A source close to the Presidency has alleged that Oyo State might have secured two ministerial positions in President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s cabinet but for Governor Seyi Makinde’s reported insistence on nominating Bimbo Adekanmbi for the second slot.

The source, who requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of the matter, claimed that Tinubu was prepared to accommodate two nominees from Oyo State when he was assembling his cabinet after assuming office in May 2023.

According to the source, the President had already selected Oloye Bayo Adelabu for a ministerial position and subsequently asked Makinde to nominate another qualified indigene of the state, in keeping with an alleged understanding reached with the G5 governors during the political realignments preceding the 2023 general election.

The source claimed that Makinde nominated Adekanmbi, a former commissioner for finance under the late Governor Abiola Ajimobi, but that Tinubu declined the nomination because both Adekanmbi and Adelabu are from Ibadan. The President was subsequently said to have requested that Makinde nominate another person from a different part of Oyo State to broaden the state’s representation.

However, the source alleged that the governor remained adamant that Adekanmbi was his preferred candidate. “The President was prepared to accommodate another nominee from Oyo State, but Makinde reportedly insisted on Adekanmbi even after he was asked to consider someone from another part of the state,” the source claimed.

The account, if substantiated, would suggest that Oyo State may have missed an opportunity to secure an additional ministerial appointment in the federal cabinet.

The source also raised questions about the reasons behind Makinde’s alleged insistence on Adekanmbi, who served as finance commissioner under Ajimobi. The source speculated that Adekanmbi might have had a relationship with Makinde during the previous administration that could explain the governor’s reported determination to secure his appointment.

“I don’t want to believe that Bimbo Adekanmbi might have been a mole in Ajimobi’s government as finance commissioner, supplying valuable information to Makinde,” the source alleged.

However, the source did not provide evidence to substantiate the speculation that Adekanmbi supplied confidential information to Makinde during the Ajimobi administration. There is no independently verified evidence in the account available to establish that Adekanmbi acted as a mole or that such an allegation informed the reported nomination.

The claims concerning the alleged presidential offer, the nomination and the reasons for the President’s reported rejection of Adekanmbi could not be independently established from the information provided.

Makinde’s administration and Adekanmbi should be given an opportunity to respond to the allegations, while the Presidency could clarify whether an offer of a second ministerial appointment was made to Oyo State and whether the circumstances surrounding the nomination were accurately described.

The controversy comes against the backdrop of the political negotiations involving the G5 governors, a group of five governors elected on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party who opposed the party’s presidential candidate, Atiku Abubakar, ahead of the 2023 general election.

Tinubu subsequently formed his cabinet after assuming office on May 29, 2023. Adelabu was appointed Minister of Power. Whether Oyo State was offered an additional ministerial position, and whether Makinde’s alleged insistence on Adekanmbi affected that opportunity, remains a matter requiring independent confirmation.