Osinbajo Is My Problem – Jonathan cries out in secret meeting with Top Pastors in Abuja

Ruffled by the momentum generated by the nomination of Pastor Yemi Osinbajo as Mohamadu Buhari's running mate, President Goodluck Jonathan is asking a group of Pentecostal pastors to help him avert what he fears could be an impending defeat in the February 14 presidential election.

Osinbajo, a prominent Pastor with the Redeemed Christian Church of God, professor of Law and a SAN, emerged the APC's presidential running mate last month giving President Jonathan and the PDP what is being described as sleepless nights, by inside sources.

Specifically last Thursday, the President held a meeting in Abuja, with some top Pentecostal pastors led by Bishop David Oyedepo of Winners Chapel, with the main agenda being how to fashion out ways to solve the Osinbajo problem.

Sources at the meeting confirmed that President Jonathan confessed in a rather rattled and humbling manner that "Osinbajo is my problem." Those at the meeting said Jonathan cried out that "everything was okay until APC picked Osinbajo."

Pastor Osinbajo reaching out to poor Nigerians on the streets.

While PDP chieftains and supporters are struggling to characterize APC as an Islamist party, APC leaders have consistently dismissed such as unfounded, baseless and a scare tactic by the PDP.

Many observers say the nomination of a prominent Pentecostal pastor from the fastest growing church in Africa (RCCG) by the APC may have effectively doused such speculations and the attempt to label the party as one with an islamization agenda.

At the meeting organized by the Executive Secretary of National Christian Pilgrims Commission, John Kennedy Okpara, Jonathan poured out his mind that running against a leading Pastor of Redeemed Church, who is known to be very close to the much respected Pastor E.A. Adeboye, is an uphill task.

Sources at the meeting, said Jonathan was ruffled and much distracted as he confessed to the challenge to him, of the APC naming such a person as Osinbajo as General Buhari's running mate.

In response, the Pastors led by Bishop Oyedepo assured Jonathan that they would, "starting from today," use every device possible including social media, the pulpit and influence peddling, to campaign in support of President Jonathan and against the Buhari-Osinbajo ticket.

Before the meeting with the President, sources said the pastors held a meeting on the same day to strategize and agree on how and what they would present to the president.

At that pre-meeting, some Pentecostal pastors suggested that they use the opportunity of the meeting afforded by the President to express their genuine fears on growing insecurity in the North with Boko Haram killing and attacking Christians and other innocent Nigerians.

But Bishop David Oyedepo, the most influential pastor at the meeting interrupted the idea, insisting that the meeting was to encourage and strengthen President Jonathan ahead of the elections and not to discuss compelling national issues of concern to majority of Nigerians.

While some of the pastors were shocked and disappointed that Bishop Oyedepo would not allow them raise important issues bothering Nigerians, they decided to keep silent not to be seen as spoilsports.