Earlier reports had been gathered that 35 of Osinbajo's aides had been dismissed by President Buhari, but recent reports obtained by The Punch News revealed that the Vice President had tried to delay the operation, but his attempts did not yield any results.

Remember that the Herald reported earlier on Wednesday that President Muhammadu Buhari approved the dismissal of approximately 35 of the aids. As of Wednesday, however, the figures were not confirmed.

The Vice Presidents Office initially tried to delay the issue until President Muhammadu Buhari returned from London on November 17, according to sources.

The Vice President has initially pushed for the delay to enable him have some discussions  relating to the issue with the President but the Presidency reportedly went ahead to effect the sacking.

According to Punch, one of their sources said : “There was an intervention for a delay, but the decision was effected while the President has yet to return  (to the country),”

The source claimed the Chief of Staff to the President, Mr Abba Kyari, effected the action.

One of the aides that had been sacked was said to have been denied clearance to access the Villa on Wednesday from the main Gate of the Presidential Villa.

According to further reports, it was learnt that The Vice President allegedly had more aides than The President, some of whom were appointed while he was the  acting President when Buhari was in London in 2017.

According to a source from Punch “It is true that many of VP’s aides were given termination letters. However, I cannot confirm the exact number because it was not done in public. But you know it is political.

“Some of those dismissed are those who had been made redundant since the VP’s duties have been reduced and some of the social investment programmes have been put under other ministries.”

But according to a second source, apparently The President was not aware that Osinbajo’s aides would be sacked. The source said it was the handy work of the Cabal in the Presidency.

When contacted  for comments on the sacking of the aides,  the Special Assistant on Media and Publicity to the President, Mr Garba Shehu, said, “The SGF has responsibility for the issuance of letters of appointment, and where the need arises, sack letters as well.”

But the Director of Information, Office of the SGF,  Willie Bassey, told one the correspondents to Punch that he was not aware of the sacking.

“I am not aware of any letter. I am hearing such thing from you for the first time. I am not aware of it,”

Source: Punch