President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday met with the Vice President, Yemi Osinbajo and state governors at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The meeting, which took place in the Council Chamber, started immediately after the President observed his jumaat prayer in a mosque beside his office.
Some of the Muslim governors also joined the President for the prayer.
During the meeting, which included governors from all the major political parties, the President commended Osinbajo for running the country with intellect in his absence.
He said: “I have just addressed members of APC and PDP senior officials that came to welcome me back. I thank you very much for the national approach in your leadership, those who are leader at political level and those who are chief executives in their respective states.
“I had so much time to watch television, especially NTA 24. I heard so much information about the states. I am very pleased with the states, you are all doing your best and you are lucky. Your best is proving to be good enough on agriculture and solid minerals. You are succeeding in agriculture because I think people cannot afford foreign food.”
“The devaluation of the naira is not our making. It may not favour us, but it is something we cannot change. Some people were asking me if we should be more strict on the borders, but I want to thank God last year and this year is better than what it used to be.”
“The efforts of the vice president are commendable. He used his intellect to run all over the place. I was seeing him 24 hours on NTA.
“I congratulate them and I allowed him to come and see me to thank him personally for what he has done.”
The President said he was very happy with the national prayers that were held for him, noting that they crossed various religions and ethnicity.
On the protesters abroad who called for his resignation or for him to return to Nigeria, he said: “In fact some groups in London came and sang the national anthem and asked that I should go back home, indeed I have come back home. I hope those who went there are not stuck there, they will come back and join us.
“Those that are stuck there with the Brexit, I hope they have weighed the implications that it won’t affect them including those that have properties there and those who are not paying tax here.
“I hope when they sale their properties there they will bring some of the money here. We need it very badly here.
“I thank you very much. My morale has been raised greatly by the love shown to me and the security of the country.”
Speaking on behalf of the governors, the Chairman of the Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Abdulaziz Yari, commended the President for always bailing the governors out of economic challenges.
He noted that many states at the inception of this administration owed up to 28 months workers’ salaries.
He said the consistent release of bailouts have assisted states to clear salary backlogs.
On his part, Ebonyi State Governor, Dave Umahi, assured President Buhari of the governors’ support in the bid to transform the country.
He also commended the President for always treating governors equally, irrespective of party affiliations.
Speaking with State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Kogi State Governor, Yahaya Bello, said: “First of all we thank God Almighty, we thank the good people of Nigeria and those outside the country who stood firm behind Mr. President and the country.
“Our President went to take care of his heath and now he is back healthy and healthier than before. We are here to appreciate him. We thank almighty God that he is back safely. We equally thank his able lieutenant, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, who held the country firm in his absence.
“That is the demonstration of team work. It has equally shown that Nigerians selected the best and elected the best in 2015 general election and today Nigeria is better for it.
“We thank people across the world who really stood firm behind the country in the absence of Mr. President. He is back and we are celebrating life. We are celebrating health.”
