By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Vice President, Mr Yemi Osinbajo, has disclosed that he cannot authoritatively say if President Muhammadu Buhari will eventually sack the suspended Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr Babachir Lawal; and the Director-General of the National Intelligence Agency (NIA), Mr Ayodele Oke.
Answering questions from newsmen today at the Presidential Villa after submitting a report from the investigation committee on the allegations against both men, Mr Osinbajo explained that it would be “pre-emptive of me” to reveal details of the report to the public.
“Oh I cannot tell the recommendations. How can I? This is a document which we have just presented to Mr President.
“He is the one who will read the recommendations, read the facts in the recommendations and then make a judgement. But I cannot, but I said that we cannot do that. That would be pre-emptive of me,” the Vice President said when asked to give details of the report he submitted to Mr Buhari.
When asked if heads would roll, Mr Osinbajo said, “How can I tell you what is in the report. You really want to know what is in the report! You really have to wait.”
On how soon the President will make the recommendations known, the Vice President said, “All I can say is that we have now submitted a report to Mr President.
“It is a detailed report, two reports as a matter of fact and Mr President has to study the report and then make decisions.”
However, he pointed out that, “Well I think that as you can imagine that we are always fair minded and the whole approach is to ensure that justice is done in all cases.
“It is in the interest of the government and also in the interest of the nation that things are done properly, that there is due process in anyway. That’s the proper thing to do and you can be sure that we will do the right thing.”
But he said, “This is a report which contains recommendations to the President. The fact finding committee as you know and what our terms of reference were, were to find out based on the facts available to us and to find out based on interview of witnesses and what transpired in both cases that were before us.
“The one involving the Secretary to the Government of the Federation and the one involving the DG NIA. And we have now concluded that and we submitted a full report with recommendations to Mr President.
“Of course I cannot give you any kind of details because the President has to look at, study the report and then make his own decisions based on that report.”
Adedapo Adesanya