The Vice President of Nigeria, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo has cancelled his planned appearance on Channels Television. The spokesperson for Mr Osinbajo, Laolu Akande stated this in a tweet Sunday afternoon that his principal would not be appearing on Channels Television‘s ‘Rubbin’ Minds’ because of campaign exigencies.
“Sincere apologies that VP Osinbajo can’t make ‘Rubbing Minds’ this afternoon on Channels TV.
“Being a live programme, the exigencies of campaign timing make it impossible for VP to appear on show as scheduled today. We’re working with producers to reschedule his participation ASAP,” Akande said.
The programmed started at 3:00 pm without Osinbajo.
Sources close to the administration, however, told Premium Times that the vice-president was compelled to cancel because he was not fully prepared to face questioning about the suspension of Chief Justice Walter Onnoghen.
President Muhammadu Buhari suspended Onnoghen on Friday, sparking nationwide uproar about the desecration of Nigerian Constitution.
The president justified his action by saying he relied on an order of the Code of Conduct Tribunal to suspend Mr Onnoghen.
Onnoghen had been facing charges bordering on alleged failure to declare his asset before the tribunal, which is an auxiliary judicial panel under the control of the president.
Onnoghen admitted forgetting to declare some bank accounts in his asset disclosure to the government but said he later corrected the error in his last filing in 2016.
Both local and international bodies have condemned the president’s move, coming days to the presidential election on February 16.
Atiku Abubakar, the main challenger to the president at the election, said Mr Buhari has effectively suspended the Nigerian Constitution with his suspension of the chief justice without constitutional backing.
