It was gathered that Tinubu had once approached the Vice
President to ask if he was nursing any presidential ambition to which the
latter replied in the negative.
That all is not well with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is not
news, but the new development is the connection of his godfather and political
benefactor, Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to the whole crisis.
Osinbajo, who is reportedly having a running battle with the Aso
Villa cabal is also said not to be in the good book of Tinubu over his
presidential ambition.
It was gathered that Tinubu had once approached the Vice
President to ask if he was nursing any presidential ambition to which the
latter replied in the negative.
Tinubu was said to have come across a video recording of a
directive by Osinbajo to his political associates on his plan to start his
campaign for his presidential ambition almost two years into the tenure of his
boss.
The development was said to have angered Tinubu who noted that
the Vice President cannot be trusted.
It was due to the disagreement that the vice president’s nominee
for the commissionership slot in Lagos State, Mr. Obafemi George, was rejected
by the State House of Assembly.
Besides, information gathered by Sunday Independent further
revealed that some associates of the Vice President had sought information on
certain dealings of Tinubu while working abroad, with the intention of using it
against his benefactor during the presidential election.
Already, President Muhammadu Buhari reportedly met recently with
Tinubu and Chief Bisi Akande, former Interim National Chairman of the APC,
during which he complained about certain actions of the Vice President, and
allegedly asked the duo to prevail on Osinbajo to resign his appointment from
the cabinet.
While Akande was said to have opposed such action, Tinubu
allegedly supported the President and claimed that nothing was wrong with
Osinbajo quitting if found to be culpable in some actions taken behind the
president and which Buhari was not happy about.
Already, several actions to further humble the Vice President
out of office are in the pipeline. These include the sack of his associates
from government and the plan not to renew the tenure of the present Chairman of
the Federal Internal Revenue Service (FIRS), Mr. Babtunde Fowler.
The recent query issued to Fowler by the Chief of Staff (CoS) to
the president, Abba Kyari, on the agency’s inability to meet revenue projection
target, is said to have a link with the political orchestra being planned
against the Vice President.
Fowler’s query was part of the underground moves by Buhari and
the cabal in the presidency to systematically undo Osinbajo in government,
especially when the query meant to be an official document was leaked to the
press.
“What should have been ‘a top government secret’ was leaked to
bring down the FIRS boss, who was a member of the Economic Management Team
(EMT), and to actually spite Osinbajo,” said a source.
It was further gathered that the retention of former Director
General of Department of State Service (DSS), Lawal Daura, in the Presidency as
adviser to the president, had strengthen the opposition against the Vice
President.
Daura allegedly wrote reports which the cabal wanted to use to
nail the Vice President. Daura despite his sack has continued to retain his
official quarters in the Villa and working directly with the President.
Besides, the plan to deal with Osinbajo informed the decision
not to give him any ministerial slot and the refusal of the president to retain
his nominee and former Minister of Trade and Investment, Okechukwu Enelamah,
said to be a close associate of the Vice President.
But, while the anti-Osinbajo action was being implemented by the
presidency, sources close to the Vice President said he was unperturbed and
believe he still enjoys the confidence of the president.
Although, there are fears that the ongoing hostility could
affect the implementation of the economic programmes of the Federal Government,
sources said the cabal is not yet done until it punishes Osinbajo for actions
taken while he stood in for his boss as Acting President.
However, the Media Adviser to Tinubu, Mr. Tunde Rahman, rose
stoutly in defence of his principal, saying he cannot undo the Vice President.
While speaking with Sunday INDEPENDENT on Saturday, Rahman said
all speculations on the alleged rift between Tinubu and Osinbajo remained in
the realms of conjecture.
“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.
Osinbajo’s travail with the presidency cabal started when he
sacked Daura, unarguably one of the ‘untouchables’ in the presidency, while
Buhari was receiving medical treatment abroad.
Presidency sources noted that the Vice President was not
forgiven for daring to move so decisively against Daura. Osinbajo also
committed another unthinkable ‘sin’ when he forwarded the name of Walter
Onoghen to the Senate to be confirmed when it was clear his role in acting
capacity would expire without confirmation.
It was said to be a mischief from the presidency in the first
place to have appointed Onoghen in acting capacity, the first of such strange
appointment that showed he was no favourite of the cabal to be made Chief
Justice of Nigeria (CJN).
The first sign of trouble arising from those incidents was the
budget being sent all the way to London for Buhari to sign into law on his
hospital bed while Osinbajo was acting.
Last week, President Buhari announced a crack team of
economists, led by Prof. Doyin Salami, as members of his Economic Advisory
Council (EAC). The team replaces the EMT headed by Osinbajo.
Aside from Salami, a respected Professor of Economics at the
Lagos Business School, who sits on the Central Bank of Nigeria’s monetary
policy board, the team also includes Dr. Mohammed Sagagi as vice chairman, a
former presidential chief economic adviser, Prof. Ode Ojowu, a former IMF
Country Representative for Sierra Leone, Dr. Iyabo Masha, and a former CBN
governor, Prof. Chukwuma Soludo. Others are Mr. Bismark Rewane, Dr. Shehu
Yahaya and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Development Policy,
Dr. Mohammed Adaya Salisu, who doubles as the team’s Secretary.
The new team, which reports directly to the president, is to
advise on economic policy matters, including fiscal analysis, economic growth
and a range of internal and global economic issues, working with the relevant
cabinet members and heads of monetary and fiscal agencies.
While many Nigerians highlight the positives of the action,
there had been greater measure of dissents, who believe that the President’s
action, in the same fell swoop, was sheer propaganda aimed at further cutting
down on Osinbajo’s already lean powers.
The deduction is that the latest move is part of a salvo aimed
at whittling the importance of the office of the Vice President and indeed, the
occupant of the office, all as part of the game-plan ahead of the next
political dispensation in 2023.
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