Osinbajo got it wrong, Babangida not Tinubu’s tormentor – Onanuga

The Presidency, through Bayo Onanuga, Special Adviser to President Bola Tinubu on Information and Strategy, has strongly refuted former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s claim that former military President Ibrahim Babangida was a “tormentor” of President Tinubu.

The controversy emerged during the public presentation of Babangida’s autobiography, A Journey in Service, at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja last week.

Osinbajo, who served as the book’s reviewer, reflected on Tinubu’s role in opposing the military’s dissolution of the Senate following the annulment of the June 12, 1993, presidential election.

In a lighthearted comment, Osinbajo described how Tinubu, then a senator, was “tormented” by the military—including Babangida—over his efforts to restore the Senate, jokingly adding that Tinubu was present to honor one of his supposed tormentors.

Responding to the remarks, Onanuga, in an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Tuesday, dismissed Osinbajo’s portrayal of Babangida.

Onanuga emphasized that, rather than being a tormentor, Babangida had played a pivotal role in shaping Tinubu’s political journey.

He explained that Tinubu’s resistance to the military regime and his subsequent political path were significantly influenced by Babangida’s leadership and the political landscape of the time.

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“I think the former Vice President got it wrong. I think Babangida was not really a tormentor of President Tinubu, don’t forget that President Tinubu said in his own extempore speech that he held Babangida as something, that he was the person that inspired him to get into politics.

“When Babangida came in, he was talking about new breed politicians and so on, and Tinubu like many of them were already technocrats or in private business and so on. All of them came out to participate in politics, that was what brought him in. So, he came there to pay homage,” Onanuga said.

Onanuga clarified that the real torment began under General Sani Abacha’s regime, when Tinubu, alongside some colleagues, made an effort to reconvene the Senate in Lagos.

He also praised Babangida for eventually acknowledging that MKO Abiola won the 1993 presidential election, although he noted that the admission came too late.