President Buhari Sacks Vice President Osinbajo’s Aides

BY VICTOR BUORO, ABUJA – President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday sacked 35 aides working in the office of Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo.

Forefront News gathered from sources within the Presidency that President Buhari, who is on a private visit to the United Kingdom approved the sack of Osinbajo’s aides on Tuesday.

It was equally gathered from a dependable source that the Vice President is expressing the hope that the President will rescind the decision based on his believe that the sack was carried out by the Chief of Staff to the President, Abba Kyari and not the President as the public is being made to believe.

Affected by the sack are Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants, Personal Assistants, Technical Assistants and some of those that were appointed in August this year.

The affected aides were said to have been posted out to some line ministries relevant to their designation and may have been issued with disengagement letters on Wednesday.

The development comes amid speculations of a frosty relationship between the President and Vice President since the second tenure of the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led administration.

It was also gathered that President Buhari’s decision to assent to the Deep Offshore and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract Bill into an Act from London further fuelled the speculation of their deteriorating relationship.

The president had previously directed Vice President Osinbajo seek his approvals for agencies under his supervision just as he moved the National Social Investment Programme (N-SIP) from the office of the vice-president to a new ministry.

The Presidency is yet to formally issue a statement on the development as at the time of this report.