JAMB sells Direct Entry forms Osinbajo meets Buhari in UK
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo yesterday met President Muhammadu Buhari in London over important national matters, Daily Trust gathered last night.
Highly placed Presidency sources revealed that the meeting was at the instance of President Muhammadu Buhari.
President Buhari has been on medical vacation in London for two months now.
The sources, however, declined to comment on the possibility of President Buhari returning to Nigeria any time soon.
The acting president's visit to London came a day after Buhari's wife, Aisha, who is currently with her husband in the UK, hinted in a Facebook post that the “Aso Rock cabal” would soon be flushed out.
This was the first time the acting president would pay such a visit to Buhari since the latter's health crisis started.
Osinbajo left Abuja for the United Kingdom shortly after attending the Presidential Business Forum held at the Aso Rock Presidential Villa yesterday.
The Senior Special Assistant to the Acting President on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, last night confirmed,
confirmed, via twitter, that Buhari and Osinbajo were meeting in the UK.
Akande said the acting president would return to Abuja immediately after the meeting.
He said: “Acting President Osinbajo meeting with President Buhari in London today (yesterday) and returning to Abuja immediately afterwards.”
Efforts to get an insight into specific reasons for the visit from Akande were unsuccessful as he neither answered phone calls nor replied a text message our correspondent sent to him.
But a source hinted that President Buhari invited Osinbajo for “face-to-face talks on matters of governance.”
The source, who craved anonymity, said Buhari was expected to give the acting president specific instructions on some “very critical” pending issues.
Such issues include the inauguration of the two ministersdesignate, Stephen Ocheni (Kogi) and Suleiman Hassan (Gombe) as well as “matters relating to a possible cabinet reshuffle.”
Ocheni and Hassan’s nominations were confirmed more than two months ago, but Osinbajo is yet to swear them in. Ocheni is to replace the late former Minister of State for Labour, James Ocholi; while Hassan is to replace Amina Mohammed who resigned as Minister of Environment to become the United Nations Deputy Secretary-General.
The source stated that Buhari and Osinbajo were also expected to discuss the “next line of action” on the Senate’s insistence on the removal of the acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, Ibrahim Magu.
He said Buhari may also instruct Osinbajo on the decision to be taken on the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal and the suspended Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency, Ayo Oke.
A presidential panel, headed by Osinbajo, had in April investigated Babachir for alleged violations of law and due process in the award of contracts under the Presidential Initiative on the North-East; and Oke, for the $43.4m stashed away at a residential apartment at Osborne Towers, Ikoyi, Lagos.
The three-man panel was believed to have submitted the report of its two-week investigations to President Muhammadu Buhari before he travelled to the United Kingdom on May 7.
Another source said the acting president would also brief President Buhari on some of the major actions he had so far taken in his absence.
Mrs Buhari had on Monday said God had answered the prayers of Nigerians over her husband’s health.
She was responding to an earlier Facebook post by Senator Shehu Sani (APC, Kaduna Central) insinuating that some people were doubting that Buhari would return.
Mrs Buhari had posted thus: “God has answered the prayers of the weaker animals. The hyenas and the jackals will soon be sent out of the kingdom. We strongly believe in the prayers and support of the weaker animals. Long live the weaker animals, long live Nigeria.”