The Presidency has said that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo never discussed his 2023 presidential ambition with President Muhammmadu Buhari. His spokesman, Laolu Akande, made this clarification yesterday when contacted on an online report that the Vice President informed his boss of his intention to run for president in 2023 when he paid Buhari a New Year courtesy visit at his residence. Akande described the report as “pure fake news.” “Mr President and the VP did not meet on New Year’s Day,” he stressed.
He cautioned the media to stick to what he had earlier said on the much taunted presidential ambition of his principal in 2023. “If there is an update, I will ensure the media is made aware. Please, ignore the lies and many are going to still come,” he said. While the Presidency keeps maintaining that the Vice President would not run for the position of the president, several groups across the country have been campaigning on his behalf, mounting pressure on him to run. The Presidency had in recent past said that the Vice President has yet to make his intention known on the matter.
Akande, in a statement released in August last year, dissociated his boss from the activities of the volunteer groups campaigning for his presidential ambition. “Prof Osinbajo has not declared any interest whatsoever in the 2023 election, but he is rather focused on working in his capacity as Vice President in the current administration to address all the compelling issues in the country and concerns of Nigerians, including finding effective and lasting solutions to the security challenges and working to further boost the economy.”
