Ayo Fayose, who governed Ekiti from 2010 to 2018, dropped the claim Wednesday in a TVC interview: President Bola Ahmed Tinubu quietly funneled ₦50 billion to Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde to cushion the blow from January’s Ibadan explosion.
Fayose scolded his PDP counterpart for “cherry-picking” what he made public. While Makinde has spoken about the President asking him to help shore up the APC in Oyo, he’s never once mentioned the cash injection, Fayose said.
“Fifty billion naira—he took it, but he didn’t tell the people of Oyo,” the former governor fumed. “You can’t praise yourself for transparency and hide that kind of support.”
According to Fayose, the money wasn’t part of the regular federal allocation; it came only after one-on-one talks with Tinubu, who okayed the payout even though his own back-of-the-envelope math put the damage far below that figure. The cash never sat in the state’s general account, Fayose added—it moved through the specific channel the governor requested.
By staying silent, Makinde robbed Abuja—and, more important, ordinary Oyo residents—of the chance to see how the relief was bankrolled, Fayose argued. “Give credit where it’s due,” he said.
