President Muhammadu Buhari says
he stopped his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity Femi Adesina from
replying former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s letter against his administration
because of Adesina’s age.
The president explained the
reasons when members of Buhari Support Organisation visited him at the
Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday night.
Buhari explained further that the
second reason why he deemed right not to reply the letter was that he and the
former president were from the same (military) constituency.
He, however, noted that Minister
of Information and Culture Lai Mohammed, who “disobeyed’’ him not to reply the
letter, did a good job.
He observed that the reply by the
minister showed Nigerians the realities on ground when the present
administration assumed office in 2015 and its ongoing efforts to revive the
inherited damaged economy.
“I really appreciate how you
choose this time during Ramadan to come from across the country to see and
congratulate me for what we were able to do.
“We were constraint to explain
our position when the former head of state wrote a letter; Adesina was agitated
and wanted to immediately reply; I stopped him for two reasons; first, he was
much younger than me and Gen. Obasanjo.
“Secondly, I am from the same
constituent with Gen. Obasanjo; so, I wouldn’t know how it will affect him if I
allow him to go wild or to go public, but when Lai Mohammed came, I said he
shouldn’t and he insisted. He disobeyed me.
“He said I must allow him to
talk; then, of course, being a professionally information person, I listened to
him and asked him what are going to say.
“He said he was going to remind
Nigerians where we found ourselves when we came in as a government, where we
are now, what we have done in between with the resources available to us.
“And I understand he did a good
job because a number of people rang me and said Lai Mohammed has done a good
job because I went public in several times.
“I said it is on record and I
challenged anybody to check from Europe, United States and Asia that between
1999 and 2014 the 16 years of previous administration there was an average of
2.1 million per day of crude oil at the average cost of 100 dollars per
barrel,’’ he said.
The president said that he
deliberately refused to replace the Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria when
his administration took over the mantle of leadership of the country because he
wanted to give him the opportunity to salvage the economy from its terrible
condition.
Buhari, who thanked his teachers
during his primary school days for their efforts to inculcate good morale to
him and his mates, stated that his administration would continue to invest
heavily in education to correct social ills in the society.
He said further that his
administration had resolved to put money in the area of infrastructural
development to address infrastructural deficits and subsequently ensure speedy
socio-economic transformation of the country.
“It is now that we are struggling
to put the structure on the ground — the roads — to revive the rail and do the
standard gauge and try to spend objectively on power.
“If we put money in
infrastructure, it will create employment opportunities and then Nigerians will
mind their own businesses, they wouldn’t even mind what the government is doing
once the infrastructure is there,’’ he said.
The president, therefore,
reassured Nigerians that his administration would continue to spend more funds
to upgrade the nation’s infrastructural facilities.
He said that the government had
also expended more than N1.3 trillion on capital projects across the country.
According to him, the government
will continue to ensure financial discipline, accountability and effective
supervision of government spending to have solid infrastructure to enable the
youth to achieve their missions and objectives in life.
He thanked the members of the
organisation for their support and sacrifices, noting that none of them had
ever made any specific demand from him.
In his remarks, the leader of the
organisation, Sen. Abba Ali, who narrated the achievements of the Buhari
administration in the last three years, said they were on solidarity visit to
the president to further reassure him of their support.
He said that the organisation had
established offices in all the 36 states and 774 local government areas of the
country, while efforts were being made to ensure the re-election of the
president in 2019.
Mrs Paulina Tallen, a member of
the Board of Trustees of the organisation, who spoke at the event, assured the
president that women would massively vote for him and other candidates of the
All Progressives Congress in the 2019 general elections.
She, nonetheless, called on the
president to bring more qualified women politicians and professionals in
government to address the perceived marginalisation of women by APC-led
administration in the country.
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He replied him with your permition. Don't deceive us
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