2023: Osinbajo wants immunity against prosecution, Arewa youths allege

By Ihegazie Chidinma

Coalition of Arewa Civil Society Groups, has said that the Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo wanted to contest for 2023 Presidential election in order to shield himself from the probe after the expiration of his immunity.

The coalition, therefore, cautioned the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC and the electorate against the presidential ambition of Osinbajo.

Osinbajo is said to be contesting the 2023 presidential ticket of the APC and to subsequently become the next President of Nigerian.

But the Arewa group, at a press briefing by its convener, Comrade Musa Attach, on Sunday in Abuja, alluded to the fact that “the Vice President mismanaged the funds under his control and office, for various social intervention programs of the President Muhammad Buhari’s administration.”

“As a group representing a vast interest of critical stakeholders in Northern Nigeria, and some other parts of the country, we are constrained to lend our voice to an ambition we consider misplaced and against the interest of the generality of Nigerians, in our quest for sustainable growth and development.

“The presidential aspiration of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo does not suit the purpose, given his track record in the mismanagement of the various Social Intervention Programmes of the Federal Government hitherto domiciled in his office, until recently, before the creation of the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development.

“It is instructive to ask questions about how Vice President Yemi Osinbajo managed the National Social Investments Programmes, NSIP, intended to tackle poverty and hunger across the country.

“For the records, the suite of programmes under the NSIP focuses on ensuring a more equitable distribution of resources to vulnerable populations, including children, youth and women, under the supervision of the Office of the Vice President.

“The N-Power Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer Programme, Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme, the Home Grown School Feeding Programme and the Tradermoni Empowerment Scheme, were all intended to bring succour to the vulnerable groups in the country.

“Therefore, it is curious how such laudable initiatives were mismanaged by the Office of the Vice President, which warranted the President to create a new ministry and transferred the responsibility of managing these programmes to the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development,” Attah stressed.

The group further alleged that the National Social Intervention Programme “became an avenue for corrupt enrichment by the Vice President and his cronies”, adding that “they diverted funds meant for the vulnerable groups to private pockets.”

It recalled that in November of 2018, the House of Representatives Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness indicted Vice President in its report, accusing him of illegally approving the N5.8 billion North East Intervention Fund, which was mismanaged by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA under his watch.

“The issue of Tradermoni is another example of how Vice President Yemi Osinbajo mismanaged the initiative and deprived millions of market women of the opportunity to advance their various businesses.

“It, therefore, amounts to an insult to the sensibilities of Nigerians for Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, to want to lead Nigeria. He lacks morals and uprightness, as evident in his corrupt tendencies and lack of sincerity of heart and purpose,” the youth added.