A former Minister of Communications, Adebayo Shittu, has said he has no regret over his exclusion from President Bola Tinubu’s 223-member Presidential Campaign Council for the 2027 election.
Shittu, who served as Director-General of the Asiwaju Tinubu Presidential Campaign Organisation during the 2023 presidential election, said his omission from the council would not diminish his contribution to Tinubu’s victory.
The former minister, a lawyer and founding member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), spoke in an exclusive interview, stressing that he had never considered membership of a campaign council an achievement.
His comments followed the unveiling of the 223-member campaign council for Tinubu’s re-election bid, with the President and Vice President Kashim Shettima as chairman and vice chairman respectively.
APC National Chairman Prof. Nentawe Yilwatda was named second vice chairman, while former Zamfara State governor Abdulaziz Yari was appointed Director-General.
Others on the list included Imo State Governor Hope Uzodimma as secretary; APC National Secretary Ajibola Basiru as deputy secretary; and Hadiza Bala-Usman as assistant secretary. The list, however, was said to be undergoing review.
Prominent members of the council include Senate President Godswill Akpabio, Speaker Tajudeen Abbas, Yobe State Governor Mai Mala Buni, Senator Adams Oshiomhole and Tinubu’s Chief of Staff, Femi Gbajabiamila.
Shittu said he had no reason to feel disappointed over his exclusion, having committed his time, resources and political network to Tinubu’s 2023 campaign.
He said: “I have played my own part though, and I have no regret for being left out of the current APC Presidential Campaign Council.
“Besides, one cannot really call being part of the council an achievement. It is what the Almighty God prompted me to do that I have done.”
The former minister said his support for Tinubu’s 2023 presidential bid was not motivated by the expectation of an appointment or position.
According to him, he campaigned vigorously across the country, particularly in the North, and mobilised 1,141 support groups under his organisation.
He said the organisation toured 10 states and conducted advocacy through more than 50 radio and television stations.
Shittu, however, expressed disappointment that he had not had a one-on-one meeting with Tinubu since the President assumed office in 2023.
He said he had expected to be given an active role where he could deploy his experience and expertise but that this did not happen.
He said: “But do you know that from that time till now, as we speak, I have never had the privilege to meet President Tinubu one-on-one in the past three years?
“All I heard on the radio was my name being mentioned as the Pro-Chancellor of Dave Umahi University of Health Sciences.
“In truth, I had actually expected to get an active role where I could deploy my brain and experience. It didn’t happen.”
Shittu said his major concern was not his exclusion from the latest campaign structure but the fate of those who worked with him during the 2023 campaign.
He said he had written to the President three times to seek appointments for some of the campaign coordinators and foot soldiers, but none had been given a position.
He said their neglect could make it difficult to mobilise them for another campaign.
“Perhaps, let me say my only regret was the abandonment of the campaign coordinators and foot soldiers who worked with me across the length and breadth of the country,” he said.
“Despite writing to the President thrice, none was given a job or appointment.
“That indeed put me into a difficult position, especially the thought of inviting them back for another campaign. They will certainly ask what gains or dividends they achieved from the previous one they did in 2023.”
Shittu said he was saddened that some of those who felt abandoned had subsequently left the APC, citing Prof. Oserheimen Osunbor, now the National Legal Adviser of the African Democratic Congress, as an example.
He also denied reports that he financed his 2023 campaign activities with bank loans, saying the campaign was funded with his personal resources and donations.
Shittu added that his deputy Director-General, identified as Usman, spent less than N20 million on the campaign and had not recovered the money or received any appointment from the Presidency.