Osinbajo Is Buhari’s Closest Adviser –Presidency

The Presidency has reacted to the reports that the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been sidelined since the return of President Muhammadu Buhari to his office in Aso Presidential Villa, Abuja after his 103 days medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement made available to journalists in Abuja, said that the report was not true as VP Osinbajo remains President Buhari’s closest adviser.

“Quite to the contrary, the Vice-President remains the confidant and the closest adviser to the President. He has attended all the President’s engagements all through the week with the exception of two: one, the VP was away to Taraba State and two, the Juma’at Muslim prayer because he is a Christian,” Shehu stated.

The Presidential aide also said the President was not under any undue influence and manipulation in the discharge of his duties.

He stated; “…As someone who works very closely with President Buhari, I can testify to how my years of experience as a newspaper editor are often put to the test by the sheer thoroughness with which the President edits every single document brought to his desk.”

Shehu admitted that Buhari could not do everything alone, hence the need for trusted and close officials who will be willing to offend others in the process of ensuring his own safety and wellbeing, and the advancement of his vision for Nigeria.

Specifically on the Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, the presidential spokesman said “anybody who occupies such office has impeccable credentials of total loyalty to the President.”

He said some people erroneously considered this oversight role as the usurpation of the President’s powers.