‘I Was In The Room’ – Akande Debunks Babachir Lawal’s Claim On Buhari’s Lack Of Support For Osinbajo

Ex-spokesperson to former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Laolu Akande, has responded to claims by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, about the late former President Muhammadu Buhari’s stance on Osinbajo’s 2023 presidential ambition.

Akande, in a lengthy statement on Saturday, described the position of Lawal as a string of allegations and fabrications.

He added that he was in the room where most of the decisions were made, and this made him directly privy to conclusions on such matters.

He disagreed with Lawal’s position on several matters, including the claim that Buhari did not fully support his former Vice President to succeed him in the 2023 presidential election.

Naija News recalls that Lawal, during an interview with Symfoni TV, explained why he believes former President Muhammadu Buhari did not fully support his former Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to succeed him in the 2023 presidential election.

According to the former SGF, Buhari’s personal values, his relationship with Bola Tinubu and his concerns about some of Osinbajo’s actions while serving as acting president may have contributed to the situation.

Lawal explained that if Buhari wanted his administration’s policies and achievements to continue after leaving office, supporting Osinbajo would have been a natural step, considering that he had served as vice president for eight years.

However, Akande said Lawal’s submission on Buhari’s disposition to Osinbajo’s presidential ambition is totally false.

According to him, Buhari fully supported Osinbajo to take over from him.

“I have watched the video in which former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mr. Babachir Lawal, made a string of allegations against former Vice President Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, SAN. Ordinarily, such fabrications would not deserve a response.

“But I served as the Vice President’s spokesperson. I was in the room where many of these decisions were taken. And the allegations touch directly on the staff of the Office of the Vice President — of which I was a part. For the sake of the record, facts only must be stated.

“On the claim that President Buhari considered Osinbajo’s 2022 aspiration “immoral”:

“This is false.

“On at least four separate occasions, President Buhari personally offered to support the Vice President, telling him plainly: “If I don’t support you, who will I support?”

“He was consistent. During the APC presidential primaries in 2022, while campaigns were underway, President Buhari openly commended Vice President Osinbajo at a Federal Executive Council meeting for the dignified, issues-based manner in which he was conducting his campaign across the country. He spoke in a laudatory tone. The entire Council witnessed it.

“That is not a President who found Osinbajo’s ambition distasteful. That is a President who broached it , encouraged and applauded it,” Akande said.

The former media aide also said Lawal’s claim that Osinbajo wrote a memo containing over 20 staff names, which was sat on by the President’s Chief of Staff, and which he (Lawal), then took to President Buhari, is a complete fabrication.

According to Akande, there was no such memo.

“Anyone who knew President Buhari knows he does not engage in the kind of snide ethnic profiling Mr. Lawal attributed to him — “BD, these are all Yorubas.” That language and that conduct are alien to President Buhari.

“The procedure was simple and verifiable: Prof. Osinbajo always had direct access to the President. He took his memos directly to the President, obtained approval, and passed the approved memo to (his own Chief of Staff), Mr. Ade Ipaye, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President who then communicated it to the relevant agencies for action. At no stage did this require the SGF, except for the subsequent issuance of appointment letters for staff.

“Mr. Lawal’s timeline also collapses. He claimed the memo was delayed for three months. I resumed in the Office of the Vice President in June 2015, alongside several other colleagues. So did many of those whose names he now invents. There was no three-month delay. To those of us who were there, this story is pure fiction.

“What actually happened in 2015 is that Osinbajo took different batches of memos to the President at different times for different categories of staff as the office was being set up and as government policies evolved. That is standard practice. There was never a single, bloated, religiously and ethnically-charged list. It is quite simply incredible that Mr Lawal would create such falsehood. It is also noteworthy that by the time a good number of the appointments were made Mr Lawal had been sacked by President Buhari ( not Osinbajo) for corrupt practices,” Akande clarified.

On the claim by Lawal that Osinbajo appointed people because they were church members, Akande said the claim is false and is easily disproved by the staff list itself.

He described Osinbajo’s staff composition as a national list.

“The Office was one of the most inclusive, pan-Nigerian offices in that government — North, South, East, West, Christian and Muslim.

“To suggest a narrow church agenda is not only to ignore the facts , but to pursue a curious and worrying vendetta”, Akande said.

Listing the staff members who worked with Osinbajo and their various positions to buttress his claim, Akande said, “Let the facts speak:

“The most senior official in the Office — the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President — was Mr. Ade Ipaye, a Muslim and a distinguished lawyer.

“Three of his four Special Advisers were Muslims, including two Northerners: Mrs. Maryam Uwais, Special Adviser on Social Investment, and Dr. Ahmad Zakari, ….Special Adviser on Infrastructure. The others were Senator Babafemi Ojudu, a Muslim, and Amb. (Dr.) Adeyemi Dipeolu.

“The wider team included: Laolu Akande – SSA Media & Publicity; Prof. Balkisu Saidu – SSA Legal, Research & Compliance; Amb. Abdullahi Gwary – SSA Foreign Affairs; Emmanuel Bright – SSA Economic Management; Edobor Iyamu – SSA Economic Affairs; Ismaeel Ahmed – SSA Social Investment; Olayinka Oyeneyin – SSA Project Management; Fadi Rose Audu – SA Domestic; Imeh Patience Okon – SSA Infrastructure; Lillian Idiaghe – SA Legal; Arukaino Umukoro – SA Communication Projects; Daniel Ikuenobe – SA ERGP; Folarin Alayande – SA ERGP; Dr. Effiong Essien – SA ERGP; Olaolu Beckley – SA Documentation; Abdulrahman Baffa-S.A Political; Rotimi Akinnadeju-SA Media; Novo Isioro – SA Visual Communication; Feyishayo Aina – SA Strategic Communications; Gambo Manzo – PA Political; Hafiz Ibrahim – SSA; Nonye Ojekwe – SSA Community Engagement; Dr. Nicholas Audifferen – SSA/Personal Physician to the VP; Ayoleke Adu – SSA Economic; Ajuri Ngelale – SSA Public Affairs; Louis Odion – STA Print Media; Foluso Idumu – SSA Administration; Edewede Akhidenor; Lanre Osibona – SSA ICT; Tolani Alli – SA Media; Tola Asekun – SSA Budget; Damilola Ogunbiyi – SSA Power; Mariam Masha – SSA IDPs; Chiedu Ugbo – SSA Power Privatization; Jumoke Oduwole – SSA Trade & Investment; Muktar Tijani – SA Power; Tochi Nwachukwu – SA Power Privatization; Mohammed Brimah – SA IDPs; Yahaya Maibe – SA Social Investments; Jibola Ajayi – SA BPE; Ife Adebayo – SA Innovation; Myani Bukar – SSA Legal; Nkoli Anyaoku – SA; Phil Obin – TA New Media; Lillian Chukwueke – SA Legal, and many more.

“This was a truly national team. It was never a church list.”

On Lawal’s claim that the pastor who took over Prof. Osinbajo’s RCCG parish was made minister because of Osinbajo, Akande also debunked the claim, adding that contrary to what many believe, Osinbajo was only informed of Okey Enelamah’s appointment by President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, the late Mallam Abba Kyari, after the process had been concluded.

“The pastor in question is Dr. Okey Enelamah.

“The truth: Dr. Enelamah at the time of his appointment headed one of Africa’s largest private equity firms . He was proposed by two individuals in the financial services industry and it was President Buhari’s Chief of Staff, the late Mallam Abba Kyari who informed Prof. Osinbajo that the President wanted to appoint Enelamah. Dr. Enelamah is alive and well. He can confirm these facts.

“I recall this vividly because when speculations were rife that Osinbajo had brought Enelamah, I asked the Vice President directly. It was then he told me how Kyari had informed him of the President’s decision. I had assumed, like many others, that because Enelamah was close to Osinbajo, he must have nominated him. He did not,” Akande said.

On board appointments as Acting President, Akande said Osinbajo acted fully within his constitutional powers to review lists before transmitting them for confirmation.

“When Prof. Osinbajo acted as President, he was constitutionally required to review lists of board nominees before transmission for confirmation. Where changes were made, they were strictly on grounds of compliance with the law — federal character, age, qualification, or professional requirements. President Buhari was fully briefed upon his return and had no issue with those corrections. Due process, not personal preference, guided those decisions,” he said.

Akande concluded by saying Lawal may still be reeling from the pains of his removal as SGF.

He cautioned Lawal against using personal grievances to manufacture and push falsehoods against Osinbajo.

“It is noteworthy that before the President asked Prof Osinbajo to chair the investigation into the allegations against Mr. Lawal, the Senate and the Attorney-General’s report had indicted him on the same allegations. It is also noteworthy that it was he himself who inadvertently provided the evidence to the investigation panel that implicated him.

“But personal grievance cannot justify the manufacture of falsehoods against a man who served with integrity.

“Prof. Osinbajo served President Buhari loyally for eight years, without blemish, with an inclusive team that reflected the best of Nigeria. The records are there for anyone who cares to check,” Akande concluded.