The Presidency on Monday said it was wrong for anybody to be claiming that the Acting President, Yemi Osinbajo, has been performing better than President Muhammadu Buhari since the President started his extended medical vacation.
It said Osinbajo still consults with Buhari on major national issues on a regular basis.
The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Babafemi Ojudu, said this in an interview with State House correspondents.
While describing those behind the argument as thoughtless, Ojudu described it as a ploy by the opposition to cause an unnecessary division.
He said the President and Osinbajo enjoy a joint ticket and they were both elected based on the manifesto of the party which they have been implementing since their inauguration.
The presidential aide said, “The same people who said we never had economic team, no policy, nothing are the ones saying this.
“It is now that the policies we are implementing are maturing and they are seeing the result. It is not a question of one person being better than the other person.
“There is nothing that has been done since the Vice-President started acting that is not something that started far back in the past. A good example is the Niger Delta initiative.
“The President called the Vice-President and said ‘I am giving you the mandate, go into the Niger Delta and meet with everyone who is a stakeholder, all the communities, talk to the militants and make sure you solve this problem for the benefits of Nigerians.’
“We are losing 1.2 million barrels of oil per day, all the gas pipelines powering the turbines are being blown up. And the President has said unless and until we resolve this problem we will not get out of recession. The VP took up the mandate and went to the Niger Delta, it is the initiative of Mr. President not that of the Vice-President.
“These are mischief makers, those who do not wish this country well, who are always promoting crisis, who will not allow the people to benefit from this democracy. They are the ones promoting this kind of divisive tendencies.”
