The United States of America and the United Kingdom have expressed no
doubt in the ability and commitment of Acting President Yemi Osinbajo to
continue with the anti-corruption war and economic revival in Nigeria.
The two countries told newsmen on Friday that they have confidence in
Osinbajo to carry on with the quality leadership President Muhammadu
Buhari has been providing the country.
This is coming on the heels of public outrage and fears expressed by
Nigerians over Buhari’s deteriorating health and continued absence from
public.
The President left for the UK last Sunday to receive medical attention
and he is expected to be there for an indefinite time, according to his
media aide, Femi Adesina.
In his last medical trip to Britain, Buhari was away for 49 days.
In the last few weeks, some prominent Nigerians had expressed angst over
a cabal that has purpotedly hijacked power in the Presidency due to
Buhari’s protracted illness, leaving Osinbajo in the cold.
The US and the UK, however, revealed that they believe the VP would take
off from where the President stopped when he jetted out of the country
to the UK for further medical attention.
When asked by our correspondent if the US Government was worried that
Buhari’s poor health could slow down ongoing anti-corruption war in
Nigeria, the spokesman for the US Embassy in Nigeria, Russell Brooks,
said President Donald Trump’s administration believed in Buhari and
Osinbajo.
Brooks said, “We are very much in favour of President (Muhammadu)
Buhari’s campaign against corruption. We also believe that Acting
President (Yemi) Osinbajo is strongly committed to this agenda and will
continue to pursue it while President Buhari is out of the country.”
Speaking in a similar vein, the spokesman for the UK High Commission in
Nigeria, Joseph Abuku, stated that while the British Government could
not comment on whether any crisis resulting from Buhari’s protracted
ill-health would lead Nigeria into political instability, he said the UK
had confidence in the President and his deputy.
