of ethnocentrism to the SE, which could then lead to SE votes standing alone for an alternate candidacy, rather than uniting with Northern votes. I’ll go further and say in fact, that the entire Yoruba vs Igbo wars on here is to ‘show’ the North that “Igbos are fighting Tinubu the same way they fought Buhari. They are the aggressors who can’t stand the rest of us.”
Tinubu believes that the North would rather vote and endure four more years of his government than start another “eight years of the South” with an Igbo candidate. That will be his main campaign thrust up North for 2027 but to the South, he will throw Restructuring and if Nnamdi Kanu is released to join the chorus, the melody will be sweeter to the ears of some.
Tinubu is in Aso Rock today not because of the 36.6% that votes him but because the greater majority of 63% did not vote in one direction.
Let that sink in for a minute.
Tinubu’s three tactics for 2027 therefore are 1. To prevent a North+SE alliance of votes on a major party platform (by destroying the platform, by blackmailing one section against the other etc) 2. To weaken a potential North+SE alliance (by wooing the SE with high profile appointees and projects while saying “Igbos cannot be trusted” in the North and “Fulanis are coming again” in the South etc) and 3. To rig shamelessly and ruthlessly in every part of the South to achieve 25% or victory in every state, depending on what the opposition permutations are. i.e. if Obi runs, they’ll let him win the majority votes but secure 25%. If he faces a Northerner, Tinubu will ‘win’ every single Southern state by rigging.
With the likes of Wike, Akpabio, Oshiomhole, Orji Uzor Kalu, Benjamin Kalu, Uzodinma, Nwifuru, Umahi and now Bianca Ojukwu onground politically in the SE/SS and a possible SE candidate on the ballot: “Southern Solidarity” is POssible and only the radical Northern voters may yet save us.
So Bianca is not at all likely to move any voter but she won’t need to – she is only one piece of a larger plan to provide an excuse for APCNEC (APC/INEC) rigging.
Tinubu doesn’t care if Nigeria or Nigerians perish, as long as he can preside over the ashes and extract value for himself from it. It is a sad commentary that he would rather politick than govern and the only thing worse than a Tinubu first term is a Tinubu second term.
Ensuring that he leaves Aso Rock in 2027 is a patriotic national duty.