Osinbajo defends Buhari, says nepotism allegations unfounded

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has absolved President Muhammadu
Buhari of allegations of nepotism being levelled against him.

He said ministers from the southern part of the country were in
charge of more strategic ministries, adding that the Federal
Executive Council had more Christian members despite that Buhari is
a Muslim.

Osinbajo was said to have stated these while granting interview
to some journalists and social media practitioners in Lagos on
Friday.

The Vice-President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and
Publicity, Laolu Akande, made the transcript of the interview
available to journalists on Sunday.

Osinbajo said, “Look at the cabinet, for example, from the point
of view of religion, it has an equal number – 18 Christians, 18
Muslims; but, we have the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation as well as the Head of Service who are Christians.

“So, we have 20 Christians to 18 Muslims; that’s the structure
of the cabinet.

“So, if you take that narrative you may argue that perhaps the
Christians have the upper hand; that’s a possible narrative.

“Let us look a little deeper into that, so there are those who
may argue, for example, that the North has an upper hand or perhaps
one section has an upper hand in the cabinet as one narrative.

“The South-East, for example, has five states. Four of the
south-eastern states have senior ministers; all of them, except
one, who is Minister of State for Education.”

When reminded that the President had no choice since the
appointment of ministers was a constitutional requirement, Osinbajo
said Buhari had a choice in assigning particular portfolios.

“In the North, seven northern states have no senior minister,
including the President’s home state, Katsina. Now, there are those
who will say, if you are nepotistic; surely seven northern states
have no senior minister. It’s a narrative depending on how you want
to run it.

“I give you another example; I’m from the South-West. There are
people who will say ‘I am from the South-West, the North has
everything.’ The South-West, for the first time in the history of
this country, has one minister who is in charge of three
ministries: Power, Works and Housing. The ministers of Finance and
Communications are also from the South-West.

“These are critical ministries. You can run the narrative in
whichever way that you choose. There are those who will say, for
instance, look at the number of CEOs of agencies of government; the
highest number of CEOs in our nation today comes from Ogun State,
the state has the largest number. There are those who will say
that’s my state. So you can run the narrative depending on how you
want to run it,” he added.

Osinbajo reminded Nigerians that the President had promised to
take a second look at areas of allegations of nepotism he found to
be true.

He cited the example of appointments into security agencies as
one of those Buhari had promised to look into.

“I believe that is the way to go because you can run any
narrative that will suit the figures you are showing. And that is
where we have legal process.

“There are people who don’t know that the number of CEOs from
Anambra State is more than the number of CEOs from Katsina State or
anywhere else, except Ogun,” he said.

Osinbajo also said the present administration was prosecuting
its anti-corruption war by focusing on what he called “grand
corruption.”

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has absolved President Muhammadu
Buhari of allegations of nepotism being levelled against him.

He said ministers from the southern part of the country were in
charge of more strategic ministries, adding that the Federal
Executive Council had more Christian members despite that Buhari is
a Muslim.

Osinbajo was said to have stated these while granting interview
to some journalists and social media practitioners in Lagos on
Friday.

The Vice-President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and
Publicity, Laolu Akande, made the transcript of the interview
available to journalists on Sunday.

Osinbajo said, “Look at the cabinet, for example, from the point
of view of religion, it has an equal number – 18 Christians, 18
Muslims; but, we have the Secretary to the Government of the
Federation as well as the Head of Service who are Christians.

“So, we have 20 Christians to 18 Muslims; that’s the structure
of the cabinet.

“So, if you take that narrative you may argue that perhaps the
Christians have the upper hand; that’s a possible narrative.

“Let us look a little deeper into that, so there are those who
may argue, for example, that the North has an upper hand or perhaps
one section has an upper hand in the cabinet as one narrative.

“The South-East, for example, has five states. Four of the
south-eastern states have senior ministers; all of them, except
one, who is Minister of State for Education.”

When reminded that the President had no choice since the
appointment of ministers was a constitutional requirement, Osinbajo
said Buhari had a choice in assigning particular portfolios.

“In the North, seven northern states have no senior minister,
including the President’s home state, Katsina. Now, there are those
who will say, if you are nepotistic; surely seven northern states
have no senior minister. It’s a narrative depending on how you want
to run it.

“I give you another example; I’m from the South-West. There are
people who will say ‘I am from the South-West, the North has
everything.’ The South-West, for the first time in the history of
this country, has one minister who is in charge of three
ministries: Power, Works and Housing. The ministers of Finance and
Communications are also from the South-West.

“These are critical ministries. You can run the narrative in
whichever way that you choose. There are those who will say, for
instance, look at the number of CEOs of agencies of government; the
highest number of CEOs in our nation today comes from Ogun State,
the state has the largest number. There are those who will say
that’s my state. So you can run the narrative depending on how you
want to run it,” he added.

Osinbajo reminded Nigerians that the President had promised to
take a second look at areas of allegations of nepotism he found to
be true.

He cited the example of appointments into security agencies as
one of those Buhari had promised to look into.

“I believe that is the way to go because you can run any
narrative that will suit the figures you are showing. And that is
where we have legal process.

“There are people who don’t know that the number of CEOs from
Anambra State is more than the number of CEOs from Katsina State or
anywhere else, except Ogun,” he said.

Osinbajo also said the present administration was prosecuting
its anti-corruption war by focusing on what he called “grand
corruption.”