Osinbajo: Hours After Bakare’s Invocation, Southern, Middle Belt Leaders ‘Query’ Presidency Over VP’s Ordeal

The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders Forum (SMBLF) has frowned at the removal of the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, as head of the government’s economic team and his replacement with an ad hoc committee by President Muhammadu Buhari.

The group’s rebuke follows similar backlash by the senior pastor of the Latter Rain Assembly, Tunde Bakare, earlier Sunday.

Bakare had said the Vice president must not be disgraced out of office, adding that God’s name will be praised and glorified whether or not he remains as VP till the end of this term.

“Every man will care about what bothers him most or bites him hardest. My concern presently is that come rain, come shine, the VP, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo must not be disgraced and humiliated out of office except he has truly and flagrantly violated his oath of office which I find difficult to believe,” he said.

The group, while noting that all doesn’t seem well in the presidency, lamented that the office of the VP is not what it used to be in the past.

The group, in a statement in Abuja on Sunday by Chief Edwin Clark (South-South), Chief Ayo Adebanjo (South-West), Chief John Nwodo (South-East) and Dr Pogu Bitrus (Middl-Belt), said “something is definitely wrong’, urging the president to provide an explanation for stripping Osinbajo of his constitutional functions.

“We followed with keen interest developments in the Presidency as regards the office of the Vice-President in the past few days,” the statement read.

“The virtual stripping of the office of the VP of most functions and responsibilities even some that are constitutional, by fiat does not correspond with the declaration of APC governors that all is well at the seat of power.

“The office of the Vice-President today is definitely not what it was two weeks ago.

“Something is definitely wrong even when we cannot place our fingers on it yet.

“And this is because of the opaque handling of affairs of a supposed constitutional democracy and open society in a manner reminiscent of a kingdom where things are done according to the whims and caprice s of the monarch.

“We are a democracy and the people need to know the ways their lives are being run by those they have hired to do the job.”

The group alleged that the activities in the office seemed suspicious. “Moreover, the multi-ethnic nature of Nigeria and the geo-political balancing of its presidency will make the kind of actions that have been taken against the office of the Vice-President to attract the usual suspicion of the experiences of Ebitu Ukiwe and Oladipo Diya if there are no explanations to the public.

“In this dispensation in particular, references would be made to the treatment of Justice Walter Onoghen,Mrs  Winifred Oyo Ita and now Prof Osinbajo on one hand ,and Mr Abdulrsheed Maina of Pension Reform Task Force  ,Prof Usman Yusuf of NHIS and Governor Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano  on the other hand .

“In order to preserve the unity of the country therefore, we demand explanation on what is happening to Osinbajo from the Presidency and if no such is forthcoming, his functions should be restored.

“We have equally noticed the unusual quiet from the Presidency on damaging allegations against the Vice-President.

“In any normal clime, it should not have taken more than a day for the Presidency to dispel the allegations to maintain the moral standing of the VP and the integrity of the administration.

“We therefore demand a statement from the government on the weighty allegations or an investigation to be caused.

“We hold our breath until the public is properly briefed,” the statement read.