Laolu Akande, spokesperson of Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, says it was an easy decision to leave the United States and return home to help in actualising the joint ticket of Buhari/Osinbajo ahead of the 2015 elections, because the vice president had a reputation that preceded him.
“It was easy agreeing to work for Osinbajo because his reputation was already ahead of him,” Akande told Daily Politics.
Akande said when he left Nigeria in 1998 for the United States, he told God that he would love to return to Nigeria to work for a government, if that government was serious about reforms.
When Buhari picked Osinbajo as his running mate circa 2014, he knew it was an answer to prayers, he said.
“When Buhari picked Osinbajo as his running mate, I told my wife in New York that I am going to support that man. Not only would I sit here and support, I am going to go there and campaign for him,” Akande said, adding that Osinbajo had shown capacity by transforming the judiciary in Lagos as Attorney General from 1999 to 2007 under then Governor Bola Tinubu.
Akande said the last eight years “have been a very thrilling experience for me. I also consider it a great privilege and a wonderful opportunity to be able to serve your country at the highest level, especially for someone who always wanted to be a part of fixing the country.
“Serving for eight years with the vice president has been a great privilege. I always prayed to God that Nigeria will achieve its greatness,” he added.