The presidency has waved aside
claims that a certain cabal had taken over the presidential villa, sidelining
the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo since the return of President Muhammadu
Buhari from London.
While revealing that Osinbajo
remains Buhari’s closest confidant, the presidency described the allegation as
a recycled hate campaign.
This was contained in a statement
by the Senior Special Assistant to the president on Media and Publicity, Mallam
Garba Shehu.
He said, “To begin with, it is
absolutely nonsensical and absurd to write that in one week of the President’s
return, the Vice President has been sidelined. Quite to the contrary, the Vice
President remains the confidante and the closest adviser to the President.
“He has attended all the
President’s engagements all through the week with the exception of two: one,
the VP was away to Taraba State and two, the Juma’at Muslim prayer because he
is a Christian.
“It is difficult to understand
what anyone wants to achieve peddling such falsehood that the President,
himself a former military general and Head of State and Commander-In-Chief is
subject to undue influence and manipulation. It is both ridiculous and
inconceivable.
“As someone who works very
closely with President Buhari, I can testify to how my years of experience as a
newspaper editor are often put to the test by the sheer thoroughness with which
the President edits every single document brought to his desk.”
Garba further explained that
every memo, statement, speech brought to his principal was subject to his
(Garba) intense scrutiny, right down to the placement of commas and full stops.
Adding, he said, “Therefore,
alleging that President Buhari signs memos brought to him by government
officials or a so-called cabal without reading them, immediately casts doubts
on the credibility of the ubiquitous unnamed sources that the reporters of
these articles quote.
The President’s special assistant
noted that there have been attacks on Malam Abba Kyari, the Chief of Staff to
the President, adding that the CoS is like the headman of all the president’s
political appointees as he has direct responsibility for multiple levels of
staff working for the president.
According to Garba, Kyari plays
the role of liaising with ministries and parastatals so that he can have full
awareness of the issues being discussed whenever these groups meet with the
president.
Shehu continued, “It goes without
saying that anybody who occupies such office has impeccable credentials of
total loyalty to the President.
“Clearly, some consider this
oversight role as a usurping of the President’s powers, and it is their
misunderstanding of the situation that some media organisations have swallowed
hook, line and sinker.
“Under this administration, as
the ones before it, the office of the Chief of Staff is a branch of the
President’s office. There are no power centers here.
“The only power center is that of
the President who is sensitive to grassroots level administration which the
Chief of Staff must ensure. For Abba kyari, there is no life after work. He is
available to the President 24/7.”
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Mr President, are suncere?
ReplyDeleteSome people must surely handle some matters for the president. It is petty too for a journalist to ask the question that led to this reply.
ReplyDeleteLazy journalist can ask 'why have some people usurp the VP's duties?' punk ass journalist