Following a new speculation that former Lagos State governor and national leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, is behind Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s plight to resign his position so as to forestall his 2013 presidential ambition, Tinubu has dismissed the speculation.
President Muhammadu Buhari has reportedly met recently with Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, former APC Interim National Chairman of the APC.
He reportedly complained about certain actions of the Vice President, and allegedly asked the duo to prevail on Osinbajo to resign his appointment from the cabinet.
According to the Sunday Independent, while Akande was said to have opposed resignation, Tinubu allegedly supported the President and claimed that nothing was wrong with Osinbajo quitting if found to be culpable.
Reacting, Tinubu’s spokesman, Tunde Rahman, denied rift between his principal and Osinbajo.
“There is no truth in the allegation that Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is against the Vice President. There is nothing stopping the Vice President from nursing a presidential ambition. If he wants to run, let him run.
“We are all watching and waiting. It is all a bundle of lies that Asiwaju Tinubu is unhappy about that. People are just politicising the situation. Tinubu cannot muscle his own boy in any way”, he said.
Last Thursday, Osinbajo stated that the Economic Management Team (EMT) which he heads was not scrapped or dissolved by the president.
Buhari had on Monday, constituted an Economic Advisory Council (EAC), which is widely believed would take over the functions of the EMT.
In response to an enquiry from the National Economic Council (NEC), which comprises the 36 state governors, the governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), among others, Osinbajo noted that both councils were for the benefit of the President
He added that, “If NEC want to be briefed regularly by the Economic Advisory Council, EAC, we will request the President to do that”.
Osinbajo explained to the council that such interaction will promote synergy.
Speaking to newsmen after the meeting, Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe State, confirmed that he and his colleagues discussed Buhari’s new team with the VP.
Yahaya said: “Governors requested for clarification from NEC’s chairman-the vice president (Osinbajo), on the relationship between NEC and the newly informed Economic Advisory Council.
“And the vice president explained that those councils are advisory for the benefit of the President while NEC is established by the constitution, they are to complement one another.
“He added that NEC could be briefed regularly on the activities of the Economic Advisory Council with the permission of the president,” he added.
