Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo says
all agencies under him always follow due process in the award of contracts and
other critical matters.
Reacting to reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed Osinbajo to henceforth seek
approvals for agencies under his supervision, Laolu Akande, the VP’s spokesman,
described as “false” insinuations that due process was not strictly being
followed before now.
He, however, did not deny that a
memo was sent to the vice-president on Monday directing him to get presidential
approvals for the agencies he chairs, as reported.
Akande was also silent on why a
memo was being sent to the vice-president on the need for president’s
approvals.
Currently, Osinbajo is the
chairman of the governing boards of the National Emergency Management Agency
(NEMA), the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and the Border Communities
Development Agency (BCDA).
He is also the chairman of the
board of directors of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), a limited
liability company owned by the three tiers of government.
In addition, the vice-president
chairs the National Economic Council (NEC), a constitutional body made up of
state governors and key federal government officials, as well as the National
Council on Privatisation (NCP).
THE FULL STATEMENT:
REPORT INSINUATING VICE PRESIDENT
DIDN’T FOLLOW DUE PROCESS IN SUPERVISION OF AGENCIES UNDER HIM IS FALSE
Our attention has been drawn to a
sensational report by The Cable which claims that His Excellency, President
Muhammadu Buhari, has directed Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, to seek
approvals for agencies under him.
The report suggests, falsely, that
agencies under the supervision of the Vice President do not normally comply
with established rules where presidential approvals are required.
This is obviously misleading and
aims only to plant seeds of discord in the Presidency while attempting to create
unnecessary national hysteria.
The agencies in question are
established by law and the Vice President has always insisted on due compliance
with the enabling statutes and other established regulations.
Depending on the particular scope
of activity in question, agencies may require management approval only, at the
level of the Director General or Chief Executive Officer. In this category falls the great majority of
their day-to-day activities.
However, other activities, or
procurements, with value exceeding a certain threshold, require Board approval.
These may get to the agency Board chaired by the Vice President. In a few cases
where Presidential approval is required, the Director-General must seek such
approval from the President, through the Vice President. These rules have
always guided the activities of statutory agencies and the ones under the Vice
President’s supervision have always been so guided.
To claim that in the first term
of the Buhari administration, agencies of government have not been complying
with the provisions (of getting final approvals from the President) is false,
and the attempt to suggest the Vice President’s complicity in such
irregularities is simply mischievous and reprehensible.
The effective and mutually
respecting relationship between the President and the Vice President is well
known to Nigerians and it is futile to insinuate otherwise.
Even though the Vice President
has a statutory role as Board Chairman of some government agencies under his
office, with appropriate approval limits, which often do not include contract
approvals; it is ludicrous to even insinuate that a Board Chairman approves
contracts.
Evidently, the Federal Executive
Council, which oversees Federal Ministries and agencies of government, is chaired
by the President, and it is in its purview to approve or ratify award of
contracts within the prescribed threshold.
The Vice President remains
committed to the service of his fatherland and will continue to do so despite
the purveyors of fake news. We urge media organizations, as gatekeepers to
uphold truth, balance, fairness and objectivity in their reports.
LAOLU AKANDE
Senior Special Assistant to the
President
Office of the Vice President
Sept 17, 2019
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