Osinbajo Denies Calling Nigerians Agitating For Restructuring Political Jobbers

Channels Television  Updated August 8, 2017

File photo: Professor Osinbajo

The Acting President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, has denied claims that he described Nigerians agitating for the restructuring of the country as political jobbers.

Professor Osinbajo denied the claims on Tuesday in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Laolu Akande.
According to the statement, the Acting President is surprised at the news report that quoted elder statesman Ayo Adebanjo as saying he called those behind the agitation for restructuring as political jobbers.
“At no time did the Acting President say that those asking for restructuring were political jobbers looking for appointments,” the statement read in part.
“The video, audio tapes and full text of his speech at the National Security Summit organised last week by the Department of State Services, DSS are publicly available.”
It added that although several newspapers and media outlets reported Professor Osinbajo’s said speech at the summit, not one of them “made such a blatantly inaccurate claim that he said those asking for restructuring were political jobbers”.
Stressing that the debate on restructuring is an important one and the calls for restructuring cover a wide range of legitimate and constitutionally valid issues, Osinbajo said all Nigerians have both a right and a duty to advance their arguments on the subject.
“The Acting President himself has expressed support for State police based on the community policing model, advocated for devolution of powers to the States and fiscal federalism,” the statement added.
“Besides, the Buhari administration has been active in supporting state rights in several ways including in fiscal matters and will continue to do so.”