Laolu Akande, erstwhile spokesperson for former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has rejected allegations by the previous Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, about Mr Osinbajo’s relationship with former President Muhammadu Buhari and the composition of his (Osinbajo’s) workplace.
Mr Akande, who served as Senior Special Assistant to the Vice President on Media and Publicity from 2015 to 2023, mentioned he was responding as a result of he was a part of the Office of the Vice President and witnessed a number of of the selections Mr Lawal referred to.
Mr Osinbajo contested the APC presidential main in June 2022 however misplaced to Mr Bola Tinubu, who ultimately grew to become the celebration’s presidential candidate.
Mr Lawal had alleged, amongst different issues, that Mr Buhari thought-about Mr Osinbajo’s resolution to hunt the presidency in 2022 “immoral,” and that the previous vp had submitted a memo containing greater than 20 names of proposed workers which was allegedly delayed by the president’s chief of workers.
Mr Akande rejected each claims.
In an announcement titled, “A response to Babachir Lawal’s falsehoods against Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON,” Mr Akande described Mr Lawal’s claims as “a string of allegations”. He mentioned the previous SGF’s account contained fabrications that wanted to be corrected.
“Ordinarily, such fabrications would not deserve a response. But I served as the vice president’s spokesperson. I was in the room where many of these decisions were taken,” he mentioned.
Buhari supported Osinbajo’s 2022 ambition — Akande
According to Mr Akande, the declare that Mr Buhari thought-about Mr Osinbajo’s presidential ambition immoral was false.
He mentioned the previous president personally supplied to assist Mr Osinbajo’s political ambition on at the very least 4 events.
“President Buhari personally offered to support the vice president, telling him plainly: ‘If I don’t support you, who will I support?’” Mr Akande mentioned.
He additionally recalled an incident throughout the 2022 APC presidential main marketing campaign when Mr Buhari praised Mr Osinbajo at a Federal Executive Council assembly for conducting what he described as a dignified and issues-based marketing campaign.
Mr Akande mentioned the president’s feedback had been made within the presence of members of the council.
“That is not a president who found Osinbajo’s ambition distasteful. That is a president who broached it, encouraged and applauded it,” he mentioned.
Akande denies existence of 20-name memo
Mr Akande additionally rejected Mr Lawal’s account of a memo allegedly containing the names of greater than 20 workers members proposed by Mr Osinbajo.
He described the declare that the memo was delayed by the Chief of Staff to the President and subsequently taken to Mr Buhari by Mr Lawal as “a complete fabrication”.
“There was no such memo,” he mentioned.
Mr Akande additionally disputed the declare that Mr Buhari made an ethnic comment about the proposed workers, saying such conduct was inconsistent with the previous president.
He defined that Mr Osinbajo had direct entry to Mr Buhari and ordinarily took his memos on to the president for approval.
According to him, as soon as authorised, the memos had been handed to Mr Osinbajo’s Chief of Staff, Ade Ipaye, who communicated them to the related companies for implementation.
He mentioned the SGF’s workplace was not concerned in that course of besides on the stage of issuing appointment letters to workers.
Mr Akande additionally challenged Mr Lawal’s declare that the alleged memo had been delayed for 3 months.
“I resumed in the Office of the Vice President in June 2015, alongside several other colleagues. So did many of those whose names he now invents. There was no three-month delay,” he mentioned.
He mentioned the method concerned completely different batches of memos submitted by Mr Osinbajo at completely different occasions because the workplace was being established and authorities insurance policies developed.
He mentioned no single listing of workers appointments was based mostly on ethnic or non secular concerns.
‘Osinbajo’s workplace was pan-Nigerian’
Mr Akande additional rejected Mr Lawal’s allegation that Mr Osinbajo staffed his workplace largely with members of his church.
He described the declare as false, saying the workplace’s composition confirmed in any other case.
“The Office was one of the most inclusive, pan-Nigerian offices in that government — North, South, East, West, Christian, and Muslim,” he mentioned.
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He cited the appointment of Mr Ipaye, a Muslim lawyer, as deputy chief of workers to the vp as proof of the workplace’s non secular range.
Mr Akande additionally mentioned three of Mr Osinbajo’s 4 particular advisers had been Muslims, together with Maryam Uwais, who served as particular adviser on Social Investments, and Ahmad Zakari.
He argued that the workers composition contradicted the declare that Mr Osinbajo operated a slim non secular agenda.
Mr Akande mentioned his response was supposed to position the disputed claims on report, stressing that he had firsthand information of the workings of the Vice-President’s workplace throughout the interval underneath assessment.
“It is quite simply incredible that Mr Lawal would create such falsehood,” he mentioned.
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