Monday, May 26, 2025 - Renowned Nigerian economist and political activist, Professor Pat Utomi, has disclosed that he turned down a ministerial appointment offered to him by the late President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua. Utomi made the revelation in an interview with Sunday Sun, explaining that he declined the offer to avoid having his voice and political independence compromised within the system.
Utomi, who has consistently maintained a critical stance on
governance in Nigeria and recently launched a “shadow government” to scrutinize
President Bola Tinubu’s administration, recounted that President Yar’Adua
personally spent two hours attempting to convince him to join his cabinet.
Despite the late president’s efforts, Utomi insisted that remaining outside
government would enable him to be a more effective advocate for good
governance.
“I have been asked to be a minister before. I turned it
down. The last person who did that was President Yar’Adua and he went the extra
mile. Two hours, he was talking to me to persuade me to join,” Utomi said. He
explained that although he holds degrees in political science and understands
the importance of public service, he was wary of what he described as the
“corporatist state” that characterizes post-colonial African politics where
opposition voices are often co-opted into government, only to be silenced or
weakened.
Utomi said Yar’Adua respected his views and believed he
could make a greater impact from within government. The meeting, which took
place on a Friday at the presidential villa, ended with Utomi proposing an
alternative. “I now said to him, look, I’m a patriot. You can wake me up at
anytime, at 2:00 a.m, ask for my views and I will give it to you honestly. I
told him that what he needed to do was to find seven good people and bring them
in,” he recalled.
The late president reportedly agreed with the suggestion and
asked Utomi to help identify the seven individuals. Utomi said he returned to
Lagos, compiled a list of the recommended candidates, and delivered the
envelope containing the names to Steve Oronsaye, then a top government
official. However, he never received a follow-up.
Tragically, President Yar’Adua fell ill shortly afterward
and passed away in May 2010. Utomi later learned from a senior source that the
president may never have received the list and possibly believed Utomi had
rebuffed him during his final days, a perception he strongly refutes. “I didn’t
snub him,” Utomi said. “I was told by somebody very senior that he probably
never got that envelope because he thought I snubbed him at the time he was
dying, which is not correct.”
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