President Muhammadu Buhari has put paid to speculations that his relationship with Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has gone sour. In what appears to be his first formal reaction to the rumour, Buhari declared that he has a “perfect” relationship with the number two citizen.
Buhari gave the clarification when asked to rate his relationship with his deputy on a scale of one to 10 by The Interview in Abuja during the weekend.
In the exclusive interview, Buhari, in his response to the question, replied: “Perfect. Or has he complained to you?”
The president further said that he had never complained about the vice president to anybody.
Buhari also asserted that the opinion of former defence minister, Gen. Theophilus Danjuma, was not more important than that of millions of Nigerians who voted for his re-election last year.
Asked if he was concerned about the vote of low confidence expressed by Danjuma during a recent book launch in Ibadan, Oyo State, 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 that” if he says what he knows about the goings on in the government, Nigerians would lose sleep.“
The comment, however, 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 his major financial pillars.
But the president insisted that his re-election was a vindication of the voters’ confidence and support for him and his government’s policies.
Buhari 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.
In a press release yesterday, the managing director/editor-in-chief of The Interview, Mr. Azu Ishiekwene, said: “This interview, published on our 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.”
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