Former presidential aide, Laolu Akande, has accused former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, SGF, and chieftain of the Nigeria Democratic Congress, NDC, Babachir Lawal, of fabricating claims that former Vice President Yemi Osinbajo appointed Christians from his church to key government positions.
Recall that Lawal had alleged that most of the key appointments made by Osinbajo when he was the vice president were Christians from the same church, citing an alleged list of 28 names in which all but two appointees were Christians.
However, Akande dismissed the allegation as a complete fabrication, insisting that no such list existed.
Akande, a former Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity in the Office of the Vice President, spoke on Symfoni TV on Friday.
He said, “I’m worried about the conduct of Lawal in this matter because this is an entire, complete, total fabrication. First of all, there was no such list of 28 names or more. It’s a lie.
“There was no three-month waiting time. I resumed in the Villa in June 2015. The Vice President had direct access to President Buhari. He made it clear that if anybody stopped the Vice President from meeting him, the person was in trouble.
“He said it openly, and anytime the Vice President had a memo, he took it there by hand, and the President would approve it. He would take the memo and give it to his own Chief of Staff, who would then send it to other people.”
Akande argued that the process described by Lawal did not happen, questioning how Osinbajo could have submitted the alleged list of 28 names.
“There was no time for him to do a 28-name list. It’s a lie, and I’m shocked Babachir Lawal will tell such a lie. I challenge him to bring out that memo,” he added.
