Pastor Tunde Bakare who earlier accused the president Buhari-led administration of failing Nigerians, has suggested that Prof Yemi Osinbajo should vacate office if he is not allowed to perform his duties as the Vice-President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Bakare, however, further said he did not believe the hearsay that Osinbajo was being prevented by a cabal in the presidency from performing his constitutional roles.
He said he would like to get a direct message from the Vice-President.
The cleric spoke on Tuesday night in an Instagram Live Chat with the publisher of the Ovation Magazine, Dele Momodu, monitored by SaharaReporters.
“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 said.
Bakare was the running mate to Muhammadu Buhari (retd.) in the 2011 presidential election for the Congress for Progressive Change, losing to former President Goodluck Jonathan and Namadi Sambo of the Peoples Democratic Party.
According to Bakare, he asked Buhari for specific details about his own role when they were contesting then.
However, in 2015, when Buhari ran again, he chose Osinbajo as his running mate and won under the aegis of All Progressives Congress, following the merger of some political parties in order to strongly challenge the ruling Peoples Democratic Party at the time.
“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 would be as prescribed by the constitution and as many other things as you can be given to do.
“I want to hear it one day from the Vice-President that he is not allowed to perform. I don’t like rumours 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.
“There is a constitutional role for the Vice-President, it is spelt out in black and white. If he is not allowed to do that, then, what is he doing there? Because if I am enrolled as a teacher and I am not allowed to teach in that school, I will look for another school,” he said.
In the past, Buhari had been known to delegate power to his assistant anytime he was travelling out of the country for unofficial functions.
President Buhari when he travelled to London on a working leave on August 3, 2018, and returned on the 18th, spending a total of 16 days, handed over to Vice President Osinbajo.
It was widely believed that Osinbajo might have angered his boss and his political and family caucus by sacking the Director-General of the Department of State Services, Lawal Daura, during the time he was in charge of the affairs of the nation when President Buhari was away.
Since Daura’s sacking, the President has not deemed it fit to hand over power to Osinbajo again.
