Osinbajo May Not Return As VP In 2019 – Buhari

President Muhammadu Buhari, on Friday, said his Vice president Yemi Osinbajo may not return to power come 2019.

He made the statement on a lighter note while hosting a delegation of the Conference of Nigerian Female Parliamentarians at the presidential villa in Abuja, Daily Post reports.

The group had demanded for a female Vice President of the country while speaking with Buhari.

Buhari, in response said: “It is a pity the VP is not here, but I believe the Secretary to the Government of the Federation will brief him that his position is threatened.

“It is only the Vice President who is threatened. And if we win the next election, he may lose his election.

Recall that tongues have been wagging on who President Buhari will name as his running mate if he clinches the All Progressives Congress (APC) nomination to fly the party’s flag in 2019.

While the president’s remark may be taken for what it appears to be, “a joke”, recent happenings within and around the seat of power may suggest otherwise.

A source within the APC said “It’s only a matter of time, I think even Osinbajo knows it that he is not coming back, the people who put him there wants a different person if they are to continue their support for Mr. President, and I think Mr. Osinbajo understands that”.

Meanwhile, Prof. Osinbajo’s series of official visits to some Nigerian states may not be unconnected to the fact that he understands his position, and is using these avenues possibly to launder his image.

Some of the states visited by the vice president include Benue state, Nasarawa state, Ondo state, Bauchi state, Enugu state, amongst others.

Recently, a group, “Osinbajo Volunteers” kick started campaigns for Osinbajo’s election as President in 2019.

The VP, however, denounced the group, in a statement by his media aide, stating that it (the group) has “absolutely nothing to do with the Vice President.”

When asked if he intended to run with Buhari in 2019 during a media chat at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland Osinbajo said, “I’m absolutely focused at this time on doing the job that we have been elected to do. That is my concern for now.”

His response can however be construed to mean either that of a man who isn’t confident of retaining his current position, or one who is gunning for a higher position in the 2019 general election season.