Buhari: Why I Selected Osibajo as Running Mate

The leadership of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday formally presented the former Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State, Prof. Yemi Osibajo, who is also the son-in-law of the late Chief Obafemi Awolowo, as the running mate to Major-General Muhammadu Buhari.

After a week of intrigues and jostling among other contenders for the post, Osibajo had been picked as the vice-presidential candidate of the APC.

Wednesday’s climax of a journey that began after the presidential primary of the party, however, saw the absence of key stakeholders of the party, including its governors, former Lagos State Governor, Senator Bola Tinubu, former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar and other presidential aspirants.

Despite his absence from Osibajo’s presentation, Tinubu, in a statement he personally signed, said he was compelled to turn down the offer by Buhari to run as his deputy due to “national sacrifice and patriotism”.

In an anxiety-soaked short ceremony held at the party's national secretariat in Abuja, the National Chairman of the APC, Chief John Odigie, who was flanked by other party officials, asked Buhari to introduce his running mate to an expectant audience.

Buhari, who had the professor of law foisted on him, said his decision to choose Osibajo as his running mate was based on his uncommon humility, loyalty, dependability and selfless patriotic zeal.

Buhari said the method employed in arriving at the choice of his running mate had been very meticulous and described Osibajo as a friend of the less privileged, compassionate and zealous in service.

“To assist me in this great task of securing Nigeria's future, 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. An alumnus of the University of Lagos and the London School of Economics. 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,” he said.

Buhari noted that with the issue of his running mate settled, the challenging process of rescuing the country and changing it for good has commenced.

Lending further insight into the methodology employed in this choice of his running mate, he said the process was quite meticulous and rigorous, adding, “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.”

Buhari also used the occasion to thank all Nigerians and friends who have continued to send messages of goodwill to him and the party since his emergence as the presidential flag bearer of the APC.
In his acceptance speech, Osibajo pledged to serve with Buhari diligently and with commitment to restore the country’s lost glory.

“I am deeply honoured and grateful to have been nominated as the vice- presidential candidate of our party, APC, and especially by the presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari.

“I also thank the leaders and elders of our great party, APC for the trust reposed in me. 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.

“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.

“I will work with him and the party to restore hope and confidence in millions of our youth and provide comfort and security for millions of our country men and women,” he said.

Meanwhile, as part of his 72nd birthday, the former military head of state met with a delegation of Nigerian youth groups in Abuja, where he restated his commitment to rebuilding the economy and tackling youth unemployment if elected president.

Tinubu ‘Rejects’ Offer

But as Buhari and Osibajo prepared for the big contest against the Jonahan/Sambo ticket from the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Tinubu, in a statement certain to set tongues wagging, claimed that he turned down Buhari’s offer for the vice-presidential slot owing to “national sacrifice and patriotism”.

Tinubu, who in reality was forced to yield the ground to his protégé, Osibajo, after his candidacy was rejected by other stakeholders of the party, said he remained committed to working in the best interest of APC and the nation.

In the statement issued, the former Lagos governor, however called for the excision of religion from the electoral equation now that the tickets of both parties are mixed.

“For me, political ambition will never triumph over patriotic conviction. This delicate moment affords no space for emotion to intrude to blind us from what is best.

“The APC is the best and only vehicle to enact the progressive and broad change this nation cries for.  I eagerly lend myself to this fine cause without me having to be on the ticket,” he said.

Explaining his contributions to building the party, Tinubu said he never gave any thought to seeking elective office, insisting that his “contributions to the party were never based on the expectations of a later political handout but on the conviction that Nigeria is in trouble and that we have passed the moment for such narrow, selfish games”.

Tinubu also explained how Buhari offered him the vice-presidential ticket as a mark of honour for his efforts at forging the APC merger.

But he said when his name was raised, the political hatchet men, especially those in the PDP tried to chop it down with rumour and lies, “relying on religion as their only viable weapon of attack”.

However, Tinubu said this was a time for cohesion and an overriding sense of mission, while calling on Nigerians to join hands to defeat a common foe and resist all temptations intended to entice them to fight among ourselves.

“There came a time during the course of the events when our presidential candidate, General Muhammadu Buhari offered the vice-presidential slot to me.  Being a normal human being, I was deeply moved and honored that he would consider me for the position. Being a patriot, I had to weigh my potential candidacy in all of its dimensions.

“I sincerely commit myself to the rescue agenda of General Buhari and Professor Osibajo. I declare to you, I will work and dedicate myself so that our ticket succeeds and wins the 2015 election -- not for his good, not for my good, not even for the party’s good but for the good of the nation we inhabit.

“Some may call what I have done a sacrifice. I call it otherwise. It is my patriotic contribution and duty. I do so with a happy and uplifted heart and clear conscience because I have committed myself to seeking the best for this nation before seeking what is good for myself.

“This is the creed of statesmanship I chose to follow. May this be the creed of our party as General Buhari leads us to historic victory in the 2015 elections.

“I have removed myself from consideration so what I now say cannot be seen as self-serving.  I plead with the people of this nation to never allow the power lust of cynical politicians to set brother against brother, neighbor against neighbor.

“If you look at those politicians who raise this issue the most, they are the least devout and faithful to any religion other their self-interests.
“I have concluded that the interest of the party, our campaign and of the nation are better served if I retain my position as the national leader of the APC, allowing me to be a bridge builder across all divides.

“Although I declined the position, I want to thank General Buhari for extending the honour to me. Despite all the noise and opposition around my possible selection, he stood firm and steadfast.
“He showed the traits of a leader in holding to a decision he believed was right despite the errant plots against it,” he said.

According to Tinubu, collapse, poverty, corruption and bad governance have allowed inept people to use religion to keep Nigeria from solving these challenges for the benefit of all.

An apparently disenchanted Tinubu with the role of religion in Nigeria’s politics, said: “Those who exploit religion should be wary. For there really is a God and he does not like it when you play with his people or use His name to do the opposite of what He intends.

“I ask the people to remove religion from the electoral equation now that the tickets of both parties are mixed. I ask you to select the ticket best able to end the downward slide that Nigeria has endured since this government took over.

“I ask you to remember that too many Christians and Muslims are poor. Most of all, I ask you to remember that the true religion of the PDP is poverty, APC comes to bring prosperity to the people.  Please vote for that.”

PDP: Buhari’s Choice is Height of Incompetence

However, in reaction to the choice of Osibajo as Buhari’s running mate, the ruling PDP yesterday described Osibajo's emergence, six clear days after Buhari’s election as the presidential candidate of the APC, as the “height of incompetence”.

PDP also declared that the eventual choice of Osibajo as a confirmation of its stand that the APC is the personal project of a cabal commanded by Tinubu to expand his political and economic frontiers.
In a statement by the National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, the party declared: “Should power get to this cabal, who is desperate to control the political and economic power centre of the nation, then Nigeria is finished.”

“By the choice of Osibajo, 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.”

PDP further stated that in 2011, as the leader of the CPC, Buhari failed woefully, adding, “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.

“This is the problem with the APC, a political party built on the narrow interests of very few individuals. Any political party that subjects its collective will to the whims of an individual, as it is with the APC, is indeed not ready for leadership.

“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,” PDP said.

Saraki, Nda-Isaiah Congratulate Leaders

PDP’s derision of the APC and its leadership, notwithstanding, former Kwara State Governor, Senator Bukola Saraki, yesterday congratulated Osibajo on his emergence as the vice-presidential candidate of the APC.

He said with the emergence of Osinbajo, “a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a committed pastor of unquestionable integrity from South-west Nigeria, further attests to the commitment of the APC to fairness and equality”.

Saraki in statement issued in Ilorin also commended Tinubu for the sacrifice and contributions to the development of APC and democracy in Nigeria.

According to the statement, “No doubt, from his (Tinubu) precedents as a forward-thinking governor of Lagos State, and his profile as one of the foremost democrats in Nigeria, the people of the South-west and a large block of voters wanted Asiwaju as running mate to General Buhari.

“Historically, the South-west is known not to pay attention to religion but competence when picking candidates for positions, but due to Tinubu’s belief in the Nigerian project which he sees as bigger than any individual interest, he made it clear that we cannot ignore the current happenings around the country that require that as a party, we must take extra caution and be sensitive to every ethnicity and religion by picking a Christian candidate.

“Despite what has been reported in the pages of some news papers, some of us privy to the happenings behind closed doors attest to the leadership role of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, which led to the emergence of Osibajo, an erudite scholar and a dogged advocate of the people.”

Saraki added: “In the same spirit, I must also commend other leaders of the APC, who have continuously made sacrifices in the interest of the party and Nigeria at large. Leaders like Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, Alhaji Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso and Owelle Rochas Okorocha who on Thursday December 11, 2014 after the presidential primaries made similar sacrifices by pledging their support to General Buhari, contrary to speculations by naysayers that the APC would implode either after the primary or in the course of the nomination of its vice-presidential candidate.

“APC has once again demonstrated that national interests are paramount in the guiding principle of the party, as opposed to personal ambition.”

Similarly, a presidential contestant on the APC platform and Founder of Leadership Newspapers, Sam Nda-Isaiah congratulated Buhari on his choice of Osibajo as his running mate.

In a statement, he said: “It is noteworthy that the announcement of Osibajo, a distinguished professor of law and a man of strong integrity as running mate, is coinciding with the 72nd birthday of General Buhari, who has served this country selflessly.

“I am confident that the candidates will lead the APC to victory in the forthcoming elections and pledge my support to this cause.”

Nda-Isaiah also expressed his gratitude to his family, his campaign team, supporters, friends and well-wishers whose prayers, encouragement and support had taken him this far.

SOURCE: THISDAYLIVE