2019 Presidency Not On My Card - VP Yemi Osinbajo

In London, the United Kingdom, Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo, said he has not given any thought to contesting the 2019 presidential poll.

 Besides, Osinbajo said he has no timeline for when he may make such a decision in the election scheduled for February 2019.

 The vice president spoke on the sidelines of the Financial Times Summit on Africa, which held in London. He was one of the speakers at the summit. “None of that is on the cards,” he said.

 Last week, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) warned political parties against campaigns, ahead of 2019 general elections, saying it was against the Electoral Act and the 1999 Constitution, as ammended.

 The country has faced heightened uncertainty over whether President Muhammadu Buhari plans to contest the next election. Buhari took over from former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015, but has spent considerable time in London, this year, on medical vacation.

At the summit, Osinbajo also disclosed that militants in the Niger Delta no longer pose significant threat to oil production. “We don’t have all the time in the world with oil.

We have to use oil while it makes sense to do so.” On May 18, 2017, Northern Elders Forum (NEF) declared that Osinbajo, who was acting president then, cannot replace Buhari in 2019, in the event the president does not seek another term. Chairman of the forum, Professor Ango Abdullahi, said should Buhari fail to seek re-contest in 2019, the North must retain the presidency by fielding a candidate through the All Progressives Congress (APC).

 Regardless, last month, Osinbajo distanced himself from a group known as ‘Osinbajo Volunteers.’ The group began an online campaign for Osinbajo’s election, as president, in 2019 and asked for volunteers.

 But, the vice president, on September 10, 2017, quickly distanced himself from the group. Osinbajo’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, subsequently tweeted: “Please disregard this website created by faceless people, for mischievous purposes.

 “It has absolutely nothing to do with the vice president.”