According to Sanusi, Nigeria lost For Not Having Osinbajo as President

Muhammad Sanusi II, a former Emir of Kano, claimed that Nigeria lost because Yemi Osinbajo, the vice president, was not elected president.

Sanusi made this statement on Monday during a virtual book launch for "Osinbajo Strides: Defining Moments of an Innovative Leader."

During the All Progressives Congress presidential primary, the vice president ran against Bola Tinubu, his former employer and the party's nominee for president. This decision drew criticism from some quarters.

Osinbajo is one of the members of the current administration who is prepared to discuss issues related to development, according to Sanusi, who is also a former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria.

He said, “And I dare say, we all agree that Nigeria is worse off for not having someone like him (Osinbajo) as president, but I do hope that he will be available to serve and to advise and to put in his best for the country and continue to do so.

“So, I’m sure he will, in whatever capacity he finds himself in the future, and maybe, we’ll still be lucky to have him lead us at some point or take some leadership role as a statesman.”

Osinbajo, according to Sanusi, was able to maintain his friendships over the years, unlike some politicians, and the vice president was given the assurance that his friends would be there to welcome him when he leaves office.

He emphasized Osinbajo's intellect, pointing out that even though Sanusi still strongly opposes the current administration, he (Osinbajo) was always open to discussion of various topics.

“As you know, I’ve been very critical of some of the policies of the government, and he will debate and he has the ability, as we all know, to accept a superior argument. Sometimes he would explain why it cannot be done. Sometimes he would explain that it’s something that he also agrees with, but that it will take time to fix,” the former Emir recalled.

Sanusi, who praised Osinbajo as a broker of peace, claimed that on at least two occasions, he was moved by the vice president's concern for the progress being made during the crisis between Fulani herdsmen and farmers.

“I saw him in action calling meetings, asking what are the problems, trying to understand the root cause, trying to come up with recommendations on how to resolve them and basically informed himself and throwing himself into it,” he added.

World renowned author, Chimamanda Adichie, in her remarks noted that Osinbajo was the only other person worth supporting during the former election circle, explaining that by “some magically mysterious process”, Osinbajo lost the primaries. Adichie is also a strong supporter of Peter Obi of the Labour Party (LP).

“I remember watching prof’s magnificent speech at the APC primaries, and I was particularly struck by these words from him, ‘You cannot wish this country well and vote for someone you do not believe in.’

“But by some magically mysterious or perhaps mysteriously magical process, he did not win. So I remember sending prof a message saying that I had hoped he would win, but also telling him how conflicted I would have been because he is the only other person I could have supported in this election.

Osinbajo thanked everyone for coming and praised them for doing him the honor.

Dapo Abiodun, the governor of Ogun State, Aminu Tambuwal, Simon Lalong, the governor of Plateau, Abdullahi Sule, the governor of Nasarawa, and Aigbojie Aig-Imoukhuede were among those in attendance.