Former Special Adviser on Political Matters to the Vice President, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has dismissed circulating excerpts from a biography on former President Muhammadu Buhari, describing claims about resistance to Vice President Yemi Osinbajo’s presidential ambition as inaccurate and misleading.
In a statement issued on Thursday, December 18, 2025, Ojudu reacted to portions of Muhammadu Buhari: From Soldier to Statesman, authored by Dr. Charles Omole, which purport to recount internal attitudes within the Buhari administration toward Osinbajo’s 2023 presidential aspiration.
Ojudu, who served in the Office of the Vice President between 2016 and 2022, said he was compelled to clarify the record because of his direct involvement in the events described.
According to him, the issue of Osinbajo’s possible presidential bid was discussed personally between then President Buhari and the Vice President on no fewer than four occasions, with Buhari expressing clear and consistent support each time.
Ojudu said, “The record is clear and unambiguous, noting that at no point did Buhari advise Osinbajo to refrain from contesting or to defer to any other aspirant within the All Progressives Congress (APC).
He stated that during the first discussion, Buhari advised Osinbajo to carefully consider his options and assured him of support regardless of the decision taken.
By the third discussion, Ojudu said, the former president had openly described Osinbajo as the best person for the job, citing continuity, stability, and the Vice President’s deep understanding of governance after nearly seven years in office.
Ojudu added that Buhari highlighted Osinbajo’s loyalty, performance, experience as Acting President, and leadership capacity, and repeatedly assured him of support.
He further disclosed that shortly before Osinbajo’s supporters obtained the APC presidential nomination forms on his behalf, Buhari again expressed full backing for the Vice President’s ambition.
Beyond private meetings, Ojudu said Buhari also made public remarks during a Federal Executive Council meeting, acknowledging Osinbajo’s nationwide consultations and advising him to engage governors and National Assembly leaders before formally declaring his ambition, advice Osinbajo reportedly followed.
He said Buhari later commended Osinbajo after his declaration and requested to review his declaration speech.
The former aide also revealed that at least three state governors separately met Buhari to discuss Osinbajo’s candidacy, adding that Buhari told them unequivocally that the Vice President was the best choice.
Ojudu described as “implausible and mischievous” any suggestion that Osinbajo pursued the presidency without Buhari’s knowledge or approval, stressing that the Vice President lacked the personal political machinery to do so without the former president’s backing.
He criticised the author of the biography for failing to seek the perspectives of key actors involved in the Buhari administration, arguing that such an approach undermines historical integrity.
“To write about a complex administration without giving central figures the opportunity to state their case is not serious scholarship,” Ojudu said, describing the disputed account as “advocacy masquerading as biography.”
He concluded that history should be written to illuminate truth rather than settle personal scores, warning that one-sided narratives rarely endure the judgment of time.
