Former National Publicity Secretary of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change, Rotimi Fashakin has said Babatunde Fashola’s performance as governor of Lagos State, recommended him to President Muhammadu Buhari. Fashakin said this in a telephone interview with our correspondent, in Abuja, on Monday.
He explained that those who knew the President know him as a stickler for performers. He recalled that during Buhari’s first stint at the helm of affairs, he picked a Professor of Virology, Tam David West as Minister of Petroleum. According to him, David West’s tenure as Petroleum Minister marked one of the highest points in the then military administration’s handling of oil and allied revenues.
Fashakin further explained:
“The President has always been an admirer of Fashola not for anything but for the fact that he was a performer in office. If you understand Muhammadu Buhari, he is a leader who wants to empower as many performers as possible. If you remember, it was under him that a professor of virology Prof. Tam David West was appointed Minister of Petroleum. President Buhari is always looking for performers who he wants to empower.
“Secondly, Fashola is not one who is looking for higher political office or trying to use his office for such purposes. There are many out there who are looking to use their positions for higher office, you cannot say that about Fashola. He (Fashola) is one who can give himself to the job. There are certain decisions he took in Lagos that core politicians felt were not in the political interest of his party, he was more concerned about the greater good of the people of Lagos and was not moved by political considerations.”
The former CPC publicity scribe noted that President Buhari’s decision to take his time before choosing members of his cabinet has paid off. He expressed confidence that those who previously criticized the President for appearing to be slow will be forced to eat their words as the results of his meticulous handling of the situation begins to show. Fashakin stressed that President Buhari is not the kind of leader who will consider political exigency over national interests.