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April 20, 2022 Afenifere Leader Tells Tinubu, Osinbajo To Drop Their Presidential Bids

Afenifere Leader Tells Tinubu, Osinbajo To Drop Their Presidential Bids

Leader of Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, has said that presidential aspirants from the South-West geopolitical zone including Vice President Yemi Osinbajo and former Lagos State Governor, Bola Tinubu, should forget their presidential ambitions.

He said it was the turn of the South-East to produce Nigeria’s next President after the regime of the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), in May 2023.

The elder statesman made his position known in an exclusive interview with The PUNCH on Tuesday.

According to him, it is an injustice for a South-West President to emerge in 2023 after ex-President Olusegun Obasanjo from Ogun State had ruled from 1999 to 2007; while Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, also from Ogun State, has been in government since May 2015 and would have spent eight years in power by May 2023.

The 94-year old elder statesman added that the South-South zone has also had a shot at both President and Vice-President positions with ex-President Goodluck Jonathan between 2007 and 2010 (as VP) and from 2010 to 2015 (as President).

Adebanjo, however, said for Nigeria to have another President, the country must first be secured.

The nonagenarian said, “Right now, is there a country for them to be President? There must be one country first before you can talk of an election. Is this the country Jonathan handed over to Buhari? Whether a Southern or a Northern candidate, let us unite everyone. We can’t get everyone united until we change this constitution.

“Are you safe? Talk about security. How am I sure that I won’t be shocked when I go to the police station, when electoral officers, soldiers, and policemen are being shot dead and I can’t travel to Maiduguri safely?

“All those who are clamouring for Presidency, be it Jagaban (Tinubu) or Osinbajo, they should assure us of our safety first, that the country is safe, that we are one, then we talk of who is going to be President. They should forget about their ambitions now until there is safety. Nobody can go to the South-East now, and we are all living in denial.”

Asked if he was supporting Tinubu, Osinbajo, or any President from the South-West, the Afenifere leader said, “How can I back a South-West candidate? That is not equity. Has Obasanjo not done so for eight years? Has Osinbajo not done eight years as VP? Has Jonathan not done five years as President? Is the South-East not part of Nigeria?

“We want peace and equity. It is the turn of the South-East. I don’t talk ambiguously. It is the South-East that the thing must go; there is no doubt about that but my anxiety now is that before we say, South-East, have we got a country? Let us settle that before we say the South-East is the answer. I am not ambivalent about it at all.”

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March 8, 2022 Vice President Osinbajo Clocks 65

Vice President Osinbajo Clocks 65

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is 65 years old, having been born on March 8, 1957.

On Feb. 23, 2019, Osinbajo was re-elected for another four-year term with President Muhammadu Buhari after surviving helicopter crash in Kogi on Feb. 2, 2019.

Nigeria's 5th Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, is the Chairman of the National Economic Council (NEC), which deliberates on the various levels of government's economic planning activities and programs.

As head of the National Economic Council, Osinbajo has presided over crucial resolutions on the economy, health, technology, agriculture, infrastructure, and security, among other topics.

Buhari asked him to chair the Economic Sustainability Committee (ESC) at the start of COVID-19 shutdown in 2020, which created the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) that is currently being executed to shore up the economy.

He also serves on other committees, including the Health Sector Reform Committee, the National Poverty Reduction and Growth Strategy Committee, and the Presidential Committee on the Repatriation, Return, and Resettlement of IDPs in the North-East.
 
From 1975 to 1978, the vice president attended Igbobi College in Lagos, the University of Lagos (UNILAG), and the London School of Economics and Political Science.
 
From 1999 to 2007, he served as Lagos State's Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
 
For many years, Osinbajo was Professor of Law at the University of Lagos and Senior Partner at SimmonsCooper Partners, commercial law company.
 
He is also the Redeemed Christian Church of God's Pastor (RCCG).  Osinbajo has three children with his wife, Dolapo Osinbajo.
 

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February 17, 2022 Education Minister Adamu Insists ASUU Strike Not Fault of Federal Government, Says Negotiations Ongoing

Education Minister Adamu Insists ASUU Strike Not Fault of Federal Government, Says Negotiations Ongoing

The Federal Government and the Academic Staff Union of Universities have traded blame over the four-week strike which the union began on Monday.

While briefing State House Correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting presided over by Vice-President YEMI OSINBAJO, the minister said he was surprised that the lecturers could decide to embark on industrial action amid renegotiations.

He said it is not the federal government’s fault if there has been no agreement after several negotiations between both parties.

Some university students, who have been affected by the ongoing strike ventilated their opinion on the industrial action embarked upon by ASUU.

But the President of ASUU, Prof essor EMMANUEL OSODEKE, faulted the minister insisting that the union visited him on Thursday last week and told him what would likely happen.

According to him, the minister did not mention the issue of negotiations when the union visited him.

In another vein, the Minister of Labour and Employment, CHRIS NGIGE, on his part, described the ongoing strike a “leave” following the failure of the union to notify his ministry before embarking on strike.

NGIGE also noted that the union failed in its agreement with the National Inter-religious Council headed by the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji ABUBAKAR SA’AD; and the President of the Christian Association of Nigeria, Rev SAMSON AYOKUNLE, by failing to report to the committee before embarking on strike.

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More Blog for Shows: All Out Politics, The Big Story
November 19, 2021 President Buhari Okays N656.11bn Fresh Bailout For 36 States

President Buhari Okays N656.11bn Fresh Bailout For 36 States

President Muhammadu Buhari has approved a fresh N656.112billion Bridge Financing Facility to the 36 States.

This was disclosed at the National Economic Council (NEC) meeting presided over by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.

The vice president’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, in a statement issued after the meeting, said each state would receive N18.225billion with a 30-year tenor, and a 2-year moratorium at an interest rate of 9%.

He said the facility was to help the states afford the repayment of previous bailout facilities guaranteed for them by the Federal Government.

He said the Minister of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr. Zainab Ahmed, informed the council that the Bridge Facility is now being processed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

Akande said the approved bridge facility of N656.112billion would be disbursed in six tranches over a period of six months to the States.

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