Report reaching DAILY POST says the presidential Candidate of All
Progressives Congress, Gen. Mohammadu Buhari has finally settled for a
former Attorney General and Commissioner of Justice in Lagos State,
Professor Yemi Osibajo.
This has brought to an end days of
relentless speculation over who will be picked as the running mate to
the APC presidential candidate. The choice of Osibajo, a professor of
Law, has also at the same time put a lid on the vice presidential
ambition of Rivers State governor, Rotimi Ameachi, who many believed had
a chance of getting Buhari’s nod on account of his heavy financial
investment in the Buhari presidential project.
According to a
reports as at Tuesday night, intense politicking threatened to mar the
spirit in the party as Amaechi made a last-ditch effort but was told
that he would lead Buhari’s campaign as Director-General. Relatively,
Buhari insisted that he was not read to pick Muslim as his running mate. Even
though Amaechi, according to sources made a case for the south-south to
be given the VP slot because of the likely backlash in the
oil-producing region if President Goodluck Jonathan loses the election,
Buhari said he had better roles to play for him.
He reportedly told
Buhari that it would be impossible for the APC to campaign in the Niger
Delta with both No 1 and No 2 not on offer for the region. Osibajo
was said to have overcome last-minute challenge from other
south-westerners such as former governors, Kayode Fayemi, Niyi Adebayo
and Olagunsoye Oyinlola.
Professor Yemi Osinbajo is a Senior
Advocate of Nigeria and Senior Partner in the Law firm of Simmons Cooper
Partners.
A professor of law, he was the head of department of Public
Law at the University of Lagos (1997-1999).
His tertiary education
was at the University of Lagos and the London School of Economics and
Political Science where he obtained his LLB and LLM degrees
respectively. He previously served as the Special Adviser to the Attorney General
of Nigeria (1988-1992); he later became the Attorney General and
Commissioner for Justice of Lagos State in 1999. He was reappointed for a
second term in 2003.
During the period of his public service, he
commenced the Lagos State justice reform project. A prominent feature of
that project was the establishment of the Directorate for Citizens’
Rights, DCR which provides free legal services and legal representation
to indigent citizens of the state. This initiative gave a voice to many
who would otherwise not have a way to access their rights. He is
also the Ethics Adviser to the Advisory Board of the African Development
Bank and is a non-executive Director of Citibank.
He has served in
various roles within the United Nations, United Nations Centre on
Transnational Corporations, the United Nations African Institute for
Crime Prevention, the International Criminal Court for Rwanda in Arusha,
Tanzania, the department of Peacekeeping operations and the United
Nations Peace Operations in Somalia. Prof. Osibajo is Co-founder & Board Member, Convention on Business Integrity and the Justice Research Institute Ltd.
In
2007, Prof. Osibajo and his wife, Oludolapo founded “The Orderly
Society Trust”, a non-governmental organization that is dedicated to the
promotion of Christian ethics and orderliness. He has authored,
co-authored and edited several books and publications including “The
Unification and Reform of the Nigerian Criminal Law and Procedure Codes”
“Law Development and Administration”; “The Annotated Civil Procedure
rules of The Superior Courts in Nigeria”; and “Cross Examination: A
Trial Lawyer’s Most Potent Weapon”. He pastors at Olive Tree House of
Prayer for All Nations, Banana Island, a parish of the Redeemed
Christian Church of God and lives in Lagos with his wife and three
children.
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