Yemi Osinbajo


Oluyemi Oluleke "Yemi" Osinbajo SAN, GCON is a Nigerian lawyer and politician who is the currently serving as the Vice President of Nigeria, in office since 29 May 2015.

Family

was born into the family of Opeoluwa Osinbajo on 8 March 1957, Creek Hospital, Lagos. Osinbajo is married to Dolapo Osinbajo, a granddaughter of Obafemi Awolowo. They have three children - two daughters, Damilola, Kanyinsola and a son, Fiyinfoluwa Osinbajo.

Education

Yemi Osinbajo was educated at Corona primary School, in Lagos. Between 1969–1975, he attended Igbobi College Yaba, Lagos, Nigeria. where he was the winner of the State Merit Award ; the School Prize for English Oratory ; Adeoba Prize for English Oratory ; Elias Prize for Best Performance in History ; School Prize for Literature ; and African Statesman Intercollegiate Best Speaker's Prize.
Thereafter, he studied for his undergraduate degree at the University of Lagos between 1975-1978 when he obtained a Second Class Upper Degree in Law. Here, he also won the Graham-Douglas Prize for Commercial Law. In 1979, he completed the mandatory one-year professional training at the Nigerian Law School whereon he was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of Nigeria's Supreme Court. In 1980, he attended the London School of Economics, where he obtained a Master of Laws degree.

Early career

From 1979–1980, Osinbajo served the compulsory one year youth service as a legal officer with Bendel Development and Planning Authority, Bendel state.
In 1981, he was employed as a law lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nigeria. From 1983 to 1986, he was Senior lecturer of Law at the University of Lagos. From 1988 to 1992, he was an Adviser to the Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ajibola. Osinbajo began lecturing at the age of 23.
From 1997 to 1999 he was made Professor of Law and Head of Department of Public Law, University of Lagos.
From 1999 to 2007, Osinbajo was Member of Cabinet, Lagos State Ministry of Justice, also Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.
In 2007, Osinbajo was made Senior Partner at Simmons Cooper Partners, Nigeria.
From 2007 to 2013 Osinbajo was once again employed as a Professor of Law, Department of Public Law, Faculty of Law, University of Lagos. He was also a Senior lecturer at the Lagos State University.
Other past roles include:
Yemi Osinbajo is the Pastor in charge of the Lagos Province 48 of The Redeemed Christian Church of God.

All Progressives Congress

After the formation of the All Progressives Congress in 2013, Yemi was tasked, with other notable Nigerians, to design and produce a manifesto for the new political party. This culminated in the presentation of the "Roadmap to a New Nigeria", a document published by APC as its manifesto if elected to power. The highlights of the Roadmap included a free schools meal plan, a conditional cash transfer to the 25 million poorest Nigerians if they enroll children in school and immunise them. There were also a number of programs designed to create economic opportunities for Nigeria's massive youth population.
On 17 December 2014 the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, retired General Muhammadu Buhari, announced Osinbajo as his running mate and vice-presidential candidate for the 2015 general elections. During the 2014/2015 campaigns of the All progressives Congress, Yemi Osinbajo held numerous town hall meetings across the country as against the popular rallies that many Nigerians and their politicians were used to. One of his campaign promises, which he has recently reiterated, was the plan to feed a school child a meal per day. Beyond feeding the school children, he has recently emphasized that this plan will create jobs for those who will make it happen.

Vice Presidency

On 31 March 2015 Buhari was confirmed by the Independent National Electoral Commission as the winner of the presidential elections. Thus Osinbajo became the Vice President-elect of Nigeria. They were both sworn in on 29 May 2015.
On 17 August 2017 VP Yemi Osibanjo described hate speech as a species of terrorism.

First Term

Tenure
Yemi Osinbajo assumed office after taking the oath of office on 29 May 2015 at the Eagle Square, Abuja. As the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, he is expected to oversee the economic planning team and report, as well as make recommendations, to the president who takes the final decision. Because of his legal background and antecedents as a commissioner for justice in Lagos state for eight years, many expect that he will contribute a great deal to the much needed reform of the judicial system at the national level.
Acting President
President Muhammadu Buhari wrote a written declaration on May 9, 2017 to the president of the senate and house of representatives on his decision to embark on a medical trip, the letter was read on the 9 May 2017 at plenary of both houses, senate and house of representatives respectively. Vice president, Professor Yemi Osinbajo was conferred the acting president during president Buhari's medical leave''.
On 7 August 2018, Osinbajo fired the State Security Service boss, Lawal Daura for illegal invasion of National Assembly by armed and masked operatives of the department. Daura has been replaced with .

Second Term

In January 2019, Osinbajo criticized the fact that social media is currently "under multi-jurisdictional regulation". He called for more collaboration among nations to reach a convention to regulate social media and counter hate speech.
On 2 February 2019, Osinbajo's helicopter crashed in Kabba, Kogi State. He survived and delivered a previously-scheduled campaign speech after the crash. In the speech, he said he was "extremely grateful to the Lord for preserving our lives from the incident that just happened. Everyone of us is safe and no one is maimed."
Tenure
On May 29, 2019, Professor Yemi Osinbajo took his oath of office to begin his second term at Eagle Square in the capital of Abuja.
Following the federal government's decision to close the nation's land borders in October 2019, Osinbajo explained that the government did so to gain the attention of other nations to the importance of policing the borders. He claimed that China and other nations were smuggling in products, including agricultural ones, undermining the Nigerian economy and threatening Nigerian agriculture. By closing the borders, Osinbajo claimed that the government was helping protect the economy and Nigeria's producers and farmers.
In October 2019, Osinbajo criticized the government's proposed social media regulations, stating he did "not think that government. regulation is necessarily the way to go." Instead, he asked citizens to take more active steps to police social media. He stated that citizens and leaders, both political and religious, "owe a responsibility to our society and to everyone else, to ensure that we don't allow it to become an instrument" of war. He also warned people against using social media to spread "religious disinformation", which could lead to conflict and war.
During a visit on 3 November 2019 to Daura, the Emir of Daura, Faruk Umar, called Osinbajo "the most trustworthy Vice President of Nigeria" and thanked him for his loyalty to President Buhari's administration. The Emir gave him the title of Danmadamin Daura, the highest traditional title in the emirate.
In March 31st 2020, President Muhammadu Buhari has appointed Vice president, Yemi Osinbajo to chair an economic sustainability committee. The aim of the committee is to develop measures to cushion the effect of the coronavirus and eventually reposition the Nigerian economy.
In July 2020, his spokesman stated that Osinbajo has become a "political target", and denied his alleged interest in contesting the 2023 presidential election, stating “I’m his spokesperson and all I know he wants to do is to do this job that he has been given very well and he doesn’t have any other plans right now about any such thing. I can tell you that clearly."

Corruption

In 2018, Osinbajo was indicted by the National Assembly over illegally releasing the sum of N5.8 billion from the treasury to the National Emergency Management Agency, which he serves as the chairman of the governing board, while serving as acting president in July 2017. The move despite being constitutionally approved was met with public out-roar as the funds were initially meant for emergency food and intervention in the war-ravaged North East.
In January 2019, N-Power a federal jobs program then under the office of the Vice President was reported to have been riddled with "bribery and massive fraud". Ahead of the 2019 presidential election, former president Olusegun Obasanjo accused Osinbajo of "executive recklessness" and "abuse of office" over his role in publicly distributing cash to petty traders and market women as part of TraderMoni, an empowerment scheme of the federal government, a gesture which was condemned by Transparency International as being an “official use of public funds in the name of TraderMoni to actually induce voters”, during the presidential campaign. Osinbajo later rejected the vote-buying allegation. In September 2019, Timi Frank, a former APC publicity secretary accused Osinbajo of illegally mismanaging over N90 billion of taxpayers money from the Federal Inland Revenue Service, in order to influence the All Progressives Congress victory in the 2019 election. Osinbajo denied the allegations and insisted he is ready for his constitutional immunity to be withdrawn for an investigation on him, and subsequently sued the media and Timi Frank. In November 2019, Osinbajo was accused of stopping a special presidential investigation into corruption of his friends and associates. In December 2019 Tunde Fowler, the Chairman of the FIRS an ally of Osinbajo and APC national leader Bola Tinubu was fired amidst previous allegations of poor tax collections, further widening suspicions within the government of Osinbajo's connection.
In July 2020, following the arrest and interrogation of Ibrahim Magu the former Acting Chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, it was revealed that Osinbajo received N4 billion of embezzled funds, as acting president in 2017. Osinbajo denied the claim and sued the publisher of the interrogation. Following the allegation, Femi Fani Kayode, a government critic tweeted "The real target is not Magu but those he worked for and protected for the last 4 years. He NEVER worked for Buhari. He worked for Tinubu & Osinbajo. When they finish crushing him, they will move against his two godfathers.”

Awards and memberships

Awards

Yemi Osinbajo, has received several awards, they include:
He is a member of the following professional bodies:
;Chapters contributed to books
;Articles published in law journals
;Books published/edited