2023: Osinbajo Shuts Down Report Of Planned Presidential Declaration

The Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, has denied making plans to declare for the 2023 presidential election after the forthcoming national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

Osinbajo said an article published in a national daily about his purported plans to make public his presidential ambition after the APC convention was concocted.

The vice president reacted to the report through Laolu Akande, his senior special assistant on media and publicity.

“I have seen “news” that VP’ll announce presidential bid after APC’s convention. Anyone reading the story will know it’s all false and speculative material. Any information on activities and actions of the VP will come directly from his office and not sponsored speculations in the press,” Akande said in a tweet on Monday.

Previous reports have claimed that Osinbajo is nursing a presidential ambition and was only waiting for the appropriate time to make public his intention.

In May 2021, Akande had described such reports as “unhelpful permutations,” adding that his principal was “focused on working in his capacity as Vice President in the current administration to address all the compelling issues in the country and concerns of Nigerians, including finding effective and lasting solutions to the security challenges.”

Meanwhile, Osinbajo may square up with his former boss and APC national leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, for the party’s presidential ticket in the event that he decides to join the 2023 presidential race.

Tinubu, a two-time former Lagos State governor, had informed President Muhammadu Buhari about his ambition to succeed him in 2023.

Some analysts believe that the vice president, who served as a commissioner when Tinubu was Lagos governor, had deliberately delayed his declaration for president to avoid clashing with his former boss.