Presidency Replies Critics: Osinbajo, Truly A Patriot
…Debunks Lopsided Appointments –
The Presidency says Acting President Yemi Osinbajo is a true patriot that will not sacrifice his integrity and hard-earned reputation on the altar of sectionalism and religious biases.
With this clean bill of health delivered on Sunday, allegation in the social media space that the Acting President is anti-Muslims and anti-North in his conduct of national affairs collapsed like a pack with the Presidency describing it as not only unfounded but laughable.
According to Osinbajo, who spoke through his Senior Special Assistant on Legal Matters, Dr. Bilkisu Saidu, recent alleged nepotism and religious bias charges against him over appointment of principal staff and high-level federal officials were speculative and should be discountenanced by all well-meaning Nigerians.
Saidu insisted that such claims should not be taken seriously because Muslims from the northern part of the country are even in charge of serving the Acting President’s meals.
The Senior Special Assistant attributed the widely circulated allegations to a faceless social media contributor using the name Ismaila Farouk from Zamfara State. In his widely circulated piece, Farouk had described recent outings and appointments of the Acting President as sectional and not in the interest of the North.
But Saidu, appointed as Osinbajo’s aide last year from the Usman Dan Fodiyo University, Sokoto where she was a law lecturer, described the nepotism charges as simply “laughable, untrue, unfair and should not be taken seriously.”
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) quoted a British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) Hausa Service interview with Saidu as stating that contrary to Farouk’s accusations, most senior and strategic positions in the Vice President’s office, including stewards who serve his meals, are held by Muslims from even the northern part of Nigeria.
“If you are talking about religion, the most senior official or position in the Office of the Vice President apart from the Vice President himself is the office of the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President and the name of the person occupying that office is Abdulrahman Ipaye and he is a Muslim”, Saidu said.
According to her, “The positions following the Chief of Staff’s in the order of hierarchy are the Special Advisers in the office of the Vice President. Here, there are three Special Advisers and two of the three Special Advisers are Muslims, Senator Babafemi Ojudu and Barrister Mariam Uwais from Kano State.”
“If you look at the remaining senior positions in that office, most of them are in the hands of Muslims from the North. For instance, the person in charge of Protocol (i.e. the Director of Protocol) is Ambassador Abdullahi Gwary from Yobe State; those in charge of welfare and health in the office of the Vice President are mostly Muslims and from the North.
“Worthy of note are the stewards, those who serve the Vice President’s meals, they are mostly Muslims, so what do the critics mean when they talk about religion?”
The Acting president’s aide said: “When people lack what to use or have exhausted all avenues to speak evil against perceived opponents or ridicule the good works that they are doing, they resort to use of religion or other means possible to damage the image and reputation of that opponent.”
Saidu declared that non-progressive minded people often resort to cheap blackmail when they fail to win public support on their personal agenda, adding that these people would readily make nepotism charges by using religion given its sensitivity among Nigerians.
