By Bode Olagoke
Abuja
Former Head of State and presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd), has said that he accepted the choice of Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, to assist him in the rescue mission of Nigeria due to what he called “his unimpeachable integrity.”
The choice of Buhari running-mate had delayed for six days after he was elected as APC presidential candidate in Lagos last week.
While presenting his running-mate at the national Secretariat of the party yesterday in Abuja, Buhari said: “I have chosen a man of unimpeachable integrity, an excellent professional, a man of faith, a devoted family man and a role model to our fellow countrymen and women. He is a professor of law and a Senior Advocate of Nigeria.
“He is a prodigious author who has to his credit several books on civil procedure in Nigerian superior courts.
“The Vice-Presidential candidate is a friend of the less privileged, compassionate and zealous in service; a man of uncommon humility, a loyal, dependable and selfless patriot. Ladies and Gentlemen, I present Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who by the grace of God and the vote of Nigerians will be the next Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
He admitted that the method employed in the choice was quite meticulous but yet rigorous, also added that “it involved the establishment of objective criteria, broad consultations with party leaders and a few opinion leaders outside the party and interactions with a number of nominees.”
In his acceptance speech, Osinbajo said he was honoured to have been nominated as the Vice-Presidential candidate of APC and especially the Presidential candidate to Buhari. He said: “The task of rebuilding this nation is one to which I am fully committed. There can be no other President, Leader and commander that can lead that common sense revolution Nigeria urgently needs than General Muhammadu Buhari. I will proudly serve this country with him.
“General Buhari’s uprightness and fierce commitment to good governance is well known. It will be a privilege to work with him. I come to this assignment with lots of hope and a resolve to be a part of this movement to bring Nigeria back to its lost glory. With the support of all Nigerians and the help of God, we shall make Nigeria work again.”
He also assured that he would work with him and the party to restore hope and confidence in millions of youth and provide comfort and security for millions of country men and women.
Meanwhile, the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday took the opposition All Progressives Congress (APC) to the cleaner over the choice of Professor Yemi Osinbajo, as the running mate of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari.
While describing the belated choice of Osinbajo by Buhari as his running mate, six clear days after his emergence as the presidential candidate of APC, as the height of incompetence, the party added that the choice was a personal project of a cabal commanded by former Lagos state governor, Bola Tinubu to expand its political and economic frontiers.
The party, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh said, “should power get to this cabal, who is desperate to control the political and economic power centre of the nation, then Nigeria is finished.
PDP added that “by the choice of Osinbajo, a well known acolyte of Tinubu, who served under him as Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, the APC, General Buhari and Tinubu have boldly recreated their well-known notoriety for sectional and personal interests.
“It is particularly worrisome that General Buhari has surrendered his first official responsibility of choosing a running mate, invariably his powers to Tinubu even before he goes to the field to ask for votes.
“This is not surprising of Buhari, who has consistently exhibited a track record of incompetence. This is the same man who as military head of state surrendered all his powers to his second in command. The story of his headship of the Petroleum Trust Fund (PTF) is not different, as he also got lost before the flurry of portfolios of paid consultants.”
The party added: “In 2011, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari failed woefully. His whimsical interference in the choice of candidates for his party not only muddled up the process but ended up creating an electoral malfeasance and confusion that eased out federal lawmakers elected on the platform of the CPC from his native Katsina state.
“Our citizens should indeed be concerned about this: that it took the APC, six days to produce its vice presidential candidate and that the founder and funder of the party, Tinubu, as always, had his way. No doubt, this is how Tinubu is going to impose his mercantilist interest on major decisions affecting the entire country.
“Fortunately, the PDP offers to all Nigerians a truly national party and a Jonathan/Sambo ticket ready to build a better tomorrow.
“In PDP, the focus remains to ensure that we continue to deliver on our promises and put the interests of Nigerians first in all our party decisions and policies of our government.”
