Yemi Osinbajo is a law professor who served two terms as Muhammadu Buhari’s vice-president and twice ran the government as acting president during Buhari’s medical leave. He sought the APC presidential ticket in 2022 and came third.1
Law and Lagos
Born in Lagos on 8 March 1957, Osinbajo studied law at the University of Lagos and the London School of Economics. He taught at Lagos, becoming professor of the law of evidence, and advised Attorney-General Bola Ajibola from 1988 to 1992. From 1999 to 2007 he was Lagos State’s Attorney-General under Governor Bola Tinubu, and he later became a senior partner at the law firm SimmonsCooper Partners. He is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a senior pastor of the Redeemed Christian Church of God.1
Vice-president (2015–2023)
Buhari named him running mate in December 2014, and he was sworn in on 29 May 2015 and re-elected in 2019. He was acting president in June 2016 and for most of 2017 (January–March and May–August) while Buhari was in London for treatment. In that role he ordered oil companies to move their headquarters to the Niger Delta states where they operate.1
In August 2018, while Buhari was abroad, he dismissed the head of the State Security Service, Lawal Daura, after armed and masked operatives blockaded the National Assembly. In February 2019 he survived a helicopter crash in Kabba, Kogi State. He chaired the economic sustainability committee set up in response to COVID-19 in 2020.1
2022 bid and after
In April 2022 he announced a bid for the APC presidential nomination and placed third at the June primary with 235 votes, behind Bola Tinubu.1 Since leaving office he has led the Commonwealth observer group for Sierra Leone’s 2023 election and advised the Global Energy Alliance for People and Planet.1
Allegations
In 2019 and 2022 news outlets reported links between his former law firm and Ocean Trust, a company tied to an alleged investment fraud, and reported campaign donations in 2015 above legal limits. The firm denied wrongdoing; no charges have been brought.1
Personal life
He married Dolapo Soyode, a granddaughter of Obafemi Awolowo, in 1989; they have three children.1
Namadi Sambo
