BUHARI WANTED OSINBAJO AS PRESIDENT, SAYS EX-AIDE

Laolu Akande, former spokesperson to ex-Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, has challenged claims by former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, about the late President Muhammadu Buhari’s position on Osinbajo’s 2022 presidential ambition.

Akande said Buhari offered to support Osinbajo’s presidential ambition on at least four occasions, disputing the suggestion that the former president considered it morally wrong for his vice president to seek the presidency.

His comments present a different account of Buhari’s position during the build-up to the All Progressives Congress presidential primary in 2022.

Osinbajo served as vice president under Buhari from 2015 to 2023. In 2022, he declared his intention to succeed Buhari, joining several other APC aspirants in the race for the party’s presidential ticket.

However, Osinbajo lost the primary to Bola Tinubu, who went on to win the 2023 presidential election and succeed Buhari.

The disagreement between Akande’s account and Lawal’s claims has brought renewed attention to the political relationship between Buhari and Osinbajo during their time in government.

While Akande maintains that Buhari had expressed willingness to support Osinbajo’s ambition, the competing accounts highlight differing recollections of the former president’s position ahead of the 2023 election.