Nigerians React to President Buhari’s First Media Chat – 2

Honest truth: Top quotes from President Buhari’s first media chat – PUNCH

President Muhammadu Buhari held his first Presidential Media Chat on Wednesday fielding questions about some of the key issues in the country from the whereabouts of the Chibok girls, the Nigerian Army-Shiites clash and pressure to devalue the naira.

Here are some key comments by the President: 

On the clash between Shi’ites and the Nigerian Army in Zaria and his silence

i. I have allowed the army and the Kaduna State government to come up with their reports before I come out to speak on the clash. This does not mean that the police and the DSS are not doing their part.

ii. The situation in Zaria is very serious… How can one group create a state within a state?

On the state of tertiary institutions

I don’t like the idea of University students sitting on windows to receive lectures.

On whether he actually promised to pay unemployed youths N5,000

I cannot come here and deny that.

Foreign exchange restrictions

I. We need power, railways, roads… These are our priorities; not people looking for money to bring in rice (to the country).

II.Foreign exchange will be made available to the productive sector of the economy and not for luxury items.

On calls for the devaluation of the naira

I need to be convinced about devaluing the naira.

On asset declaration

I declared my assets four times… I don’t have to ask them (Code of Conduct Bureau) to give you the asset declaration… You have a constitutional right to the documents.

On the continued bomb attacks in parts of the North-East

I. The Hijab will have to be banned if this (the suicide bombing) continues.

On the debate about fuel subsidy

By the end of the next quarter, we will not be talking about subsidy. How much is the price of fuel (in the international market) now?

Reported plans by the National Assembly to spend billions on cars

I cannot see the National Assembly spending N45bn to buy cars on top of the transport allowance they collect.

On the pace of the anti-corruption war

I. Our major constraint is that accused person must go to court first and under such circumstances, we cannot prejudge what the courts will do but there are documents and how the government will react through the Ministry of Justice will determine what we will do because what we are going so we cannot determine issues while they are still in court.

II.  If any member of my cabinet is corrupt, I will sack the person.

III. Members of the cabinet are supposed to declare their assets.

On whether funds have been recovered from looters

I. Money has been recovered but the fact that whatever we recover will end up in court because Nigerians will always want to know the truth and the truth will be what the courts have discovered by the submission made to them in terms of bank statements where money was recovered, where money was lodged, when it was lodged, how it was lodged whether it was money from petrol, customs and excise or money directly from the Central Bank. When we do that I think Nigerians will feel a bit better.

II. It is a very nasty situation that we are in, but we cannot fold our hands and not do anything; we are doing our best.

Chibok girls

We are keeping our options open. We are prepared to negotiate with Boko Haram for the girls… There is no firm intelligence where those girls physically are and what conditions they are in but what we learnt from our intelligence is that they (terrorists) kept on shifting them around so that they are not taken by surprise and they get freed. And a whole lot of them are not in one place and we don’t know how many divisions they have and where they are. There is no intelligence to say that the girls are alive and in one place. That is the honest truth.

On the agitation for Biafra over alleged marginalisation

We have Boko Haram and then Biafra. Help me define the extent of marginalisation. Who is marginalising them? Why? How? Do you know? … The constitution said there must be a minister from each state. Who is the Minister of Petroleum? Is he not Igbo? Who is the Governor of Central Bank? Is he not Igbo? Who is the Minister of Labour? Who is the Minister of Science and Technology? Who is the junior minister of education?

On the continued detention of suspected looters and alleged violation of court orders by the DSS

You can see the type atrocities that those people committed against soldiers and the country. The former president goes to the governor of the Central Bank and say, ‘give N40bn to so, so, so… And then he fails to account for it and you allow him to go and see his daughter in London while and you have two million people in IDPs, half of them don’t even know their parents. Which kind of country do you want to run?

And the one you are calling Kanu. Do you know he has two passports – one Nigerian, one British – and he came to this country without any passport?… There are criminal allegations against him and I hope the court will listen to the case.

BUHARI’S MEDIA CHART RATED AS INCOHERENT, INAUDIBLE, UNPREPARED, UNINFORMED, DISAPPOINTING AND UNINSPIRING – Onwuasoanya Jones.

“Considering that our President is not made for this time, he can be forgiven for his inability to inspire with his first ever media chat as President.

“I am only disappointed because it took my dear President seven good months to prepare for this drab outing. He exposed himself as someone who is not in grasp of contemporary governance and worst, as a President who does not understand the workings of his own country. He is just there, watching like all of us.

“How do you explain it away that our President does not know what devaluation of the Naira really implies. In response to the question on the chances of devaluing the Naira, my President gave a response that qualifies as one of the most embarrassing responses from any President.

“He told the panel that he does not know which currency to devalue the Naira against. Is it the Dollar, Yuan or Pounds? This response kills every doubt that our own country is heading for the gutters, if nothing urgent is done.

“Also on the very important question of whether he has received any intelligence as regards the status of the Chibok Girls, my President told the world that he will be relying on information from a ‘credible’ Boko Haram leadership to know if these Chibok girls are still alive or not. How can a country as big as Nigeria depend on terrorists for simple intelligence gathering?

“It is unfortunate that as soft as these questions are, our President is obviously uncomfortable with them and cannot wait for the camera to be off, for him to query Femi Adesina for putting him through this punishment.” 

Subjudice comments on Nnamdi Kanu – Daniel Elombah

What Do The Igbos Want – Buhari 

President Muhammadu Buhari has queried the rationale behind the on going protest and agitation for Biafra republic.

Speaking during his maiden media chat on Wednesday December 30 , President Buhari insisted that the igbos are not being marginalised in his government as insinuated in some quarters.

Buhari who maintained he is not worried about the agitation said the people claiming to be marginalised have not defined how they are being marginalised

”Why does it have to worry me, when I have militants, Boko Haram and other. They said they are being marginalsed but they haven’t defined the extent of their marginalisation. Who marginalised them? How? Where? Do you know?,” he queried

Buhari further said he is obliged by the constitution to chose ministers from each state.

”Who is the minister of state for petroleum, is he not Igbo? Who is the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria? Is he not Igbo? Who is minister of labour, science and technology?What do the Igbos want?,” he questioned.

The president revealed that Nnamdi Kanu has both Nigerian and British passport and didn’t use either in entering into the country.“There’s a treasonable charge against Kanu and I hope the court will listen to the case against him. Do you know Kanu brought in sophisticated weapon into the country?.”They say they are marginalized. But they haven’t defined the marginalisation.Who is marginalizing them?Where?,’‘ he questioned further.

The president however tasked the media to do more investigative journalism so as to unravel the truth.

As reported by Naij,com

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Let me comment only on the legal angle and leave the rest: 

If Buhari is the British PM and made the above statement “[Do you know Kanu brought in sophisticated weapon into the country?”] the prosecutions case against Nnamdi Kanu would have been irreparably damaged and the court will have no choice than to throw the matter out!