Former Vice President Atiku Abubakar’s special assistant, Demola Olarewaju, criticized President Bola Tinubu for appointing Bianca Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, describing it as a last-ditch effort to win over the South-East.
Bianca is the wife of Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, the former president of Biafra.
Olarewaju called the recent government’s plan a ruse to rig the 2027 elections. He also said that voters in the area will not be influenced by Bianca’s appointment.
Among the seven new ministers appointed by Tinubu in his cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday were Dr. Jumoke Oduwole (Industry, Trade and Investment); Muhammadu Dingyadi (Labour & Employment); Bianca Odumegwu-Ojukwu (State Foreign Affairs); and Dr. Nentawe Yilwatda (Humanitarian Affairs and Poverty Reduction).
Others include Dr. Suwaiba Ahmad (State Education), Yusuf Ata (State, Housing and Urban Development), and Idi Mukhtar Maiha (Livestock Development).
In a social media statement, Olarewaju, however, charged Tinubu with putting power ahead of sincere connections. He doubted that Tinubu’s recent appointments were sincere.
His words:
Bianca Ojukwu has no electoral value, and not a single rational Obidient voter in the SE will vote for BAT on her behalf.
However, her hiring is merely a political ploy to gain favor as Tinubu makes other preparations for the elections.
First of all, realize that Tinubu is nothing more than a political figure. Power is at the center of all he does. He has power if he rejects the subsidies in 2012. It is for power if he maintains it in 2024. To appeal to Yoruba ethnocentrists, he can say “Yoruba Ronu,” but if needed, he can also add “One Nigeria.” If there isn’t some political advantage or leverage to be obtained, I doubt the man has had even one true friendship in the last thirty years.
According to the SE’s political structure, Bianca is a “nobody.” However, keep in mind that the APC now holds governorships in two states in the Southeast, including Ebonyi, where Deputy Speaker Benjamin Kalu hails from, and Abia, where a Bola Tinubu University of Nigerian Languages may soon be established. They also have three senators from Ebonyi, two from Imo, and one from Abia.
Additionally, keep in mind that Bola Tinubu/APC received more votes in the SE than Atiku Abubakar/PDP due to the belief that “it is the turn of the South/let Tinubu have it if not Obi, but not a Fulani.”
On social media, the current Yoruba vs. Igbo strategies aim to first instill ethnocentrism in the SE, which may cause SE votes to support an alternative candidate instead of joining Northern votes. In reality, the whole Yoruba vs. Igbo conflict here is meant to “show” the North that “Igbos are fighting Tinubu the same way they fought Buhari.” The aggressors who are unable to tolerate the rest of us are them.
According to Tinubu, the North would rather vote for him and stay in power for four more years than begin another “eight years of the South” with an Igbo candidate. For 2027, it will be his primary campaign drive up north, but he will also throw restructuring in the south, and if Nnamdi Kanu is allowed to join the chorus, some people will find the music more appealing.
Today, Tinubu is at Aso Rock not because of the 36.6% of voters who supported him, but rather because 63% of voters did not cast a single ballot.
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Thus, the first of Tinubu’s three strategies for 2027 is to stop a North+SE alliance of votes on a major party platform (by destroying the platform, by blackmailing one segment against the other, etc.). 2. To undermine a possible alliance between the North and the South (by courting the SE with high-profile appointments and projects while claiming that “Igbos cannot be trusted” in the North and “Fulanis are coming again” in the South, etc.). and 3. To ruthlessly and brazenly rig in every region of the South in order to win every state or 25% of the vote, depending on the opposition’s permutations. For example, they will allow Obi to receive 25% of the vote yet allow him to gain the majority if he runs. Tinubu will “win” every Southern state through rigging if he takes against a Northerner.
With candidates such as Wike, Akpabio, Oshiomhole, Orji Uzor Kalu, Benjamin Kalu, Uzodinma, Nwifuru, Umahi, and now Bianca Ojukwu on the SE/SS political trail and a potential SE candidate on the ballot, “Southern Solidarity” is conceivable, and the only people who could save us are the extreme Northerners.
Bianca is merely one part of a bigger scheme to offer a reason for APCNEC (APC/INEC) cheating, therefore she is not likely to influence any voters, but she won’t have to.
As long as he can rule over the ashes and take use of them for his own gain, Tinubu doesn’t care if Nigeria or Nigerians die. He would like to politicize rather than rule, which is a sad observation, and a second Tinubu term is worse than a first.
It is our patriotic national obligation to make sure he departs Aso Rock in 2027.
