There are indications that the cabal in President Muhammadu Buhari’s government have penciled Babatunde Fashola and Governor Kayode Fayemi as a possible replacement for embattled Vice President Yemi Osinbajo.
YaahJournalist understands that Daily Independent quoted a credible source in the presidency, to have revealed that the ‘cabal’ already has two possible replacement should Osinbajo decide to take a bow.
The report alleged that either Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works and Housing and former Lagos governor, or Kayode Fayemi, the Governor of Ekiti State, who is the current chairman of Nigeria Governors’ Forum (NGF), would take over as the VP.
According to the report, there is a plan to retain the vice presidency in the South-West, however, the new vice president this time around would be “someone approved by the Buhari camp” as against 2015 when Asiwaju Bola Tinubu’s camp produced Osinbajo.
The said source quoted by Daily Independent said Fayemi was one of the favourites in the Buhari camp having served as the Chairman of the Presidential Convention Committee of the All Progressives Congress (APC), which organised the primary that produced Buhari as the APC flag bearer in 2015.
YaahJournalist recalls that the after Buhari came into office in 2015, he appointed Fayemi as Minister of Mines and Steel Development, a position he held before resigning to contest the 2018 governorship election in Ekiti, which he won.
Speaking further on Osinbajo’s replacement, the source told Daily Independent: “The president is also very comfortable with Fashola and would have picked him as his running mate in 2015 but for the outcry against a Muslim-Muslim ticket which also jeopardised Tinubu’s chances.
“If you remember, that was why the president appointed Fashola as the Minister of Power, Works and Housing in 2015, making him the most important minister in his cabinet or super-minister as many called it.
“As it stands, these two are the likely choices as a replacement for Osinbajo, but it remains to be seen how this will materialise as the vice president will also not want to go down without a fight,” the source added.
