VICE PRESIDENT Yemi Osinbajo yesterday denied the report that he has resigned his position as President Muhammadu Buhari’s deputy.
The report of Prof Osinbajo’s purported resignation was a trending social media fake news alert on Wednesday.
Prof. Osinbajo, the report claimed, resigned because he was allegedly sidelined from the security meeting President Muhammadu Buhari held with Service Chiefs and head of security agencies and three governors from the North on Tuesday at the State House, Abuja.
But in a statement by his spokesperson, Laolu Akande, the vice president described the purported resignation as fake news and deliberate propaganda.
Akande said: “Contrary to the fake news in circulation yesterday, Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, has not resigned his position in the Buhari administration.”
He said Osinbajo in a meeting with young Christian leaders in Lagos on Wednesday night, personally debunked the purported resignation being circulated on some social media platforms.
Akande quoted the vice president as saying: “They are deliberate propaganda. Today (Wednesday), they’ve been spreading some information around that I’ve resigned.
“They said I didn’t attend a security meeting yesterday. I was too busy in my office. The same security people were meeting with me that same evening. Must I attend every meeting? Can’t the President hold a meeting with the security chiefs without me?
“They said I was so angry that they didn’t bring me to that meeting; that I was excluded; then, I resigned! I have not resigned.”
He said in continuation of the Next Level engagements, the vice president was in Lagos to hold a meeting with the Hausa community in Ikeja.
The statement reads: “He (vice president) then proceeded to Yola, in Adamawa State, where he met a group of Christian leaders
“On his return to Lagos yesterday night, the vice president held an interactive session with Young Christian Leaders at Muson Center, Onikan, where he spoke on the fake news.
“Prof. Osinbajo continues the Next Level engagements and is expected in Kwara and Abia states later today (yesterday).”
At the interactive session and engagement with the upcoming Christian leaders, Osinbajo described as absurd, the lies, propaganda and accusations against the President.
The interactive session was tagged: “Unveiling the truth”. It was attended by some Christian leaders in attendance.
Participants used the occasion to ask plenty of questions bothering on insecurity, economy, blaming of past administrations, social welfare for the unemployed, corruption, and timing ofTraderMoni.
Other questions bothered on Next Level slogan, farmer/herders crisis, lopsided federal appointments, Islamisation, Buhari’s commitment to addressing critical issues in the country among others.
Osinbajo said Buhari was committed to addressing the problems facing the country such as security, economy and fixing critical infrastructure and fair treatment of all sections.
He said Buhari has tackled the farmer/herders’ crises and has no intention at all to Islamise the country.
Osinbajo said: “President Muhammadu is possibly one of the most committed people I have ever met. He is committed to seeing that resources of this country are used for this country.
“In general terms, we find that there is fairness in the distribution of appointments. Many of the accusations against Buhari are not true.
“Sometimes, people listen to propaganda and if we look at the facts, things are totally different. On Islamisation, first of all, it is untrue, it is propaganda. Anybody who complains that President Buhari is propagating Islamic agenda, how is that possible?
“A lot of these are just propaganda. Never listen to these. Many of these are absurd, they are deliberate propaganda. They come from the same source. Don’t believe them. Let’s be fair.”
The vice president, who urged Nigerians not to fear or doubt the good intention of the President, advised Nigerians to stop spreading rumours about things that never happened.
Osinbajo noted that the major cause of farmer/herder crisis remains pasture and water which the government has made concerted efforts to address.
On accusations of lopsided federal appointments, Osinbajo explained that the Southeast with five states has five ministers more than some regions with higher number of states.
On TraderMoni, he said the National Assembly does not need to approve money for it as it is a programme of the Bank of Industry meant to lift many Nigerians out of poverty.
On the timing of implementation of the Social Investment Programme (SIP), Osinbajo said it kicked off after the budgetary allocation was passed by the National Assembly in 2016.
According to him, the party never promised N5, 000 monthly stipends for the unemployed but for the vulnerable in the society.
He said the NSIP has engaged so many youths in its N-Power programme and that government has the plan to increase the number to 1.5 million young Nigerians in the Next Level out of 1.7 million people churned out of tertiary institutions every year.
On criminality, the vice president said that the way forward is local policing and intelligence as well as immediate arrest and prosecution of criminals in the country.
On security, he said that the country has made significant progress and moved forward from what the situation was before the 2015 general elections.
The vice president said the All Progressives Congress (APC) Next Level slogan centres on job creation, power, provision of credit facilities for entrepreneurs, agriculture, infrastructure and others.
The vice president urged Christian leaders not to lose their sleep over any Islamic agenda and Islamisation, saying many Christians are in the cabinet of President Buhari.
He said the media should desist from spreading rumours, decrying fake news about Buhari being another person from Sudan.
Addressing the accusation that the present administration often blames previous administrations, Osinbajo said the country cannot move forward without considering the past.
According to him, corruption remains the bane of national growth and development. He said most of the woes confronting Nigerians were caused by wastefulness of past governments.
The highlights of the interaction were the high praise, led by choir and the power-packed prayer for the country and the general election, led by Bishop Wale Oke.
The participants prayed for God’s mercies on the country.