President Muhammadu Buhari has described his relationship with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, Buhari “perfect” in spite of insinuations in the media in recent times.
The insinuations about the alleged downturn in the relationship between Buhari and Osinbajo followed the redeployment of some aides and taking away of some responsibilities being undertaken from the office of the Vice President as the administration began its second term in office.
But Buhari, in an excerpt of exclusive interview with The Interview released in Abuja on Saturday said he has no problem with his Vice President.
He was asked to rate his relationship with his deputy on a scale of one to 10.
But the President replied, “Perfect. Or has he complained to you?”
The President also said said the opinion of General T.Y. Danjuma (retd) is not more important than that of millions of Nigerians who voted for his reelection last year.
Asked if he was concerned about the vote of low confidence expressed by Danjuma during a recent book launch in Ibadan, Buhari said, “And what is the vote of confidence of Nigerians in me, as expressed in the polls last year? That is what matters more, not the opinion of one man.”
Danjuma had said if he says what he knows about the goings on in the government, Nigerians would lose sleep.
The comment has been viewed in some quarters as an expression of lack of confidence in Buhari’s government, and a blow from a man who is widely believed to have been one of Buhari’s major financial pillars.
The president, however, said his re-election was a vindication of his voters’ confidence and support for him and his government’s policies.
The full interview, published on The Interview website: www.theinterview.ng is a window on what the President is thinking about some of the most important issues of his second term so far, from the Economic Advisory Council to the rule of law; and from his relationship with his deputy and 2023 to the country’s debt profile.
He also commented on the insinuation that a “cabal” runs his government; his promise to lift 100 million Nigerians out of poverty; and criticisms that his claim that he is now a “reformed democrat”, is fake.