President Muhammadu Buhari
The Presidency has responded to opinions by critics who believe President Muhammadu Buhari was not in control of his administration.
In a communique on Sunday, the Presidency through the Senior Special Assistant, Media and Publicity to the Muhammadu Buhari, Garba Shehu said “The fact that these baseless and appallingly mischievous attacks can freely be aired is itself evidence of the right to freedom of expression prevailing in the country today”.
“An entrenched culture of dissent in our country is not something that anyone, not least a Buhari Presidency wants to stamp down”.
Mr Shehu noted that sometimes, “we are forced to wonder whether some writers are mindful of the implication of words for the strategic and territorial interests of the nation”.
“Whether it is Ibrahim Magu, Godswill Akpabio, NDDC, NSITF, and the others, Nigerians are bound to hold differing opinions, write letters, opinion columns, editorials, and even stage lawful protests.
“What is sometimes worrisome is that several of these comments, disguised as objective criticisms are merely speaking the language of the opposition-the people who ruined the country during their 16 years of corruption on an industrial scale”.
“These detractors pick up isolated issues like the ones in the EFCC, NDDC, and incidents of crime and corruption which have been with the country for years, and without any serious effort to uncover them, paint them a phenomenon orchestrated and happening because President Buhari’s administration has decided to pursue cases of suspected wrongdoing in the anti-corruption agency, pension funds, NDDC and other government agencies.
“But the government was the first to point out the obvious embarrassment that potential acts of wrongdoing by the EFCC leadership would cause the administration”.
The question to ask is: did they expect the President to draw a curtain over these suspected scandals by not ordering audits and investigations? And for them to turn around to accuse him of a cover-up?
“To do a cover-up and not order audits and investigations as the President did would amount to a historic betrayal of the mandate and the faith placed in him by the Nigerian people.”
According to Mr Shehu, President Buhari is determined not to be diverted by unfounded attacks, neither would he compromise the sacred mandate of Nigerians.
“He is determined to get justice for Nigerians on all these corruption cases being pursued,” the spokesman noted.
The spokesman added that President Buhari’s integrity, uprightness, and probity are intact and well known. Let us remind these so-called editorial writers that ECOWAS, Africa Union, and the international community at large recognized President Buhari as Champion of the Anti-Corruption fight in Africa.
