An aide of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has not told President Muhammadu Buhari of his ambition to run for president next year, his media aide Laolu Akande said on Monday, March 14, 2022.
Akande, a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity attached to the Office of the Vice President, described as “mere speculation” a news report claiming that his boss had disclosed his ambition.
On Monday, March 14, 2022, a national daily led several online news platforms in reporting that sources close to the vice president of his interaction with the President about his political move in 2023.
The report, which attributed its source to some persons privy to the interaction between the President and deputy, said: “certainly, VP Osinbajo has told the President that he wants to succeed him.
“The vice president had first consulted some prominent Nigerians who encouraged him to vie for the presidency and they also encouraged him to tell the President himself.
“They told him not to allow a third party to tell the President so that the ambition will not be misconstrued.” The report also claimed that another source said when Osinbajo approached the President with the story, Buhari was not surprised.
It said: “Buhari smiled in his usual characteristic manner…he listened to the VP carefully and while responding, he gave him the green light and wished him well without giving him any commitment or assurance of supporting him ahead of other contenders.
“He blessed the intention just the way he blessed Tinubu when he visited him in the Villa and unveiled his plan to vie for the Presidency.
“And I think the President is being careful. Remember what he said while granting an interview to a national television.”
However, some other aides of the vice president, who craved anonymity said “for such a report to be believed, it must disclose when, where and how the interaction took place.”
