President Muhammadu Buhari has said a former interim Chairman of the All Progressives Congress, Bisi Akande is a ‘‘perfect public officer,” and a person he could go into the jungle with.

Speaking at the public presentation of ‘My Participations,’ the autobiography of Akande, Buhari stated that the author has retained inflexible integrity in and out of public office, adding that he never accepted or offered bribes.

The President also described the former governor of Osun State as a decent, truthful, and friendly person as well as an administrator of the first order, whose leadership qualities made him the unanimous choice as the first Chairman of the APC.

“My first personal contact with Chief Akande was, if I recall correctly, in 2006 when preliminary consultations were coming to fruition for a grand coalition to unseat the PDP Government.

“Those efforts eventually came to nothing. Neither he, nor I, nor many of our friends and associates gave up as, in Chief Akande’s words: “the country was going down and down under PDP” (p.396 of My Participations).”

While noting how Akande rose to prominence from his participation in the Constituent Assembly established by the Military Government of General Olusegun Obasanjo, Buhari said the ex-Osun governor was always in the thick of things through the difficulties and political discontinuities of the 1980s and 90s.

According to Buhari, Akande emerged as Governor of Osun State in 1999 when the military handed over to the civilians.

“Chief Akande had a horrendous baptism as Governor of Osun State with discord from his own party; his State Assembly (including an attempt to impeach him without any reason whatsoever); from the trade unions and from his own deputy governor!

“On top of that, he inherited a deeply indebted Treasury, huge arrears of salary, allowances, and pensions. Enough challenges to overwhelm many aspiring leaders.

“Bisi Akande stood four square and faced all the challenges head-on and overcame most of them. His first action was to stop payment of “critical allowances” a euphemism for government money customarily shared by the big boys in Osun State.

“This set the tone of his Administration. By 2003 Chief Akande had virtually sanitised governance in Osun State having cleared some of the troublemakers from his government and, though reluctant to serve a second term, he was persuaded to run again,” he said.

The President reflected on the political history of the author, particularly his bid to seek a second term as Osun governor.

Buhari noted that Akande was the victim – along with other AD Governors – of a diabolical double-cross which ended his gubernatorial career.

He added that it was only APC National Leader and ex-Lagos governor, Bola Tinubu, whom the President said escaped the electoral massacre masterminded by President Obasanjo.

“Desperately disappointed though he was, and being a good Muslim, he accepted this setback as part of the trials of life. He looked to the future of service to the country.

“Chief Akande was in the thick of further attempts in 2011 and 2014 to fuse together different groups and dislodge PDP from governance.

“The key to his thinking which coincides with mine is that Nigeria can only be successfully managed by alliances between major groups.

“Although we failed in 2011, by persistence and knowledge that PDP was driving the country towards disaster, several major parties were able to finally coalesce into APC in 2014.

“Chief Akande was unanimously chosen as the first Chairman of this great coalition. Throughout the difficult negotiations, I found Akande truthful, steady and always with an eye to the ultimate goal.

“In or out of office, he has retained his inflexible integrity. On p.400 of his book, he wrote: ‘I never gave to or demanded bribe from anyone all my life.’ A perfect gentleman. A perfect public officer,” Buhari stated further.

Quoting a famous Hausa saying, ”Labarin zucciya a tambayi fuska” (loosely translated -if you want to know what is in a man’s heart watch his face), President Buhari affirmed that Akande has a permanent smile on his face, saying ”He is the type I will go into the jungle with.”

Former governor of Lagos state, Bola Tinubu, says “the selfless public and private contributions” of Bisi Akande, former interim national chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), made Nigeria better.

The former governor praised Akande for being a model of public service, adding that his honesty and patriotism should be emulated.

“Our lives are better because of the selfless public and private contributions he has made to this national family we call Nigeria,” Tinubu said.

“The book truly affirms that chief Akande places a high premium on integrity and truthfulness. It could not be otherwise.

“Indeed, many say President Buhari and chief Akande are two of a kind: honest, resolute, patriotic, and committed to their beliefs. I concur with that comparison.”

According to the APC chieftain, Akande was chosen as chairman of the Alliance for Democracy (AD), Action Congress (AC), and the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) because of his “rare combination of tolerance and vision”.

Tinubu added that the amalgamation of several opposition parties that led to the formation of APC in 2014 may not have been possible without Akande’s contribution.

“Without Baba Akande’s sage guidance, that merger (that formed APC) might never have come to pass,” he said.

“We owe him deep gratitude for his singular devotion to consummating the complicated merger in such a positive manner that then candidate, general Muhammadu Buhari, was able to demonstrate his popularity by achieving a monumental victory in the 2015 election.”

Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos, says Bisi Akande, former interim chairman of the All Progressive Congress (APC), has “fully paid his dues” in politics and public service.

He described the elder statesman as one of Nigeria’s most selfless politicians and an advocate of progressive governance.

“Indeed, it’s a great honour and a very rare privilege for me to serve as the chief host at this public presentation of what I know will be a reading book of students of history and those who have a keen interest in reading,” Sanwo-Olu said.

“There are not so many people that will sacrifice more than him for democracy. Chief Akande is a great man of respect and it is therefore not surprising that the public presentation and autobiography is being witnessed by notable politicians and progressives including the president himself.

“This is indeed a testament to being outstanding. Whenever his name is mentioned, you hear words such as integrity, principled, honesty, courage, loyalty, generosity, and service.

“All his life from being an apprentice mechanic and a church clerk in Ila Orangun in the then western region and up till today, he has lived consistently by those values. You will all agree with me that this man has fully paid his dues in politics and in public service.

“One can not but be grateful for the many sacrifices and commitments made by people like Baba Adebisi Akande. As a true democrat committed to democracy and participatory governance. It is perhaps the very act that his autobiography is deeply rooted in political history which also functions as a democratic encyclopedia.”

The governor also added that Akande’s book is a timely offering in the evolution of Nigeria’s political practice and “our national life”.