Yemi Osinbajo

Oluyemi Oluleke Osinbajo (born 8 March 1957) is a Nigerian lawyer, professor, and politician who served as the 14th vice president of Nigeria from 2015 to 2023.

Born in Lagos in 1957, Osinbajo is a graduate of the University of Lagos and London School of Economics.

He attended Igbobi College in Yaba, Lagos, from 1969 to 1975, where he won the following awards:

the State Merit Award (1971);

the School Prize for English Oratory (1972);

Adeoba Prize for English Oratory (1972-1975);

Elias Prize for Best Performance in History (WASC, 1973);

African Statesman Intercollegiate Best Speaker's Prize (1974).

School Prize for Literature (HSC, 1975); and

Thereafter he studied for his undergraduate degree at the University of Lagos between 1975 and 1978, when he obtained a Second Class Honours (Upper Division) Degree in Law.

Here, he also won the Graham-Douglas Prize for Commercial Law.

In 1979, he completed the mandatory one-year professional training at the Nigerian Law School whereon he was admitted to practice as a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Nigeria.

From 1979 to 1980, Osinbajo served the compulsory one-year youth service as a legal officer with Bendel Development and Planning Authority (BDPA), Bendel State.

In 1980, he attended the London School of Economics, where he obtained a Master of Laws degree.

In 1981, at 23, he was employed as a law lecturer at the University of Lagos, Nigeria.

From 1983 to 1986, he became a Senior Lecturer of Law at the University of Lagos.

From 1988 to 1992, he was appointed the Senior Special Adviser (Soliciting and Litigation) to Nigeria's Honourable Attorney-General and Minister of Justice, Bola Ajibola.

In 1997, Osinbajo became a professor of the law of evidence and was head of the Department of Public Law, University of Lagos from 1997 to 1999 until his appointment as Commissioner for Justice.

A member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), he previously served as Attorney General of Lagos State from 1999 to 2007 and holds the title of Senior Advocate of Nigeria.

Shortly thereafter, he started teaching at University of Lagos while practicing law privately until 1999.

That year, Osinbajo was appointed Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice in the cabinet of Lagos State Governor Bola Tinubu.

From 1999 to 2007, Osinbajo, served in the Lagos State Cabinet of Bola Tinubu as the Honourable Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice.

After serving during both of Tinubu's four-year terms, Osinbajo left government in 2007 and returned to his private practice and lecturing along with his divine call of being a Pastor at the Redeemed Christian Church of God.

In 2007, Osinbajo was made Senior Partner at Simmons Cooper Partners (Barristers and Solicitors), Nigeria.

His other past roles include:

After the formation of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in 2013, Yemi was tasked with other notable Nigerians to design and produce a manifesto for the new political party.

This culminated in the presentation of the "Roadmap to a New Nigeria", a document published by APC as its manifesto if elected to power.

The highlights of the Roadmap included a free schools meal plan, a conditional cash transfer to the 25 million poorest Nigerians if they enroll children in school and immunize them.

There were also a number of programs designed to create economic opportunities for Nigeria's massive youth population.

On 17 December 2014 the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, retired General Muhammadu Buhari, announced Osinbajo as his running mate and vice-presidential candidate for the 2015 general elections.

During the 2014/2015 campaigns of the All progressives Congress, Yemi Osinbajo held numerous town hall meetings across the country as against the popular rallies that many Nigerians and their politicians were used to.

One of his campaign promises, which he has recently reiterated, was the plan to feed a school child a meal per day.

Beyond feeding the school children, he has recently emphasized that this plan will create jobs (another campaign promise) for those who will make it happen.

In April 2022, he announced his intention to run for the APC nomination for President of Nigeria in the 2023 presidential election.

Prior to the 2015 presidential election, Osinbajo was chosen as the running mate to APC nominee Muhammadu Buhari.

Their ticket went on to defeat the then-incumbent duo of President Goodluck Jonathan and Vice President Namadi Sambo.

Four years later, the ticket was re-elected over the Peoples Democratic Party's Atiku Abubakar and Peter Obi.

Osinbajo's tenure has been marked by his rising profile, especially when he took power as Acting President while Buhari was on a medical vacation in the United Kingdom.

Actions taken during his brief stints as the leader of the nation were decisive but contrasted with Buhari's style and were controversial among Buhari's inner circle, who frowned at it, one major decision was when in an Executive order he directed all International Oil Companies operating in the Niger-Delta region to relocate their headquarters to their States of operation to mitigate tension in host communities.

Osinbajo was educated at Corona primary School, in Lagos.