The Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has silenced those insinuating that his relationship with President Muhammadu Buhari, had turned sour, Post-Nigeria exclusively gathered.
Sources revealed that Osinbajo may end up not being Nigeria’s President, despite his outstanding performance.
You would recall, that four days after the President left for the United Kingdom, UK, Osinbajo was at the Palace of the Emir of Katsina, Abdulmumin Usman, where he told Buhari’s kinsmen that the President treats him as his son.
“One of the reasons why I feel very much at home in Katsina State, is because this is the State of our President, Muhammadu Buhari, who has taken me more like a brother. In fact, sometimes, more like a son than a Vice President.”
“The amount of responsibilities President Buhari has given me, shows he seriously believes we can live together as brothers. I pray the Lord will preserve our President to continue to lead, as the nation has voted him to do. He seriously believes in Nigerian unity”, Osinbajo had stated.
Buhari, himself has affirmed Osinbajo’s loyalty. Buhari, according to his wife, Aisha, who recently returned from London, thanked the Acting President for his loyalty. The President was also quoted as calling on Nigerians to continue to support Osinbajo, in his efforts towards actualising the mandate of the All Progressives Congress, APC.
In recent times, Osinbajo has discharged some Presidential functions, including the formal inauguration of the Board of Directors of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority, NSIA. He inaugurated the board in Abuja, on May 12.
The Acting President, has also directed that Social Investment Programmes, SIP, of Buhari’s administration, be urgently expanded to benefit more Nigerians. A total sum of N41.7 billion is said to have been expended so far on the programmes.
In addition, Osinbajo signed three Executive orders, which the Presidency believes would significantly change the ways government businesses and operations are conducted in the country.
The Acting President, in Abuja, on May 24, held an interactive session with senior civil servants, on the recently signed three Executive orders, and told them that without a commitment to hard work, no amount of prayer and fasting could make the country work.
The Acting President, on May 27, met the President of the United States, US, Donald Trump, in Italy, where he attended the G7 Summit special outreach forum on Africa, with selected African nations and leaders, including Nigeria, Guinea, Tunisia, Niger, Ethiopia, and Kenya.
Osinbajo approved appointments into various parastatals, agencies and commissions, on May 27. He named Ali Usman, Chairman of the National Pension Commission, PenCom; Funso Doherty, the Director-General of the Commission; and Manase Benga, Zaki Magawata, Ben Oviosun and Nyerere Ayim, Executive Commissioners of PenCom; Dikko Aliyu AbdulRahman, the Chairman of the Governing Board of the Bank of Industry; and Olukayode Pitan, the Bank’s Managing Director; as well as Emeka Nwakpa, as Chairman of the Governing Board of the Consumer Protection Council.
On May 29, the Acting President delivered a nationwide broadcast to mark the country’s Democracy Day, and the second anniversary of Buhari’s administration.
The Acting President, on May 30, signed two bills into law, in order to facilitate access to affordable credit for Nigerians. They were the Secured Transactions in Movable Assets Act 2017, otherwise known as Collateral Registry Act, and the Credit Reporting Act 2017.
Last week, he inaugurated the Nigerian Industrial Policy and Competitiveness Advisory Council, which he chairs.
On Wednesday, Osinbajo hosted the Togolese President, and newly-elected Chairman of ECOWAS, Faure Gnassingbe, at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa, in Abuja, assuring him of Nigeria’s support to the regional body.
The Acting President, on Thursday, defied security threats and headed for Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to launch the Federal Government Food Emergency Intervention in the North-East. Recall, that Boko Haram insurgents had attacked Maiduguri the previous day.
Weeks after he received the details of the passed 2017 budget from the National Assembly, the Acting President is to assent to the fiscal document. The Presidency had said consultations were on-going.
However, Osinbajo has not sworn-in the two new Ministers-disignates, Stephen Ocheni (Kogi), and Suleiman Hassan (Gombe), weeks after their confirmation by the Senate.
Ocheni is to replace the late former Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi, who died over a year ago; while Hassan is to replace Mrs Amina Mohammed, who resigned as Minister of Environment, to become the United Nations, UN, Deputy Secretary-General.
He is yet to implement the report of the three-man Presidential Panel that probed the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke.
The Panel, headed by Osinbajo, investigated Babachir for alleged violations of law and due process, in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North-East; and Oke, for the $43.4 million, stashed away at a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The Northern sources believe that despite the outstanding performance of Osinbajo, it will not earn him the 2019 Presidency, because the North must complete their 8 years term.
