Vice President Yemi Osinbajo says that despite their religious differences, he and President Muhammadu Buhari have never had issues since assuming office in 2015.

“President Buhari is a devout Muslim and I am a pastor; both of us have worked together for about seven years; we have not had issues,” Mr Osinbajo was quoted as saying in a statement by his media aide, Laolu Akande.

Mr Osinbajo gave the charge when he visited the Senegal-based Grand Khalifa of Tijjaniya Islamic Movement Worldwide, Sheikh Muhammadu Niass.

“We must use our faiths to promote peace and prosperity for our people; we need to work together to ensure that our people benefit from religion,” he said.

“In other parts of the world, leaders of faith have used religion to better the lives of the people,’’ Mr Osinbajo added.

In 2019, there was reports that Messrs Buhari and Osinbajo fell out as the latter was asked to always seek the president’s approval to run agencies attached to his office.

Also, there were reports that said the president sacked at least 35 out of over 80 aides in Mr Osinbajo’s office.

Notwithstanding these reports, the vice president described Mr Buhari as a model of leadership that accommodated people of different religious backgrounds.

“The president has shown great leadership; he has shown that he wants a country where people of different faiths live in harmony and with love for one another,’’ Mr Osinbajo stressed.

The vice president charged religious leaders to use faith to promote peace, ensure prosperity for the people as well as development of societies.

Mr Osinbajo was quoted as stressing that in spite of differences, Africans must learn to sit together and dialogue and avoid situations that create disunity.

(NAN)