Makinde Mocks Jimoh Ibrahim
OpenLife News reports that Oyo State Governor, Seyi Makinde, has taken a swipe at Nigeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Jimoh Ibrahim, for flying from New York to Abuja to present the UN budget to President Bola Tinubu.
Makinde described the move as a waste of taxpayers’ money and mocked the Federal Government, saying it is an administration that does not even know which national budget it is operating.
The governor spoke on Thursday in Akure, the Ondo State capital, at the APM Makinde/Daura Campaign Organisation’s South-West town hall meeting.
We don’t know which budget we are operating
Makinde, who is pushing for the 2027 presidency under the Allied Peoples Movement (APM), said he watched on TV how Jimoh Ibrahim presented the UN budget in Abuja and could not hold back his disappointment.
“I was watching on TV two days ago; Nigeria’s permanent representative at the United Nations brought the budget of the UN to present to the president of Nigeria in Nigeria.
They can waste the taxpayers’ money because I refuse to agree that you must use the taxpayers’ money to fly from New York to Abuja to present the UN budget,” Makinde said.
“When, in fact, this is an administration that right now we don’t know which budget we’re operating on for Nigeria. Is it the 2023, 2024, 2025 or 2026 budget? And then they’re coming with the UN budget to say this is it.”
He contrasted the confusion at the federal level with his record in Oyo State, claiming his administration met a budget performance of 28-30% but has grown it to over 70% consistently in the last seven years, with a clear January to December cycle.
South-West Can Produce Two Presidential Candidates
Makinde also defended his decision to join the 2027 presidential race despite President Bola Tinubu, also from the South-West, seeking re-election.
He cited the 1999 election where both Olusegun Obasanjo and Olu Falae, both Yoruba men, contested.
“The southwest zone of Nigeria has always been in the forefront of a better country for us. I’ve listened to people; they said to us, ‘Seyi Makinde, why are you contesting in this election when the southwest already has somebody seated on that seat?’
“We do have an example here in the southwest when, in 1999, the entire Nigeria ceded the presidency to the southwest, and we had two of our fathers, Baba President Obasanjo and Baba Olu Falae; they contested the presidency both from the same region, and heaven did not fall.”
“As a matter of fact, what the Southwest did was to present two of their finest and best for Nigeria to choose from. Is there anything wrong with that this time around?” he queried.
Makinde urged the region to reject what he called “politics of deceit” and focus on proven performance.
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