Buhari never questioned Osinbajo’s appointments over ethnicity — Ex-VP’s aide

File: Ex-President, Muhammad Buhari and and Ex-VP, Yemi Osinbajo

A former spokesperson to ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Laolu Akande, has dismissed claims by a former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, that the late President Muhammadu Buhari questioned the ethnic composition of Osinbajo’s proposed aides.

Akande described the allegation as a “complete fabrication”, insisting that there was no single memo containing more than 20 names of aides submitted by Osinbajo and allegedly delayed by Buhari’s then Chief of Staff, the late Abba Kyari.

Lawal had claimed that Osinbajo submitted a memo containing about 28 names of staff members, which Kyari allegedly withheld for about three months before Lawal obtained a photocopy and took it to Buhari.

According to Lawal, Buhari, after reviewing the list, remarked, “BD, these are all Yorubas.”

However, Akande, who served as Osinbajo’s spokesperson during the Buhari administration, disputed the account, saying he witnessed the processes through which appointments were approved in the Office of the Vice President.

In a statement on Saturday titled, “A Response to Mr Babachir Lawal’s Falsehoods Against Prof. Yemi Osinbajo,” Akande said, “There was no such memo.”

He explained that Osinbajo had direct access to Buhari and personally submitted appointment memos to the president for approval.

“The procedure was simple and verifiable: Prof. Osinbajo always had direct access to the President. He took his memos directly to the President, obtained approval, and passed the approved memo to (his own Chief of Staff), Mr Ade Ipaye,” Akande said.

He added that Ipaye, who was the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President, subsequently communicated the approved appointments to the relevant agencies.

“At no stage did this require the SGF, except for the subsequent issuance of appointment letters for staff,” he said.

Akande also challenged Lawal’s claim that the alleged memo was delayed for three months, saying he resumed work in the Office of the Vice President in June 2015 alongside several other staff members whose appointments were being questioned.

“Mr Lawal’s timeline also collapses,” he said, adding that there was no three-month delay in the appointment process.

According to him, Osinbajo submitted different batches of memos for various categories of staff as the office was being established and government policies evolved.

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“What actually happened in 2015 is that Osinbajo took different batches of memos to the President at different times for different categories of staff as the office was being set up and as government policies evolved. That is standard practice,” Akande said.

He maintained that there was never a single list characterised by religious or ethnic considerations.

“There was never a single, bloated, religiously and ethnically-charged list,” he said.

Akande also rejected Lawal’s claim that Buhari was concerned about Osinbajo appointing people because they belonged to his church, the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

He described the Office of the Vice President as one of the most inclusive offices in the administration, comprising Nigerians from different regions and religious backgrounds.

“The claim that Osinbajo appointed people because they were church members is false and is easily disproved by the staff list itself,” Akande said.

He cited Ade Ipaye, a Muslim and lawyer, as the most senior official in the office, adding that three of Osinbajo’s four special advisers were Muslims.

Among them, he named Maryam Uwais, special adviser on social investment, and Ahmad Zakari, special adviser on infrastructure.

“This was a truly national team. It was never a church list,” Akande said.

He further criticised Lawal’s allegations, saying, “To suggest a narrow church agenda is not only to ignore the facts, but to pursue a curious and worrying vendetta.”

Lawal’s claims were made during an interview with Symfoni TV’s Naija Unfiltered, in which he also alleged that Buhari considered Osinbajo’s 2022 presidential ambition immoral and distasteful because of his relationship with President Bola Tinubu.

Akande disputed that claim as well, maintaining that Buhari had repeatedly expressed willingness to support Osinbajo’s presidential ambition.