SAN FRASNCISCO, November 05, (THEWILL) – The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo SAN has laid to rest speculations over how he emerged as presidential running mate in the 2015 election by disclosing that he was nominated by a National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
Speaking on Friday at a colloquium in Lagos on the state of the nation organised by the Coalition of Nigerian Apostolic Leaders, he said, “I was nominated by the leader of our party, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, under who I served as a commissioner in Lagos State”.
This puts paid to a claim in the authorised biography of President Muhammadu Buhari that Tinubu had mounted pressure on Buhari to contest as the then presidential candidate’s running-mate in the 2015 presidential election, but he preferred to run with Osinbajo over Tinubu.
In an apparent reference to this at the colloquium, Osinbajo said, “An APC National Leader who I had served when he was governor was interested in putting me forward as the running mate of President Muhammadu Buhari in consensus with other national leaders of the party.
“I was a product of this system (Coalition Leaders). The church was reluctant and I understood why the church was reluctant. The church was looking at the head of the ticket (President). This is our first opportunity. This is our first shot at it.
“We need to maximize it and do the best we can. I think what my nomination and appointment have done is that it has open the door for us. We can do it and we can be influential in doing it.”
The Vice President also spoke of Federal Government’s determination to intensify the battle against corruption which he called one of the key strategies for liberating the country from recession.
He assured that the government would revamp the economy through diversification, development of infrastructure and creation of a conducive atmosphere for the private sector to increase productive activities and boost employment opportunities.
“The reasons for the recession are because of the drop in the production of oil and corruption. Other factors are the manifestation of the two problems,” he said.
