By Dipo Olowookere
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina, has stressed that Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly, Lagos, did not hold any meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday at the Presidential Villa with the Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, also in attendance.
In a statement issued yesterday night, the President’s spokesman explained that the embattled Finance Minister was at the Villa in connection with Annual General Meeting and 25th Anniversary Celebration of African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) taking place today in Abuja, which would be graced by President Buhari.
On Friday afternoon, the running-mate to Mr Buhari in the 2011 presidential election was spotted with Mrs Adeosun, on his way to the President’s office.
It was then widely reported that the cleric, alongside the Minister, who is facing allegation of certificate forgery, held a closed-door with Mr President yesterday.
But in the statement issued on Friday night, Mr Adesina said both personalities from Ogun State did not have a meeting together with the President as widely insinuated.
“Stories with insinuations are making the rounds that Pastor Tunde Bakare of Latter Rain Assembly and Minister of Finance, Mrs Kemi Adeosun, met together with President Muhammadu Buhari at State House, Abuja, Friday [are] far from the truth,” Mr Adesina said.
He explained that, “The Minister was at the Presidential Villa in connection with the Annual General Meeting and 25th Anniversary Celebration of African Export-Import Bank (AFREXIMBANK) holding Saturday in Abuja, which would be graced by President Buhari.
According to him, “She ran into Pastor Bakare, who was on a scheduled visit to see the President, and they exchanged pleasantries.”
“The cleric particularly thanked the Minister for finding time to attend his mother’s funeral, which took place in Abeokuta, Ogun State, penultimate weekend,” Mr Adesina said.
He noted that, “Mrs Adeosun had seen President Buhari not fewer than three times earlier in the week, and did not need to meet with him again on Friday.”
Mr Adesina explained that, “This statement is to put events in proper perspective, and dispel all conjectures and fictive reporting.”
Adedapo Adesanya