The Bola Tinubu campaign council has explained the reason behind the decision of not including the name of the Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo in the campaign council committe.
The Minister of State for Labour and Employment who also doubles as spokesperson of the council,Festus Keyamo gave the explanation in a statement released on Saturday noted that Osinbajo was left out of the lineup to allow him “concentrate on governance of the country and administration of government.”
NPO reported the release of the APC presidential campaign council containing 422 names of its members.
In the list,Osinbajo was absent alongside Yakubu Dogara, former speaker of the house of representatives, Babachir Lawal, former secretary to the government of the federation, and Chukwuemeka Nwajiuba, former minister of state for education.
The absence of Osinbajo’s name from the campaign council has been the center of discussion on social media since the release of the list.
Addressing the situation, the campaign team quoted President Muhammadu Buhari to have ordered the omission of the vice-president and Boss Mustapha, secretary to the government of the federation, from the list.
“Our attention has been drawn to some stories making the rounds that there may be something amiss within the family of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the name of our own revered and respected Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, SAN, GCON, is not included in the list of the Tinubu/Shettima Presidential Campaign Council,” the statement read.
“Nothing can be farther from the facts. For the avoidance of doubt, President Muhammadu Buhari, GCFR, is the chairman of the campaign council. As a result, Mr President has SPECIFICALLY directed that the Vice-President and the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha, should be left out of the Campaign Council to concentrate on the governance of the country and administration of government.
“As a responsible party and government, all the key functionaries of government cannot abandon their positions for electioneering campaigns. The APC has the mandate of the Nigerian people to administer the country on their behalf at least till May 29, 2023, and this we intend to do with all sense of responsibility.
“Our candidates and the leadership of the APC have also indicated that the list is not sacrosanct as there may be periodic review of it as circumstances dictate.
“We will not toe the path of those who governed the country in an irresponsible manner before us, and our Party is not in total disarray like those who wish to ‘rescue’ the country but cannot simply manage their own internal affairs.”