Atiku’s Aide Slams Tinubu’s Appointment of Bianca Ojukwu as Minister of State for Foreign Affairs
A special assistant to former Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, Demola Olarewaju, has taken a swipe at President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for appointing Bianca Ojukwu as the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, claiming it’s a ploy to rig the 2027 election.
According to reports, President Tinubu announced a major cabinet reshuffle on Wednesday, appointing Bianca Ojukwu alongside six others as new Ministers, subject to Senate confirmation. The new ministers are: 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).
The appointment of Bianca Ojukwu, the widow of late Biafra leader Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu, has been interpreted by many as a strategy by Tinubu to increase his support in the South-East.
However, Olarewaju has disputed this, stating that the appointment is devoid of any electoral value and will not influence the votes of the people in the South-East region. In a statement on his social media handle, Olarewaju warned that not a single voter in the region would switch to support Tinubu due to Bianca’s appointment.
According to him, President Tinubu’s move is merely a ploy to rig the 2027 election. He believes that the appointment is a desperate attempt to influence the electoral process, which will ultimately backfire.
In his statement, Olarewaju wrote: “President Tinubu is a master of manipulation. He will do anything to achieve power. He may pretend to be a Yoruba nationalist, but when necessary, he can also mouth ‘One Nigeria.’ I doubt he has had a genuine friendship in the past three decades unless there is a political advantage to be gained.”
He further stated that Bianca Ojukwu is a nobody in the political landscape of the South-East and that she won’t move any voter. He believes that the appointment is a part of a larger plan to provide an excuse for the All Progressives Congress (APC) to rig the election, working in conjunction with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
