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Tag: Osibanjo

  • We did not go to Aso Rock to have a good time – Osinbajo

    We did not go to Aso Rock to have a good time – Osinbajo

    Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Immediate past Vice President, has described his two terms as Nigeria’s number two citizen, as an incredible journey of service to the nation.

    Osinbajo, who was deputy to the immediate past President Muhammadu Buhari between May 29, 2015 and May 29, 2023, noted that he came into office eight years ago with the vision of making Nigeria a better country.

    Prof. Osinbajo spoke yesterday in Lagos, where he was received at the Presidential Wing of the Murtala Muhammed Airport, by a joyous group of close associates, supporters, family and friends.

    “In all, we thank God for the absolutely incredible opportunity, and we are forever grateful for this opportunity to serve our country, and the opportunity to see for ourselves how it is that a nation such as ours, and with the potential that it has, can do better, can be more,” the immediate Vice President said in Lagos.

    “We did not go to Aso Rock to have a good time, ” he continued.

    “We went there with a vision; we went there hoping to transform and change our country.

    “Of course, we didn’t think it was going to be overnight, but we have been fully committed to that cause, and anyone who is committed to that cause is our friend, our compatriot, our brother, and we will continue to work with them.”

    Prof. Osinbajo also expressed his gratitude for the support he received from the groups who came to receive him at the airports, as well as their commitment towards Nigeria’s progress.

    “I’m very deeply grateful for all of you who are here today. After such a long time, in eight years, all of you who I see here have been very steadfast at all times. And you are here again to celebrate our return home. I must say that I am deeply grateful.

    “It was Barbara Bush, the wife of former US President George H. W. Bush, who said that ‘when the noise of politics is silenced and the dust settles, all you have are family and friends, and faith.’ I’m happy that we have family and friends, and also, we have faith.”

    Thanking the Almighty God for what he described as an incredible journey, Prof. Osinbajo stated that he had spoken with President Tinubu and Vice President Shettima a few days ago before the inauguration, while also praying for their success.

    “It was such a good opportunity to let them understand where I stood and where I still stand. It was a great opportunity to speak to them and also to pray for them because this country must develop, we have far too many talents, and far too much hope, and look at us men and women of faith, this country has to succeed.

    “So, we will remain committed, and we are going to keep up the fight, like yourselves who are prepared, and who are determined to ensure that we achieve the greatness that our nation deserves.”

  • Coups d’etat: Osinbajo leaves for ECOWAS extraordinary summit in Accra

    Coups d’etat: Osinbajo leaves for ECOWAS extraordinary summit in Accra

    Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is to depart Abuja on Thursday for Accra, Ghana, to represent Nigeria at an Extraordinary Summit of the ECOWAS Authority of Heads of State and Government.
    Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement in Abuja, said the summit would deliberate on the political situations in Burkina Faso, Mali and Guinea.
    The meeting is coming as part of the resolutions reached at last week’s virtual meeting chaired by Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo.
    It will review the report of the ECOWAS delegation despatched to Quagadougou to meet with the military junta who recently seized power in Burkina Faso.
    The summit will be attended by regional leaders who will be considering imposing additional sanctions after the country was suspended from the regional body the previous week.
    On Jan. 24, soldiers forced the removal of democratically elected President Roch March Kabore from office in a military coup.
    The military takeover of government in Burkina Faso follows the same occurrence in Mali and Guinea recently.
    President Muhammadu Buhari has been delegating the vice president to represent Nigeria at a series of ECOWAS leaders’ summits on the issues of undemocratic, military takeover of governments in the region.
    Osinbajo will be accompanied by the Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Amb. Zubairu Dada, Presidential Special Adviser on Economic Matters, Dr Adeyemi Dipeolu and other top Nigerian diplomats.
    The vice president is expected back in Abuja later on Thursday.
    recall that on Jan. 28, members held an extraordinary summit on the political situation in Burkina Faso.
    Demands the immediate release and protection of President Roch Kabore and all the other political detainees;

    Members demanded the immediate restoration of constitutional order by the militaries and urges them to remain republican by focusing on the role of safeguarding the territorial integrity of the country;

    Members instructed the commission to facilitate the deployment of a joint ECOWAS Ministerial Mission to Burkina Faso, to assess the political situation and submit their report to the Authority of Heads of State and Government.

  • Stoning of Buhari, Osinbajo in Ogun is treasonable offence – Falana

    Human rights lawyer, Femi Falana (SAN) on Wednesday said the stoning of President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by supporters of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) during last Monday’s campaign of the All Peoples Congress (APC) in Abeokuta was treasonable.

    Falana, while reeacting to the incident, expressed regret that the Police had not arrested anybody in connection with the attack on the President, his Vice and other leaders of the APC.

    He said Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State could not absolve himself of the blame as the chief security officer of the state.

    Falana regretted that Amosun visited Abuja several times before last Monday’s campaign with the governorship candidate of the APM, Adekunle Akinlade, the President welcomed them to the villa.

    He said the governor ought to have been told long before the campaign that his activities were anti-party.

    The lawyer also blamed the various security agencies in the state for the incident, noting that they did nothing to prevent or stop the attack on the President.

    He said the security agencies, despite knowing that it was APC rally allowed another party and its supporters to infiltrate the venue.

    Falana contended that this ugly situation persisted because Police and other security agencies that should be alive to their responsibilities did nothing about it.

    He recalled that some time ago, supporters of former Oyo state governor, Chief Rasheed Ladoja and Alao Akala clashed and six people died, the Police did not arrest nor prosecute anybody over the incident.

    Falana lamented the spate of disrespect and other acts against the person of the President of the country by the opposition, describing it as an insult against his office.

    He recalled that during presentation of the 2019 budget, when the president was booed by some members of the National Assembly, the only thing he said was that ‘the world is watching’, noting, “here in Abeokuta, he kept quiet and allowed the situation to degenerated”.

    He said when the President was attending rally of the APC, similar incident happened in Port Harcourt, Rivers State and Imo State in particular where the state governor, Chief Rochas Okorocha was campaigning for Alliance for New Nigeria (ANN) gubernatorial candidate, nobody was cautioned.

  • Sukuk Bond: Jonathan, not Buhari introduced Islamic banking to Nigeria – Osinbajo

    ..Blasts Christian leaders for faulting ‘Islamic agenda’ instead of creating one

    The Vice-President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has said former President Goodluck Jonathan introduced the country to Islamic Banking and not President Muhammadu Buhari as widely circulated.

    Osinbajo noted that Nigeria is the fourth largest shareholder in the Islamic Bank and that the two directors of the bank so far were Christians.

    Osinbajo noted that the idea of belonging to an Islamic bank is not enough to Islamise Nigeria as the christian communities are insinuating.

    Osinbajo spoke in Lagos on Friday during the Greater Nigeria Pastors Conference convened by Apostle Wale Adefarasin and Rev. Abayomi Kasali.

    In his words: “Part of the problem is the failure of Christian leadership to take its rightful place. We focus our minds on something we call the Islamic agenda. We look for it everywhere as if we are looking for demons.

    “But where is the Christian agenda. Are we not entitled to one? We are too divided as Christians to have an agenda. The key to the unity and progress of Nigeria is in the church.”

    According to him, there were no plans to Islamise Nigeria through the Sukuk bond or the country’s membership of the Islamic Development Bank.

    He said that apart from Nigeria, many nations of the world including the United States of America and the United Kingdom had also embraced the system as a result of its progressive nature.

    He said, “The Sukuk is an Islamic concept, which enables people to have access to credit. It is essentially like a bond. The US, UK, China, South Africa have all used the Sukuk. Once there is money in the market, let us not get sentimental. The most important thing is for us to use those monies well.

    “Some people say there are some hidden things in this arrangement and that one day somebody is going to take us over. Where? How will that happen? These are straightforward financial systems used all over the world. I don’t think it presents any real problem. It is a very progressive financial system.

    “Nigeria became a member of the Islamic Development Bank in 2005 and the first person to sit as director of the bank was Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala. The second person to sit as a director is the current Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun, and both of them are Christians. So, when people talk about Islamic agenda, sometimes I am lost.

    “The person who brought us into the bank is not a Fulani or Northerner, the person was a Christian, so why are we complaining? Nigeria is the fourth largest shareholder in the Islamic Bank. This wasn’t Buhari’s making. We must have facts before saying things. But above all, we must ask ourselves if being a member of the bank profits us or not.

    “For me, I have no problem with this. We can use what we get there to develop our society. This is the most important for me.”

    Osinbajo also spoke on the case of a former Chairman of the Presidential Task Force on Pension Reforms, Mr. Abdulrasheed Maina, who was discovered to have been reinstated in the Federal Civil Service, after he had earlier fled the country in 2013 after corruption charges were brought against him by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.

    The vice president said the country’s system made it possible for criminals to go undetected.

    He said, “If you look at our present federal structure, it is designed in such a way that you may be able to hide somewhere for a day or two before you are found. Otherwise, how do you explain a situation where a fugitive suddenly appears and finds his way back into the system? How did he get there?

    “What Buhari did immediately he heard about the matter was to query how it happened and ordered his disengagement, which is the right thing to do. As for what will happen, we may have to wait and see.”

    Osinbajo accused the country’s elite of working against the progress of the country.

    While calling on citizens to support the current administration in its fight against corruption, the vice president said that Nigeria was at the threshold of history and would soon fulfil its full potential.

    He said, “We must deal with corruption decisively. It is created by leadership elite that includes not just politicians but also religious leaders and people in the private sector. We must also deal with tribalism, religion and other parochial tendencies. It is difficult to find national leaders today. Many Nigerians speak from a tribal perspective.

    “There is no nation on the face of the earth that would survive under the weight of corruption that our country had gone through. Nigeria’s elite, regardless of political, religious or ethnic differences, think alike. They are driven largely by the same motive.

    “They are selfish, unprepared to make the sacrifices either in service or self-restraint that leaders of successive societies make. High-level corruption knows no religion, ethnicity or other considerations.

    “Corrupt elements in our society are united; they fight for each other and are prepared to go down together. They are actually one tribe, indivisible despite their diversity.

    “We have to address the issue of corruption pointedly. The system is corrupt. Corruption is generally the rule in our society. This is a time to build. We can become Africa’s most productive nation in the very near future.”