By Emmanuel Nduka and Enyichukwu Enemanna
Nigeria’s ruling party- the All Progressives Congress (APC) has explained the reason behind the exclusion of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo from the Presidential Campaign Council of Bola Tinubu, its presidential candidate for the 2023 election.
The ruling party on Saturday released the full list of its presidential campaign council but the name of the vice president, who was also a presidential aspirant of the party, was conspicuously missing on the 422-man list, raising concerns and varying comments from different quarters.
Former Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi, who came second in the primaries, made it to the list.
Explaining the reason in a statement on Saturday, Festus Keyamo, spokesman of the campaign team, said President Muhammadu Buhari requested that Osinbajo and Boss Mustapha, Secretary to the Government of the Federation, should not be part of the campaign council so they could focus on governance.
“Our attention has been drawn to some stories making the rounds that there may be something amiss within the family of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the name of our own revered and respected Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, is not included in the list of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council.
“Nothing can be farther from the facts. For the avoidance of doubt, President Muhammadu Buhari , GCFR, is the Chairman of the Campaign Council.
“As a result, Mr. President has SPECIFICALLY directed that the Vice-President and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Boss Mustapha should be left out of the Campaign Council to concentrate on the governance of the country and administration of Government.
“As a responsible Party and Government, all the key functionaries of government cannot abandon their positions for electioneering campaigns. The APC has the mandate of the Nigerian people to administer the country on their behalf at least till May, 29, 2023, and this we intend to do with all sense of responsibility.
“We will not toe the path of those who governed the country in an irresponsible manner before us and our Party is not in total disarray like those who wish to ‘rescue’ the country, but cannot simply manage their own internal affairs,” he wrote.
Despite the statement from party, many have assumed that Osinbajo, a high ranking member of the party was excluded from the list because of the strained relationship between him and Tinubu after the presidential election primaries.
Osinbajo who was an Attorney General of Lagos State during Tinubu’s tenure as Governor is believed to have secured the support of Tinubu to emerge vice president in 2015 and 2019.
He joined in the primary election to grab the party’s ticket, a decision some political analysts believe smack of disloyalty in a contest his former benefactor featured.
The APC has also come under heavy criticism for fielding a Muslim-Muslim ticket in a country which has Islam and Christianity as two dominant religions.
Political parties have maintained a culture of fielding a presidential candidate and the vice candidate, each from both dominant religions.
There are also unverified insinuations that Osinbajo, a Christian cleric is against the decision of his party to field a Muslim-Muslim ticket.
