By Ishaya Ibrahim, News Editor
Tinubu visited by Southwest governors on Tuesday.
Governors of the six Southwest states on Tuesday visited the former governor of Lagos State and a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Ahmed Tinubu, at his Bourdillion Road, Ikoyi residence.
The Southwest governors who met under the umbrella of the Southwest Governors Forum at the Lagos State House, Marina on Tuesday said they met to deliberate on a number of common and personal issues, including their common heritage, which is the Oodua Group of Companies.
The meeting which was attended in-person by Governors Rotimi Akeredolu (Ondo), Gboyega Oyetola (Osun), Kayode Fayemi ((Ekiti), Dapo Abiodun and the host, Babajide Sanwo-Olu (Lagos), also had Engineer Rauf Olaniyan, deputy governor of Oyo State, representing Governor Seyi Makinde.
After 90 minutes of deliberating behind closed doors, the Southwest Governors rose from the meeting but offered no detailed information on matters discussed.
Addressing journalists, chairman of the Southwest Governors Forum, Akeredolu, gave a brief statement on their discussion, disclosing that part of their deliberations bordered on security situation in the region.
Akeredolu revealed that there was also discussion on Oodua Group, a company owned by all six Southwest States, but declined to give further details.
He pointed out that the Forum was not willing to share full information on the meeting.
READ ALSO: Southwest Governors discuss security in Lagos
He said: “We, the six Governors of the Southwest under the Southwest Governors Forum met today. We deliberated on a number of common and personal issues. We also deliberated on our common heritage, which is the Oodua Group of Companies.
“At the end, we agreed on a few things; a number of them, which have to do with security, are not what we can discuss in the open. This short address is just to let you (pressmen) know we met today but we don’t want our decisions discussed in the open.”
But after the meeting, the Forum visited Tinubu at his private residence in Bourdillion, Ikoyi.
Akeredolu said, “We deemed it fit to visit our leader who has returned home successfully and who is hale and hearty and to the glory of God almighty. That is why we have visited him.”
He said the whole South West believes in the leadership of Tinubu.
“He has shown that he is doing his best to lead us, as he is not only a leader of the Southwest but a leader of the entire nation and the southwest lays first claim to him,” Akeredolu further said.
It is also curious that the only governor who was represented, Makinde, is a member of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) while the five that attended are all members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
Tinubu has shown interest in contesting the 2023 presidential election on the platform of APC and a lot of groups from the Southwest are already drumming support for, even as he is yet to officially declare his intention.