According to Daily Independent, the running mate to the Presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2015 elections, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has described as uncharitable, insinuations that he was imposed on his principal, General Muhammadu Buhari, by the National Leader of the party, Ahmed Bola Tinubu.
Speaking during an interactive session with select editors in his Victoria Island campaign office on Saturday, Osinbajo also used the occasion to appealed to Nigerians to forgive Buhari for the human rights violations that were recorded during his reign as military Head of State.
The former Attorney General in Lagos State disclosed that his emergence as running mate to the APC presidential candidate is the consequence of a thorough process involving various stakeholders in the party, which according to him left no room for imposition.
He said: “I didn’t participate in the process that led to my emergence as Buhari’s running. What is, however, more important in all of these is that, the process left no room for imposition of candidates by anyone.”
Speaking further, Osinbajo said, “If you followed the proceedings, you would have known that the elders of the party tried to come up with a decision, but failed to arrive at a consensus.
“At that point, Buhari and the party’s chairman had to agree on a consensus, which was reached at the end.
“I am a product of that consensus. But, to say that there was imposition amounts to not being fair to those who participated in that long process.”
While making case for his boss against accusation that he supervised a regime that recorded a lot of poor human rights violations, Osinbajo said Buhari has repented, adding, “This is seen in every of his utterances and statements.
“Agreed there were some human right abuses during the time he was Head of States.
“However, that was something that was happening during the entire period of military rule in the country. Then, there were many of us who protested.
“But, compare what happened then to what is happening now, when a judge could be beaten in public and his clothes ripped, while the security agent stands and watch.
“A period that the Inspector General of Police could come out to openly declare that the Speaker of the House is not the Speaker.
“A period when the President of the Appeal court is dismissed and the court of justice says he should be reinstated and the executive does nothing to that effect.
“With the kind of abuses we see today, I tell you, if these guys have some military fiat, you and I will not be here,” Osinbajo said.
He said he is an ardent believer in the gospel of grace, saying, “If someone has done something wrong and genuinely seek repentance, such a person deserves to be forgiven.”
According to Osinbajo, Buhari has accepted that he made mistakes in the past, adding, “But these are mistakes that he will never make again.
“I see in him, a man that says I will follow the constitution. Even when he lost he showed this by going to court.”
Like Buhari, he also said President Goodluck Jonathan could also be forgiven, but with a caveat, which is only if he repents.
He said: “I am also able to forgive President Jonathan for any wrong he has done. All he needs to do is repent.” (Dailyindependentnig)