SANs reacts as APC lawmaker claims that CoS, Abba Kyari is more powerful than VP Osinbajo

The lawmaker representing Oyo State’s Egbeda/Ona Ara Federal Constituency at the House of Representatives, Akin Alabi, has said that, in a presidential system of government such as obtained in the United States and Nigeria, the post of the Chief of Staff is more powerful than that of the Vice President.

The APC lawmaker is reacting to President Muhammadu Buhari’s signing of the Deep Offshore (and Inland Basin Production Sharing Contract) Act in London, where he is currently on “private visit.”

His Chief of Staff, Abba Kyari, had taken the document to him on Monday, leading to speculations that Vice President Yemi Osinbajo has been sidelined.

In reaction to the lawmaker’s claim, two Senior Advocates of Nigeria — Messrs Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa and Ifedayo Adedipe — said Alabi’s assertion had no constitutional basis.
Alabi, who is the founder of Nigeria’s first online sports betting portal, NairaBET, made his views known via his Twitter handle @akinalabi on Tuesday.

In a series of tweets, the APC lawmaker said the Chief of Staff “is the assistant President, while the Vice President is merely a stand-in for the president.”

“Whether you like it or not, in a presidential system of government (eg, US, Nigeria), the post of the Chief of Staff is more “powerful” than that of the Vice President. He is the assistant President. The Vice President is a stand-in for the president,” the lawmaker said.