On May 25, 2007, I had issues with Tinubu when he expected me to praise him but I did not- Thomas
According to a news that was published by the Punch paper online yesterday, it was reported that a former Senior Special Assistant on Policy Formulation and Programmes to President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when he was serving as the governor of Lagos State, between the years 1999 and 2007, Dr Dapo Thomas, during an interview with Punch correspondent has said that, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, is not a corrupt man.
During the interview, Dapo Thomas was told to reveal more about the disagreement he had with President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, when he was still the governor of Lagos State and while he was reacting to this, he said that it was not a fight but people can call it misunderstanding between them.
He said, “I thank God it happened because my respect for him rose to adoration that day the issue happened. It happened on May 25, 2007, which was four days to Babatunde Raji Fashola’s inauguration as the governor of Lagos State.”
He said he was the chairman of all the Special Assistants to Tinubu then, so he related directly with Tinubu, as most of the other Special Assistants were resident in different ministries in the state, either working with commissioners or overseeing the ministry for the state governor.
Dapo Thomas claimed that there were three other colleagues, who had been with him before Bola Ahmed Tinubu became the governor of Lagos State and they were also integrated into the system that time. And as the chairman, he got to know that, severance packages had been given to commissioners and permanent secretaries in the state by Bola Tinubu but none was given to Special Assistants.
He said he took up the case of the Special Assistants with the governor in one of our usual morning meetings, but he did not take him seriously that day.
He said, “On May 25, 2007, I had issues with Tinubu when he expected me to praise him but I did not. It was during a send-off party that was organised for him by the state government. The crème de la crème of the state were invited, judges, magistrates, legislators, the incoming governor and his wife, business moguls, bankers, entrepreneurs and government officials, including members of the executives, which was dissolved on May 22nd that year.”
Talking more on this, he said one of the anchors of the send-off, informed him (Dapo Thomas) that he had been selected as one of the three people to speak about Bola Ahmed Tinubu during the event. And when it was time for him (Thomas) to talk, instead of eulogising and praising the outgoing governor for a job well done, he veered off completely from what people and Tinubu were expecting him to say.
He said, “I raised the issue of the exclusion of the Special Assistants in the severance package. In fact, to the shock of many guests, I called the act ‘Use and Dump.’ The two other speakers, including Tunji Bello, placated him with sweet exhortations.”
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