Controversy over alleged sack of Osinbajo’s aides

Controversy has greeted the purported sack of thirty-five aides of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo by the Presidency.

News filtered the media space on Wednesday that the presidency may have begun the implementation of the sack of some aides on the orders of President Muhammadu Buhari.

It was learnt that even when Osinbajo was hoping that the alleged sack of 35 of the aides would be reversed by the president, some of the affected persons on Wednesday had their presidential villa access tags retrieved from them as they reported for work.

Some them who reported for work were said to have been approached at the gate by security personnel who seized their tags upon confirming that their names were contained in the list of sacked aides apparently provided for them.

An online medium, Daily Nigerian, which on Wednesday reported that Buhari approved the sack of at least 35 out of over 80 aides in the vice president’s office, informed that the affected aides, who were issued appointment letters in August, included some Senior Special Assistants, Special Assistants, Personal Assistants and Technical Assistants.

Some of the aides were said to have left their offices by themselves on Wednesday and returned home to avoid being embarrassed.

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A source close to the vice president’s office confided in the Nigerian Tribune that some of the aides who came to work of Wednesday left on their own accord to stave off any incident with security personnel.

Many of the Osinbajo’s aides had earlier been sent out from the villa and accommodated in various ministries and parastatals, which reduced their access to the villa.

Osinbajo’s spokesman, Laolu Akande, neither confirmed nor denied the development when asked for his reaction.

He told the Nigerian Tribune that he was just emerging from Wednesday’s meeting of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) and had read the reports just like others.

“I read it just like others. I will like to find out what is happening,” he said.

Reports have been rife that since their re-election, Osinbajo has fallen out of favour with some elements close to President Buhari who are undermining his authority, a situation which has been blamed for the dissolution and replacement of the Economic Management Team hitherto headed by the vice president.

This development has generated reactions on Twitter. Below are some of the tweets.