I Was Not Nominated for Appointment by VP Yemi Osinbajo, Says Ben Akabueze

I Was Not Nominated for Appointment by VP Yemi Osinbajo, Says Ben Akabueze

  • The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr Ben Akabueze, says Farooq Kperogi is a liar
  • Akabueze, a former bank chief, was reacting to Kperogi's claim that VP Osinbajo is responsible for his appointment
  • The former Lagos state commissioner stated that his appointment was facilitated by a former minister

FCT, Abuja - The Director-General of the Budget Office of the Federation, Mr. Ben Akabueze has stated that a recent article that claimed that he was nominated for appointment by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo is false.

Farooq Kperogi, an Atlanta-based university lecturer, had in an article he wrote on his Facebook page, listed Akabueze as one of those nominated for appointment by VP Osinbajo.

Ben Akabueze
Ben Akabueze says his appointment was facilitated by a former minister and not Osinbajo. Photo credit: Budget Office of the Federation
Source: Facebook

Responding to Kperogi's claim, Akabueze stated that in 2016, then minister of national planning, budget & finance, Senator Udoma Udo Udoma facilitated his appointment.

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Akabueze's expertise and experience before his appointment are not in doubt.

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Legit.ng checks revealed that the Anambra-born chartered accountant had also been the Managing Director & Chief Executive of NAL Merchant Bank (1996 - 2005) and later, Commissioner for Budget & National Planning in Lagos (2006 - 2015).

He told veteran journalist, Etim Etim:

''I am too busy to get involved in rejoinders, but I cannot let Kperogi get away with his falsehood. It is evident that Kperogi was simply handed a script to which he attached his name and some of his flowery language by which he masquerades as an academic.''

Akabueze further stated that Osinbajo was not also instrumental to Okechukwu Enelamah's appointment as minister of trade and investment in 2015 AS Kperogi claimed.

He said Enelamah was nominated by the Obi of Onitsha at the request of the late Chief of Staff to the President, Mr. Abba Kyari.

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He added that Kperogi's attempt to trivialise his appointment and that of Alex Okoh and Kayode Pitan is regrettable.

Akabueze also said he, Okoh, and Pitan had served as MD/CEOs of Nigerian banks for over 10 years before Osinbajo became vice president in 2015.

2023: Twitter polls favour Osinbajo as APC prefered aspirant

Meanwhile, if the pulse online is anything to go by this week, VP Osinbajo is the leading favourite to become APC presidential candidate ahead of the 2023 general elections.

This is according to different surveys conducted by organisations on who Nigerians prefer as the candidate of the ruling party.

In terms of raw numbers, the figures released by the pollsters indicate a sampling running into tens of thousands of respondents online.

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In a related development, members of The Progressives Project have expressed their readiness to procure the APC expression of interest and nomination forms for Osinbajo in pursuit of his presidential ambition.

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The director-general of the Osinbajo campaign organisation, Senator Kabiru Gaya made this known to reporters in Abuja on Thursday, April 21 adding that the gesture speaks volumes of the depth of acceptability of Osinbajo among Nigerians.

Gaya who chairs the Senate committee on INEC maintained that Osinbajo would not be intimidated by his adversaries to drop his presidential ambition.

Source: Legit.ng

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