Former President Muhammadu Buhari was uncomfortable with Yemi Osinbajo’s alleged preference for appointing members of his church and Yoruba people to public positions, former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Babachir Lawal, has claimed.
Lawal, who served under Buhari, made the disclosure during an interview with Symfoni TV published on Thursday, recounting what he described as the former president’s concerns about the appointment choices of his deputy.
Osinbajo, a former vice-president, is an ordained senior pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God (RCCG).
According to Lawal, Buhari was unhappy with what he perceived as Osinbajo’s tendency to favour people from his religious and ethnic communities in government appointments.
“Buhari is aware that most of the appointments that Osinbajo would do were people from his church and Yoruba,” Lawal said. “Buhari was aware of this and he was not happy.”
Lawal illustrated his claim with an incident involving a memo Osinbajo reportedly submitted to Buhari seeking approval for the appointment of his initial staff.
He said the document contained about 28 names but was not transmitted to the president for approximately three months, even as discussions about the proposed appointments continued within the presidency.
The former SGF said he eventually obtained a photocopy of the memo from Abba Kyari, Buhari’s then chief of staff, and personally presented it to the president.
According to Lawal, Buhari examined the list and questioned why all the nominees appeared to be Yoruba.
“But these are all Yorubas,” Lawal recalled the president as saying.
Lawal said he urged Buhari to approve the appointments, arguing that Osinbajo was new to government and promising to discuss the matter with him.
“I appealed and said, ‘Sir can you approve this thing for me? I’ll talk to him. You know, he’s new.’ He said, ‘Approved,’” he said.
Lawal explained that Buhari eventually approved the memo, after which he returned it to Kyari’s office for the approval to be communicated through the appropriate channels.
He maintained that although Buhari had heard about the proposed appointments before the memo reached him, the president had not formally received the document.
Lawal alleged that Buhari subsequently became more attentive to Osinbajo’s appointment decisions, particularly where nominees had previously occupied leadership positions within the vice-president’s church.
He further claimed that Osinbajo reversed some appointments Buhari had approved while the president was away receiving medical treatment.
“There are many instances, for example, Buhari had approved to me some appointments, and when he left, he went to hospital, Osinbajo reversed it and brought his other appointees, mostly, of course, from his church,” Lawal said.
According to him, Buhari was informed of the alleged reversals and sought to have them undone. However, Lawal said the former president eventually refrained from pursuing the matter after returning.
“I understand he even wrote that it should be reversed, demanded they reverse it, and Buhari came back and kept quiet,” he said.
Lawal suggested that Buhari might have decided against escalating the disagreement to avoid unnecessary friction and embarrassment for his deputy.
He also alleged that some traditional church leaders in northern Nigeria complained directly to Buhari that they were being overlooked in appointments despite being Christians and having supported his administration.
“At one time, some of the traditional church leaders in the north actually went to Buhari and complained about appointments, that they too, they are Christians, they too, they voted for him,” Lawal recounted.
He said Osinbajo later asked him to recommend someone from the traditional church community in northern Nigeria for an administrative position within the church.
Lawal said he recommended a former seminary lecturer but alleged that the individual was subsequently sidelined.
The former presidential aide believes the alleged preference for church members influenced Buhari’s assessment of Osinbajo as a possible successor.
“I suspect that this excessive preference for his church members would affect Buhari,” he said.
Lawal added that he interpreted Buhari’s conduct and body language as indicating concern that Osinbajo might adopt a similar approach to appointments as President Bola Tinubu if he became president.
“From his actions and his body language, I could see that he was scared that if Osinbajo became president, what Bola is doing, he will do,” Lawal said.
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