Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has
assured Nigerians that Leah Sharibu, the schoolgirl abducted by Islamist sect,
Boko Haram will be released sooner than later.
Prof Osinbajo who was speaking
during an interview with Bond FM 92.9 in Lagos, said the government was working
frantically to secure her release as well as that of others.
Osinbajo who is seeking
re-election in office alongside President Muhammadu Buhari on the platform of
the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) stressed that, there was never a
time the government was not actively working on her release.
“There was never a time that the
government stopped working on the release of Leah Sharibu and the other girls
that were abducted by the sect.”
VP Osinbajo said the government
is optimistic of her return. “There are people who act as middle men who know
how to reach out to them. The govt will get Leah Sharibu and the others back
from Boko Haram,” he added.
The Vice President who spoke in
Yoruba language addressed other questions that were asked by the presenters and
listeners; including that of Islamization of Nigeria, TraderMoni and
corruption.
Prof Osinbajo reiterated that
President Buhari does not have any intentions to Islamize Nigeria, detailing
how he refused to join the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
“He rejected the offer to join
OIC as a military head of state without a national assembly to stop him. It was
General Ibrahim Babangida who later joined the organization where Nigeria is
still a member,” he said.
He also noted that it was during
former President Olusegun Obasanjo that Nigeria had 12 states that became
Sharia states. “Just imagine that it was during this government that 12 States
began to practice Sharia law, they would have said he was planning to Islamize
Nigeria.
“Let me tell you something, no
one can Islamize Nigeria and certainly President Buhari is the kind of man to
do such a thing,” he said.
Reacting to claims and
speculations that TraderMoni is vote buying, Prof Osinbajo said, “The first
person to say TraderMoni is vote buying is Senate President Bukola Saraki but
if we want to be sincere, we must understand it is the Senate and House of
Representatives that agreed to TraderMoni and passed it in the budget.
“There is no sincerity in that
allegation,” Osinbajo said before explaining the process by which petty traders
are registered for TraderMoni.
“When you go to markets, you will
see enumerators who will take personal data, take pictures and visit the stall
of the petty trader before their applications are processed. The money is for
petty traders and the money is sent to their phones, it is not disbursed in
cash,” he said.
Osinbajo then explained that the
Federal Government decided to embark on TraderMoni because petty traders
account for the chunk of traders in Nigeria.
“With two weeks to the 2015
election, the former government withdrew $292m from the Central Bank of Nigeria
and it was shared amongst themselves. Today, $292m is N80bn, while on the money
disbursed for TraderMoni is just N20bn, if we had all this money, we would
reach more petty traders,” he said.
He explained claims that he
personally handed N10,000 to market women were totally false. “The programme is
handled by the Bank of Industry. They are the ones in charge of disbursement as
well.
Prof Osinbajo then gave
TraderMoni beneficiaries phone numbers to call if they cannot access their fund
after registration. He said, “The numbers to call are 0700100200 and
07006275386,” urging beneficiaries to make complaints directly.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
Osibanjo, I pity you. You claim you are a christian and a pastor of adegboye's redeemed
ReplyDeletechurch. The corner of hell being arranged for you ehn, you'll be begging buhari to accomodate you in his own corner of hell. oti nku like you