Abuja – 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. Buhari and Obasanjo heads on 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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