The Osinbajo for President Media Council has raised an alarm over an alleged plot to malign the reputation of the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who is in the race for the presidential ticket of the All Progressives Congress(APC), ahead of the coming general elections.
In a statement on Tuesday, the council explained that the purported plan had been traced to a group of smear campaigners led by a Nigerian based in the United States.
It also identified the said leader of the group as a former students Union President at the University of Lagos(UNILAG), who is currently a lecturer at the University of Ohio, US.
According to the Council, the group plans to use fake audio of faceless individuals to portray Osinbajo, a Christian, religious fanatic who discriminated against the staff of other faith while he served as the Attorney–General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State.
It said, no such incident occurred and described the video as a malicious and wicked attempt to tarnish the qualities of the VP because of his presidential aspirations.
The Council, however, stressed that Professor Osinbajo has always demonstrated himself to be a tolerant Nigerian who believes in inter-faith harmony and freedom of worship as enshrined in the constitution.
Read Full Statement Below
The Osinbajo for President Media Council has uncovered yet another fraudulent plan to malign the reputation of Professor Yemi Osinbajo, the Vice President of Nigeria and a Presidential Aspirant on the platform of the APC.
The plot has been traced to a cell of smear campaigners, led by the United States-based Nigerian who was formerly a students Union President of the University of Lagos.
The same individual is currently a lecturer at the University of Ohio in the USA.
The plan is to use fake audio of faceless individuals with fictitious names to cast the VP, who is a Christian, as a religious fanatic, who discriminated against the staff of other faith while he was the Attorney–General and Commissioner for Justice in Lagos State during the tenure of the former Governor Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
In the fake video, a woman is seen crying and making frantic allegations that she was discriminated against by the then Attorney-General because she was not allowed to wear the Muslim head cover for women, otherwise known as hijab, to work.
As observed by someone who was in the same ministry at the time Osinbajo served as Attorney–General, no such incident ever occurred, and this is just a malicious and wicked attempt to sully the sterling qualities of ProfessorOinbajo because of his Presidential aspirations.
Indeed, as the Attorney–General, Professor Osinbajo’s Secretary, a Muslim, Alhaji Abdul Gafa Bakare, had testified before now that the then Lagos GF ‘’did not only encouraged me to further my education even at my relatively old age, he personally sponsored my BSC Accounting Programme.’’ He added that the VP also sponsored his foreign travel then.
It would be recalled that similar smear campaigns were unleashed against President Muhammadu Buhari, especially during the 2014-15 Presidential campaigns, when it was alleged that he was virulently anti-Christian.
The attempt, however, met with failure.
Even though a Christian Pastor, Professor Osinbajo has always demonstrated himself to be a tolerant Nigerian, who believes in inter-faith harmony and freedom of worship enshrined in the Nigeria 1989 constitution as amended.
During his career as a University teacher, he taught Moslems and Christians alike in a convivial atmosphere.
He also had excellent working private relationships with Muslim bosses over the decades including Judge Bola Ajibola, former Governor Tinubu, and President Muhammadu Buhari.
Osinbajo remains a firm believer in Nigeria’s diversity and an ardent proponent of Nigerian Unity.
For these reasons, the Media Council feels the need to alert the general public to the odious campaign strategy of Osinbajo ‘s detractors and urge everyone to ignore the same when released to the public.
Signed: Media Council
April 19, 2022.
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