President Muhammadu Buhari, has told Nigerians that he handed over to Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, because he was confident that the Law Professor would run the government smoothly in his indefinite absence.
In a tweet via his twitter handle, @MBuhari, Buhari said: “As I noted earlier, I have absolute confidence that government will continue to run smoothly, while I’m away. God bless the Federal Republic.”
Buhari’s Allies, noted that for the fact that the President did not use the words “Acting President’’ in his letter to the Senate, did not mean that Osinbajo is not in charge of the nation.
Meanwhile, Osinbajo has waded into the controversy caused by the wordings of Buhari’s letter to the National Assembly.
Responding to a question on the issue on Twitter, Osinbajo said the President did hand over power to him.
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Recall, that the President embarked on a medical trip to the United Kingdom on Sunday, and he transmitted a letter to the National Assembly, informing it of his indefinite absence.
In the letter read out on the floor of the Senate, on Tuesday, Buhari said the Vice President would, “coordinate the activities of the government” in his absence.
This was different from a letter the President sent to the National Assembly earlier, when he embarked on a similar trip to the UK, in January.
At the time, he wrote that the Vice President would, “perform the duties of my office”, while he was away.
The wordings of the President’s recent letter has generated much debate, with critics accusing Buhari of deliberately undermining his Vice, for political reasons allegedly.
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Tweeting via @benamaigwo, one Bernard Amaiguo had asked: “Mr. Vice President, why did Mr President refuse to hand over the affairs of the country to you?”
In his response, Osinbajo said the President did transfer power to him.
“@ProfOsinbajo Mr. Vice President, why did Mr. President refuse to hand over d affairs of d country to u?
— Bernard Amaiguo (@benamaigwo) May 9, 2017”
“He did sir. He transmitted a letter to the Senate in compliance with S.145 (1) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended).
— Prof Yemi Osinbajo (@ProfOsinbajo) May 9, 2017.”
