Bakare says he’ll wonder what Osinbajo is still doing in the presidency if he’s truly not allowed to perform his role.
Pastor Tunde Bakare, the Serving Overseer of the Citadel Global Community Church says he does not believe the claim that Professor Yemi Osinbajo is not allowed to perform his constitutional role as the Vice President of Nigeria.
Bakare said he would like to hear from the Vice President directly that he is being prevented from playing his role, saying he does not like rumour and gossip.
The cleric said this on in an Instagram Live Chat with popular journalist, Dele Momodu on the night of Tuesday, February 2, 2021, in reaction to the claim that the office of the Vice President is being rendered handicapped.
He said, “I do not know if that statement is true that he is not allowed to perform because the constitution is very clear on what the role of the vice-president of the Federal Republic of Nigeria is, especially as it relates to steering the economy of the nation.
Bakare, who was Buhari’s running mate in the 2011 presidential election said, before he accepted to be his Vice President, he asked what his role would be.
“Before I accepted General Muhammadu Buhari’s offer, I said what would be my role because I am not prepared to be a spare tyre and he said to me that my role will be as prescribed by the constitution and as many other things as you can be given to do”. he said.
“I want to hear it one day from the vice-president that he is not allowed to perform. I don’t like rumour and I don’t like gossip. If he is not allowed to perform, I would wonder what he is still doing there because he is not allowed to perform.
“If he is content in his office and he is given responsibilities and he is discharging those responsibilities to the best of his ability, I do not believe the story that he is not allowed to perform. If that is true, let him say so and not other people saying he is not allowed to perform.
The claim that Osinbajo is being prevented from performing his constitutional role gained prominence when President Muhammadu Buhari said he decided not to hand over power to the VP when he travelled to the United Kingdom on a private visit from April 25 to May 5, 2019, because there was no constitutional requirement for him to do so.
But in August 2018, when he travelled to London on a working leave the president handed over to his deputy.
While Buhari was away, Osinbajo sacked the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, a move that was said to have been opposed by those close to the president.
