Osinbajo Defends Buhari, says Nepotism Allegations Unfounded

Buhari Osinbajo

Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo has debunked the allegations that most appointments by President  Buhari were skewed in favour of the Northerners . Naija News gathered

The vice-president made it known to Naija  News  that the ministers from the southern part of the country were in charge of more strategic ministries, adding that the Federal Executive Council had more Christian members despite that Buhari is a Muslim.

Osinbajo said, “Look at the cabinet, for example, from the point of view of religion, it has an equal number – 18 Christians, 18 Muslims; but, we have the Secretary to the Government of the Federation as well as the Head of Service who are Christians.

“So, we have 20 Christians to 18 Muslims; that’s the structure of the cabinet.

“So, if you take that narrative you may argue that perhaps the Christians have the upper hand; that’s a possible narrative.

“Let us look a little deeper into that, so there are those who may argue, for example, that the North has an upper hand or perhaps one section has an upper hand in the cabinet as one narrative.

“The South-East, for example, has five states. Four of the south-eastern states have senior ministers; all of them, except one, who is Minister of State for Education.

When reminded that the President had no choice since the appointment of ministers was a constitutional requirement, Osinbajo said Buhari had a choice in assigning particular portfolios.

“In the north, seven northern states have no senior minister, including the president’s home state, Katsina. Now, there are those who will say, if you are nepotistic; surely seven northern states have no senior minister. It’s a narrative depending on how you want to run it,” he said.

“The south-west, for the first time in the history of this country, has one minister who is in charge of three ministries: Power, Works and Housing. The ministers of finance and communications are also from the south-east. These are critical ministries. You can run the narrative in whichever way that you choose.

“There are people who don’t know that the number of CEOs from Anambra state are more than the number of CEOs from Katsina state or anywhere else, except Ogun.”