The Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to Vice- President Yemi Osinbajo, Laolu Akande, says the current negative media campaign against Prof. Osinbajo was part of the plot to bring Osinbajo’s personality into disrepute because of his closeness to President Muhammadu Buhari, and perceived ambition for 2023.
Osinbajo was recently accused by a blogger, Jackson Ude, of collecting N4bn from the suspended acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Ibrahim Magu. Ude also claimed the vice-president’s daughter, Kiki, owned an N800m property in Abuja.
Akande, during an Instagram Live chat with the publisher of Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, said the vice president is focused on governance and will not be distracted by false reports attempting to tarnish his image.
He said that Osinbajo being the Vice-President, and also able to understand how to connect with people couple with his rising profile is making some people with despicable agenda jittery.
“I think those who have all kinds of unscrupulous ideas, people with despicable agenda have reasons to try to smear the person that is holding that office,” he added.
While insisting that Osinbajo’s major focus was to support President Muhammadu Buhari until their tenure elapses, Akande noted that a lot of persons are jealous of Osinbajo, because of his position as President Muhammadu Buhari’s number two.
“Like I said, because of the position that he holds, next to the President and because of all the kinds of imaginations that people have to think about him, I think, up to a point, he has become a kind of a political target,” Akande said.
According to Akande, Osinbajo does have any plans aside from supporting President Buhari, and making sure the government deliver on its promises to Nigerians.
“He has said to me several times, see Laolu, this is not a monarchy, we are going to be here for four or at best eight years, let’s just focus and do the work so that when we are gone, people will say we did this and that. So, he is entirely consumed with the job.