ACTING President Yemi Osinbajo has said he was not under any kind of pressure to resign, saying he ran for his office on the same electoral ticket with President Muhammadu Buhari and that Buhari is hale and hearty.
He also said that the President was hale and hearty, contrary to speculations that he was critically ill or even dead.
Osinbajo spoke with State House correspondents shortly after a closed-door meeting with the National Chairman of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), Chief John Oyegun; the Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters in Vice President’s Office, Sen. Babafemi Ojudu and the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Foreign Affairs and Diaspora Matters, Hon. Abike Dabire at the Presidential Villa, Abuja on Monday.
Osinbajo said that the idea of asking him to resign his office was uncalled for and unfounded, as the people of Nigeria who voted for him hadn’t asked him to resign.
Revealing that he had a long telephone conversation with the President, who is currently on a medical leave in London, United Kingdom, on Monday afternoon, Osinbajo stated that the President was well and alive.
He added that he briefed the president on the state of the nation, including the ongoing mass protests in the country.
Asked to speak on the nature of President’s illness, the Acting President said that the information was only at the discretion of the President to disclose.
He said: “I am under no pressure to resign. I was voted for by the people of this nation, Mr President and I, and so the people of this nation have not asked us to resign. I am absolutely not under any pressure whatsoever. The truth is that there has been no pressure from any source asking me to resign.
“The President is hale and hearty. I spoke to the President just this afternoon, and we had a long conversation. He was interested in knowing about the budget process and how far we have gone, and the meeting today with the private sector and the economic recovery growth plan and I informed him about the protest march and feedback about what people are saying about the economy. He is in good shape.
“Just like he said in his letter to the National Assembly, he needs to go for a cycle of tests and once he sees the test results and gets medical advice, we expect him very soon.
“I think that the health status of Mr President is an issue that only Mr President would discuss at the appropriate time. Again, he is running tests and all of that. Before you will be able to determine your health status, you must be able to say this is my health status. Do the test my doctors have advised me to do and will wait for the outcome of the tests and know my status.”
Shortly after the interview with journalists, the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, Babachir Lawal, was seen walking into the Office of the Acting President.
His mission was not known as at press time.
Recall that President Buhari left the shores of Nigeria on January 19, 2017, for London on a medical vacation.
He was due to return to his duty post on Monday, February 6, but failed to do so, citing more medical laboratory tests as reasons for his continued stay abroad.
A press statement by his Media Aide, Mr. Femi Adesina, on Sunday that announced the extension did not, however, give any specific date of his return, a development which many Nigerians feel was unconstitutional and unbecoming of a President of a country.
