‘I Would Have Become President of Nigeria If I Didn’t Step Down for Tinubu’ – Kayode Fayemi

Kayode Fayemi, the former governor of Ekiti State, has said he would have been the President of Nigeria had he not stepped down for President Bola Tinubu in the run-up to the 2023 elections.

He made the statement in an interview on State Affairs, a podcast hosted by Edmund Obilo.

The host had made the claim in a statement he directed at Fayemi during the interview and the All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain had said yes affirming the submission.
Fayemi also recently compared the attitude of former President, Goodluck Jonathan and President Bola Tinubu towards subsidy removal.
Fayemi, who spoke at the Oxford Global Think Tank Leadership Conference in Abuja, was reported to have reflected on Nigeria’s economic policies, leadership values and the courage to make tough governance decisions.

According to Fayemi, Jonathan did not have the courage to implement the removal of the fuel subsidy, even when he had the support of key stakeholders at the time.

According to him, contrary to public opinion many of the governors in Jonathan’s administration including himself supported the removal of fuel subsidy but the then opposition party, Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) opposed it politically.

But Fayemi said Jonathan succumbed to political pressure rather than standing his ground on what he believed was an economically sound policy.

Fayemi, who did not make the same mistake as Jonathan, praised Tinubu for the bold leadership to remove the fuel subsidy on the first day of his administration despite the economic and political backlash.