Former Minister of Youth and Sports Development Solomon Dalung has described sacked Finance Minister Wale Edun as a man of integrity who was fundamentally ill-suited to the political environment around President Bola Tinubu.
He said Edun’s exit was inevitable because his values could not survive the arrangement in place.
Dalung, speaking in an interview with Trust TV on Friday, said he had known Edun personally and could vouch for his character.
“Wale Edun is somebody who has integrity. He’s a misfit into a political arrangement like the one we have in place.
“I think he tolerated it to the extent that his integrity was going to break and he had to throw in the towel,” he said.
Dalung stopped short of outrightly rejecting the official account, but made clear he did not accept it at face value.
He said he would go along with the health grounds explanation since it was the official media statement, but added that those who knew Edun personally understood the situation differently.
“What we know is more than what they are trying to tell Nigerians,” he said.
The Presidency had said Edun voluntarily submitted his resignation letter on his 70th birthday, citing health challenges, and subsequently paid a valedictory visit to Tinubu at the Villa before stepping down.
Dalung, however, said the removal of Edun shows that no one is truly secure in Tinubu’s inner circle
“Nobody is as close to Wale Edun as to Bola Tinubu. He has been with Tinubu for a very long time. And if he could be handled in this manner, there’s nobody jumping around Tinubu,” he said.
He described Edun as among the finest Nigerians he had encountered, saying he had visited him daily while both men served in government, and that he had privately harboured reservations about how well Edun would fare in such an environment.
“When I was a minister, he visited me every day in my office. He’s one of the best Nigerians. When he was appointed minister, I wanted to tell him that I don’t envy him,” Dalung said.
He also revealed that his personal relationship with Edun had grown cold since Edun’s inauguration, saying Edun had stopped returning his calls.
“The day they inaugurated him, he has not picked my call. I didn’t want to bother about that because I wanted to allow him to finish with his Tinubu minister. When he finished, we’ll continue with our friendship,” he said.
Tinubu had announced a minor reshuffle of the Federal Executive Council, removing Edun and Minister of Housing and Urban Development Ahmed Dangiwa from their positions.
Taiwo Oyedele was named the new Finance Minister, while a ministerial nominee for Housing and Urban Development was forwarded to the Senate for confirmation.
Turning to internal affairs of the African Democratic Congress, Dalung said the proposal to adopt Labour Party’s Peter Obi as the party’s presidential candidate under the so-called OK Movement was a good idea, but that he could not personally champion any candidate.
“Fantastic and wonderful idea. If we end up with that as a decision of the party, it’s the best. But as a party leader, I cannot be advocating for that because I have so many candidates in the party. I must be very fair to every one of them,” he said.
He issued a warning against manipulation within the ADC, saying the party owed its members a transparent process and a clean break from the culture they left behind in the APC.