Juliana Taiwo-Obalonye, Abuja
The Presidency has reiterated that its position has not changed from November 2018, when it insisted that attack on the Vice President Yemi Osinbajo was contrived to tarnish his image as regards the N5.8 billion Emergency Food Intervention Fund for North-East.
According to a Presidency source who pleaded for anonymity, the issues have not changed from the position that the House of Representative Committee on Emergency and Disaster Preparedness report never indicted Osinbajo of corruption, insisting that attempt to resuscitate the allegations were mere political contrivances intended to distract him.
The Presidential Political Adviser, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, had in 2018, while responding to inquiries about information circulating in the social media on plots to target the vice president ahead of the 2019 election.
“It is evident that the opposition are in search of company for their acts of grand corruption which brought Nigeria to its knees as of May 2015. They cannot find that company in the vice president.
“First, there is nowhere in the politicised House of Reps report where the VP was accused of corruption or embezzlement of funds. I challenge them to quote any word or sentence that makes such an accusation.
“Even the House Committee Chairman has said there was no allegation of corruption against him. The only allegation is that he approved funds for the emergency operations in the North East from the consolidated Revenue Fund not budgeted funds. This conclusion we have proved to be false. The funds approved were from budgeted funds, specifically the Rice Levy.”