In a development that may put to rest the seeming controversy over who nominated Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo as President Muhammadu Buhari’s running mate during the electioneering campaign, the number two citizen, Friday, said he was nominated by a National Leader of All Progressives Congress, APC.
Though Osinbajo did not mention the name of the leader, his descriptions of the person, who he said had served as a state governor, confirmed that he was referring to a former governor of Lagos State and the party’s National Leader, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Vice President, who spoke at a State of the Nation Address convened by Coalition of Nigerian Apostolic Leaders in Lagos, said: “An APC National Leader who had served when he was governor was interested in putting me forward as the running mate of President Muhammadu Buhari in consensus with other national leaders of the party.
“I was a product of this system (Coalition Leaders). The church was reluctant and I understood why the church was reluctant. The church was looking at the head of the ticket (President). This is our first opportunity. This is our first shot at it. We need to maximize it and do the best we can. I think what my nomination and appointment have done is that it has open the door for us. We can do it and we can be influential in doing it.”
However, speaking on the biting recession, Osinbajo said: “Our projected oil revenue is 2.2 million barrels a day. Because of oil vandals in the Niger Delta, we are losing close to 1 million barrels a day. That is about 60 percent drop in the revenue. If you are losing 1 million from your 2.2 million barrels every day, there will be a shock to the economy. The economy will suffer a major shock. That is the problem with the economy.
“We stopped the importation of food so that Nigerians can easily patronize Nigerian produce. If we continue importation the way we are importing, absolutely we will discourage those farmers. If we are to diversify, we have to restrict importation of rice and those things we are producing.”
