Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has denied calling those agitating for restructuring “political jobbers”.

Osinbajo said this on Tuesday in a statement by his media aide, Laolu Akande.

He was reacting to a news report quoting Afenifere chieftain, Ayo Adebanjo, as saying he lambasted advocates of restructuring.

“The video, audio tapes and full text of his speech at the National Security summit organised last week by the Department of State Services, DSS are publicly available.

“While several newspapers and media outlets reported Prof. Osinbajo’s said speech last Wednesday, not one of the publications made such a blatantly inaccurate claim that he said those asking for restructuring were political jobbers,” the statement said.

“Besides, the debate on restructuring is an important one and the calls for restructuring cover a wide range of legitimate and constitutionally valid issues. Indeed all Nigerians have both a right and a duty to advance their arguments on the subject.”

The statement explained that the acting president himself had expressed support for state police based on the community policing model as well as devolution of powers to the States and fiscal federalism.