A pro-Democracy and Non-Governmental
organization, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, HURIWA, has stated
that the Presidential jet should not remain with President Muhammadu Buhari in
London because it belongs to Nigeria.
The group made the remark while
faulting the Presidency over its reason why the Presidential jet was retained
in London while Buhari undergoes medical treatment.
Recall that Buhari’s
spokesperson, Garba Shehu had on Thursday explained that the Presidential
jet was retained in London due to, “protocol, national security, diplomacy
and prestige.”
Shehu had also added that, “no
world leader who travels abroad and is left without plans for immediate return
or possible evacuation.”
Reacting to the reasons given,
the human right group said it makes more economic sense to park the
Presidential jet in Abuja the political soul of Nigeria.
It noted that in over a century,
there has not been any antecedent whereby a leader of, “a sovereign state would
be flown to a faraway sovereign nation in another continent and such an ailing
President spends incredible amount of time receiving medical help whilst the
Presidential jet maintained at public costs would be parked at a foreign
aviation facility to accumulate huge bills which the national fund would be
deployed to offset.”
The right body challenged the
Presidency to disclose to Nigerians any evidence of this kind of prolonged
medical sojourn abroad by any political leader of a country to justify his
claim that the practice was a global standard.
HURIWA maintained that there is
no global best practice that prescribes that a nation’s ruling political “elite
can ruin the domestic health sector to necessitate a seemingly endless medical
tourism by members of the political class on public expenses including
President Muhammadu Buhari who has spent cumulatively over 100 working days
convalescing in a British medical facility at serious financial and logistical
costs to the ever shrinking public treasury of Nigeria.”
A statement signed by the group’s National Coordinator, Comrade Emmanuel Onwubiko and the National Media Affairs Director Miss Zainab Yusuf, reads, “HURIWA thinks we should be ashamed of ourselves that we can’t get the best of medical facilities in Nigeria due to prolonged period of mismanagement and organized robbery of public assets by successive and current politicians instead of attempting to tie a wool of confusion and half baked media propaganda on gullible citizens by rationalizing over a practice that has no global best practice or historical antecedents “.
Observing that the Head of State
of Vatican city, Pope Francis, who administers a Sovereign entity and the Prime
minister of United kingdom, UK, Theresa May patronize commercial airlines which
are cheaper, HURIWA wondered why a poor and “foreign aids dependent nation like
Nigeria can embark on such a ruthless spending free of frittering millions of
foreign currencies to sponsor medical tourism of the President.”
It also wondered why Nigerian
Government would accumulate huge expenses in parking the Presidential jet idly
for many days and even maintain the accommodation of a retinue of pilot and
flight attendants attached to the Presidential fleets.
The group reminded the
Presidential spokesman that David Cameron as Premier of Britain was
photographed taking a ride on a public underground train.
HURIWA insisted that the
Presidential jet if parked in Abuja will costs nothing and that it will take
few hours to be flown to the UK any moment the ailing President recuperates and
wishes to be flown home.
“The other time, did the Acting President Professor Yemi Osinbanjo not fly into Italy for the G7 global summit on migration of Africans and jetted back home the same day?
“Why waste scarce public fund to park the jet belonging to Nigeria in London to await the President as if public property has now become a family property?
“This is corruption of the severest type when public property is used recklessly just like a privately owned asset by the occupant of the office of Nigeria President.
“We regret to state that there is no such antecedent whereby a national leader who embodies the national sovereignty of his country would patronize a foreign Medicare at grave costs to public treasury and to therefore seek to justify or rationalize the callous extravagance of parking the Presidential jet of Nigeria in a foreign territory for as long as one hundred days is absolutely unacceptable and must be halted.
“Let the Presidential jet be retrieved and return to the Presidential wing of the Nnamdi Azikiwe International Airport Abuja Nigeria until such a time the President is prepared to return to work when hopefully he would have regained his health,” it said.
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Please let the Minister of Health resign if he cannot guarantee the president health facility in Nigeria. What is the faith of ordinary man who rely on taking traditional herbs and God 9r prayers of faith?
ReplyDeleteVery soon you bury your head in shame, all the looting in past years you are sleeping that is why we didnot hear you, those your cronies who looted in past tell them to bring back nigerian monies.
ReplyDeletethis is a true talk. the presidential jet need to be brought back to Nigeria to cut cost.
ReplyDeleteThis zali of a human being. I guess you are a young person below 40yrs of age. Do you honestly think that from the way events are going on in Nigeria, there is hope for Nigeria that will guarantee a good and quality life like most countries with the same natural resources like Nigeria in the next 40yrs? Pls coment to put those in authority under pressure to do the right thing. Am from south east but I supported buhari against seversl warnings from friends and colleagues wen I saw d volume of corruption in d last government. But I will not fail to condem buhari govt wen they are not doing the rights. So pls have an open mind. Biko
ReplyDeleteWhy waste Ur precious time on that Rakumi called Zali? He is and will remain a Book Haramist and an Almajiri in his blood filled Garin Kano.
DeleteIt is really pathetic that a nation like Nigeria will be going through things like this in the hands of 'saint' Buhari. I believe people can now see the highest level of corruption and oppression.
ReplyDeleteCould any other president (especially a southern one) have done this and gotten away with it without people like Buhari making so much trouble? I doubt it.
God help and deliver Nigeria from every form of wickedness