The All Progressives Congress (APC) and its governors have dismissed recent allegations of a cold war within the Presidency as mere rumour and another scheme of opposition mischief-makers.
There have been media reports and allegations in the political space of a festering sour relationship between President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo in the last few days, indicating that handlers of the president had demanded the resignation of the vice president.
However, during separate media engagements in Abuja on Thursday, the Progressive Governors’ Forum and the national secretariat of the ruling APC dismissed the insinuation, stating that more recent events had proven such as invalid claims.
Speaking during the inauguration of the Progressive Governors Forum (PGF) Steering Committee on Media and Communication, Lagos Governor, who is also the chairman of the committee, Mr Babajide Sanwo-Olu, said the alleged face-off in the Presidency was just ‘gossip’.
The governor, who was represented by his deputy, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, explained that the Buhari/Osinbajo administration has carried on with its normal duties in the last few days, despite the alleged bad-blood.
“There is no crack. It is in the realm of gossips. By the time they said that the Vice President went to Zimbabwe to represent this country. It was the prerogative of the president but he nominated him.
“Like I said earlier, it is in the realm of gossips because only on Wednesday, the Vice President presided over the Federal Executive Committee (FEC) meeting which is the highest decision-making body in the country. So, we don’t listen to rumours. We deal with facts and the fact is that they are working together. So, it is all rumour and don’t take it that seriously,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ruling APC during a media conference at its national secretariat in Abuja, squarely placed the blame for the spread of what it described as “fallacy” on the opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP), noting that the ruling party would not abandon its serious national assignments to pay attention to what is not important.