Since Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo declared his intention to run for Presidency, the APC has been sharply divided across the board in the 36 states of the federation.
While some APC members have promptly aligned in his favour, there are the pro-Tinubu supporters who have remained solidly behind their leader. There is also the 3rd group made up of those who have remained pro-Buhari made up in the main of former CPC members.
What happened is that just as the APC was coming out of its recent Convention and preparing over the fallouts of that event, then came this Osinbajo declaration, which hit some members of the pro-Tinubu group badly, because they had believed that Osinbajo would not come out to contest against his political godfather. Because of the prolonged delay of his declaration, many of them had assumed that he will chicken out and not declare. Until, he declared last week, many of them just could not belive that Prof. Yemi Osinbajo will look into the eyes of his political godfather and say he is contesting against him for the presidency, because of how close they were and because he had always known that Tinubu will run, come 2023. That is why some of them have called it a Betrayal of the highest order.
So, as it is now, the fact that Osinbajo is running has scattered the existing structure in many of the APC controlled states, as a lot of alignments and realignments is going on in each state. We can authoritatively reveal that from the National to the State excos, all the key officials of the party have taken sides. There are those who are solidly behind Asiwaju. There are some behind Osinbajo, while there are those who still remain loyal to President Buhari, even though he is on his way out.
Revealed an insider, what makes the situation a lot worse is many don’t know where President Buhari stands as the party prepares for APC presidential primaries. Many of them are not sure if President Buhari will be supporting Osinbajo. So, they are waiting to see who the President is going to support.
City People gathered that the declaration of Osinbajo has pitched the once friendly party members against one another, as those who support Osinbajo are now seen as betrayals. Not only that.
Many APC members no longer trust each other, as per where their loyalty lies. Amongst APC political office holders it is now the TINUBU supporters versus the OSINBAJO supporters.
Because of the extensive leg work that Tinubu has done across the South-West, Osinbajo and his group have shifted their attention to the North where he has been able to make some in roads.
Many of the pro-Tinubu supporters say they are not worried by Osinbajo’s declaration. They have encouraged him to come for the primaries where he will meet his waterloo, they say.
Can Prof. Yemi Osinbajo trounce his political godfather at the primaries? Only time will tell.
Does he have the political sagacity to beat Tinubu? These are the many questions being asked by political watchers.
What in Prof. Yemi Osinbajo’s past prepared him for this political battle. Lets tell you a little about Prof. Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo who was born 8 March, 1957. He is the 14th Vice President of Nigeria, a position he has held since 2015. A member of the All Progressives Congress, he previously served as Attorney General of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and holds the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria. In April 2022, he announced his intention to run for the APC nomination for President of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election.
Osinbajo is a graduate of the University of Lagos and London School of Economics. Shortly thereafter, he started lecturing at the University of Lagos while practicing law until 1999. That year, Osinbajo was appointed Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the cabinet of Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu. After serving during both of Tinubu’s four-year terms, Osinbajo left government in 2007 and returned to Law and lecturing along with preaching in the Redeemed Christian Church of God.
Prior to the 2015 presidential election, Osinbajo was chosen as the running mate to APC nominee Muhammadu Buhari. Their ticket went on to defeat the then-incumbent duo of President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo. Four years later, the ticket was re-elected over the Peoples Democratic Party’s Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi. Osinbajo’s tenure has been marked by his rising profile, especially when he took power as acting President while Buhari went abroad. Actions taken during his brief stints as the leader of the nation were decisive, but contrasted with Buhari’s style and were controversial among Buhari’s inner circle.
Yemi Osinbajo was born into the family of Opeoluwa Osinbajo at Creek Hospital, Lagos. Osinbajo is married to Dolapo (née Soyode) Osinbajo. She is a granddaughter of Obafemi Awolowo. They have 3 children: two daughters, Damilola and Kanyinsola, and a son, Fiyinfoluwa Osinbajo.
Osinbajo was educated at Corona Primary School, in Lagos. He attended Igbobi College in Yaba, Lagos, from 1969 to 1975, where he won the following awards: the State Merit Award (1971); the School Prize for English Oratory (1972); Adeoba Prize for English Oratory (1972-1975); Elias Prize for Best Performance in History (WASC, 1973); School Prize for Literature (HSC, 1975); and African Statesman Intercollegiate Best Speaker’s Prize (1974).
Thereafter he studied for his undergraduate degree at the University of Lagos between 1975 and 1978, when he obtained a Second Class Honours (Upper Division) Degree in Law. Here, he also won the Graham-Douglas Prize for Commercial Law. In 1979, he completed the mandatory one-year professional training at the Nigerian Law School whereon he was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria. In 1980, he attended the London School of Economics, where he obtained a Master of Laws degree.
From 1979 to 1980, Osinbajo served the compulsory one-year youth service as a legal officer with Bendel Development and Planning Authority (BDPA), Bendel State.
In 1981, he was employed as a law lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. From 1983 to 1986, he was a Senior Lecturer of Law at the University of Lagos. From 1988 to 1992, he was an Adviser (legal advice and litigation) to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ajibola. Osinbajo began lecturing at the age of 23.
From 1997 to 1999 he was made Professor of Law and head of Department of Public Law, University of Lagos.
From 1999 to 2007, Osinbajo was a Member of Cabinet, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, also Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
In 2007, Osinbajo was made Senior Partner at Simmons Cooper Partners (Barristers and Solicitors), Nigeria.
From 2007 to 2013 Osinbajo was once again employed as a Professor of Law, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos. He was also a Senior lecturer at Lagos State University.
His other past roles include:
Staff Member, United Nations Operations in Somalia, Justice Division, UNOSOM II, Member, United Nations Secretary General’s Committee of Experts on Conduct and Discipline of UN, Peacekeeping Personnel around the globe, Member, 2006, partner in the law firm of Osinbajo, Kukoyi & Adokpaye.
Send Us News, Gist, more... to citypeopleng@gmail.com | Twitter: @CitypeopleMagz
