Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo, has said all agencies under him always follow due procedures in the award of contracts and other critical matters in the country.
He disclosed this while reacting to reports that President Muhammadu Buhari has directed Osinbajo to henceforth seek approvals for agencies under his supervision.
The spokesman to the Vice-president, Laolu Akande, described as “false” insinuations, that due procedures were not strictly being followed by the vice president.
Akande suggests, falsely, that agencies under the supervision of the Vice President do not normally comply with established rules where presidential approvals are required.
He, however, did not deny that a memo was sent to the vice-president on Monday, directing him to get presidential approvals for the agencies he chairs, as exclusively reported by the media.
“This is obviously misleading and aims only to plant seeds of discord in the Presidency while attempting to create unnecessary national hysteria” the statement reads.
He disclosed that Osinbajo is the chairman of the governing boards of the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), the National Boundary Commission (NBC) and the Border Communities Development Agency (BCDA).
He also said Osinbajo is the chairman of the board of directors of the Niger Delta Power Holding Company (NDPHC), a limited liability company owned by the three tiers of government.
The statement also reveals that the vice-president chairs the National Economic Council (NEC), a constitutional body made up of state governors and key federal government officials, as well as the National Council on Privatisation (NCP).
“Depending on the particular scope of activity in question, agencies may require management approval only, at the level of the Director General or Chief Executive Officer. In this category falls the great majority of their day-to-day activities”
“However, other activities, or procurements, with value exceeding a certain threshold, require Board approval. These may get to the agency Board chaired by the Vice President. In a few cases where Presidential approval is required, the Director-General must seek such approval from the President, through the Vice President. These rules have always guided the activities of statutory agencies and the ones under the Vice President’s supervision have always been so guided”
He noted that the agencies concerned are established by law adding that the Vice President has always insisted on due compliance with the enabling statutes and other established regulations.
He also explained that reports saying in the first term of the Buhari administration, agencies of government have not been complying with the provisions (of getting final approvals from the President) is false adding that the attempt to suggest the Vice President’s complicity in such irregularities is simply reprehensible and mischievous .
He disclosed that the Vice President remains committed to the service of his fatherland and will continue to do so despite the purveyors of fake news.
He therefore warned media organizations, as gatekeepers to uphold truth, balance, fairness and objectivity in their reportage, adding that precision reporting and professionalism should be their watchword at all times.
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