Minister of works and housing Babatunde Fashola has knocked off rumour that he would be Bola Tinubu’s chief of staff when the latter is sworn in as president.
Fashola, in an interview on Channels TV’s Sunday Politics, said he is unlikely to be Tinubu’s chief of staff after he played that role for four and half years when Tinubu was governor of Lagos State.
“Unlikely, I don’t think so. I think it is a good point you raised, it think it is extremely ridiculous and I say it without apology, we begin to choose offices for a nation that represents the largest black nation on earth on social media and we should stop it,” he said.
“I think we have elected the president, let us wait for him to be sworn in and let us respect the privilege and the prerogative he has to constitute his team. No serious nation does what rascals are doing on social media, saying this one is this, this one is that, picking ministers and so on.
“We just saw over two years ago when Biden was elected, there were nothing like that, we should stop ridiculing this country, it is not social engagement.”
The interviewer asked again: “And you will not be playing such a role?” Fashola answered: “I think it is extremely ridiculous. Look, we can’t begin to even contemplate what the president-elect will do and we should wait when he makes his decision.”
Asked about Tinubu’s health, the former Lagos State governor said, “I spoke with him a week ago, he is in France and he is alright. Since 2002 when he hurt his back, almost every time he had travelled, oppositions had said he had died, but he still comes back alive, he will be back soon.
“I believe that he is taking some time out and he needs it, he ran the longest and fiercest campaign, his primary was the most contested and after it he went about making peace with all those who were unsuccessful, he just ran this marathon like a sprint.”
He added, “Tinubu, I know, will also be doing networking, there is no idle moment in his life. He overworked himself, I know he will be doing lots of networking, meeting people, planning ahead, building relationships that will be useful to his government internationally and he is a highly connected person. Tinubu is okay medically.”
