2023 Presidency: How Loyalty To Buhari, Tinubu Is Delaying Osinbajo’s Declaration

The reasons for Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s silence on suspicions about his presidential ambitions in 2023 have been exposed.

According to a source close to the Presidency, Osinbajo’s quiet on the idea of running for President was due to his unwavering allegiance to the All Progressives Congress, APC, President Muhammadu Buhari, and APC National Leader, Bola Tinubu.

Some influential factions within the White House believe the Vice President is becoming too powerful as a result of some key decisions he performed while acting president, which has caused him to delay declaring for the presidency.

Remember that while Buhari was away for medical reasons, Osinbajo executed some programs that Nigerians accepted.

While Buhari was in London on February 7, 2017, Osinbajo forwarded Walter Onnoghen’s name to the Senate for confirmation as Nigeria’s substantive Chief Justice (CJN).

Onnoghen’s three-month term as acting CJN was about to come to an end when Osinbajo made his decision.

Despite the fact that it was Buhari who told him to deliver the name, there are allegations that Osinbajo played a crucial role in pushing the president to act due to the tight deadline.

In addition, as Acting President, Osinbajo established a commission to lower food prices.

He voiced concern about some of the rising food prices, saying the task team will look into ways to improve the availability and affordability of food for Nigerians.

Osinbajo assigned the panel a seven-day deadline to report back to the council on the steps that need be taken to meet the goal.

His activities while Buhari’s absence, according to our source, enraged important factions in the Presidency, who regard him as becoming too powerful and hence misread most of his movements.

Perceiving the situation around him, our source said, “the Vice president is cautious; hence his silence on some very controversial issues like Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra, IPOB and Sunday Igboho.”

According to the source: “Osinbajo’s body language has never condemned IPOB and Igboho openly; all he does is to preach for Nigeria’s unity. All Osinbajo does to work on Nigeria’s economy, and the recent statistics by the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics favours Osinbajo, and that is strategic. Most of Osinbajo’s powerful actions tend to be misinterpreted.

“Each time he takes a powerful decision, the Presidency feels he is becoming too powerful, so he’s cautious as he addresses issues on the periphery and he speaks on advisory grounds.

“On the case of Igboho, he is threading carefully not to step on toes and offend the president.”

Another source within the Presidency said should Osinbajo be given a free hand, there would be conflicts with President Muhammadu Buhari.

Osinabjo, according to the source, may have conflicts with Buhari in the areas of Fulani herders and bandits because he would be forceful on them.

He said: “Should Osinbajo be allowed to run the way he should, a lot of things will be in conflict with the president like the case of Fulani herdsmen and bandits. He may go forcefully against bandits and herdsmen, but he always treads carefully because of his loyalty to Buhari and Tinubu.”

Osinbajo’s decision to contest for the Presidency is also hinged on Tinubu’s decision to run, the source said.

“Even though Osinbajo remains the best APC choice from the Southwest, the body language of Tinubu appears to be a major factor in determining if he would declare or not. Osinbajo’s loyalty to superiority is unquestionable, hence he remains in the eye of the storm as the breeze blows across the country,” the source said.

Christian communities have faulted Osinbajo over his inability to speak against what they termed pogrom or genocide against the Christian communities.

However, it was revealed that the Vice President’s silence was due to his extreme loyalty to Buhari.

“This was due to extreme loyalty to APC, his boss; Tinubu who recommended him to be the then-Attorney General of Lagos State and later the Vice President after recommending him to Buhari,” the source said.

When DAILY POST reached out to Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, for his comment, he referred our correspondent to his previous post where he declared that the Vice President has no presidential ambition.

“My previous statements on the subject matter refers,” Akande said in a chat requesting for his comment.