President Muhammadu Buhari Thursday describe as shameful the recent political killings in Rivers state as a result of the rerun elections ordered by the Court of Appeal, adding that more Nigerians have been killed in Rivers than another state in the country.
The President who spoke at the National Executive Council meeting of the All Progressives Congress (APC) revealed that the government has saved over N3 trillion through its Treasury Single Account policy, while that the list of money recovered by government through the ongoing anti corruption crusade will soon be made public.
The President also said it was regrettable that the nation failed to save for the rainy days when oil sold for above 100 dollars, pointing out that at the moment, about 27 states in the country are not able to pay the salaries of their workers as and when due.
Buhari who expressed sadness over the violence that characterized elections in the country appealed to security agents in the country to try and give Nigerians the confidence to go out and perform their constitutional responsibility without molestation, adding that even though the leadership of INEC has been changed, he has shown that he has a lot of respect for them and the security agents.
He said: “Of course, the leadership of INEC has been changed, but I appeal to the leadership of the military, security agents and INEC that what I want Nigerians to remember me for, even if I have to leave the Presidency tomorrow is that I respect them.
“I want all Nigerians to believe and hold their PVC as personal entitlement as Nigerians and use it the way the like, and vote for whoever they like at which ever election. If they voluntarily sold it, it is part of their right and so, let them sell it and remain at home and not participate in any election.
“But let the law enforcement agencies give them the confidence that nobody will come out who has money to hire thugs, give them drugs and stop them from exercising their fundamental right.
“I am afraid I did not succeed in the election in Kogi, Bayelsa, Rivers. I think that more Nigerians are killed or killed themselves in Rivers than in any particular state. At this stage of our political development, to remain brutal is shameful and as a government, I promise we will do something by the next general election.”
Speaking on the economy, he said: “the fall of oil prices after Nigeria has made itself a mono economy is a disaster. I wonder why people could not believe that in Nigeria; about 27 out of 36 states have difficulty in paying basic salaries of their workers.
“If from 1999, oil sold above 100 dollars per barrel with an export of about 2 million barrel per day, how come Nigeria failed to make some arrangement to cushion the effect of a probably volatile oil market? Again, it shows failure of the last administration.
“But we are now to pick the pieces as an APC government and so, there is no need complaining, but let us concentrate and see how much we can do with whatever remains of the economy.
“However, we realized that agriculture and solid minerals are two areas that can quickly come to help us to recover economically, at least in terms of employment and feeding ourselves and more importantly, saving the hard currency to make sure that what is left our industries remain open, employing Nigerians and producing goods and services which is very important.
“The policy we are trying to implement is TSA. When we insist that we have to know what comes in and what goes out for us to make a comprehensive amendment to the economy.
“If you go and see the Central Bank Governor, he will tell you that in the TSA, we have more than N3 trillion. Where would this money have been if TSA was not in vogue? I was made to understand that vouchers would have quickly been raised towards the end of the financial year and checks made. Whether they are going into projects or private pockets, nobody can prove it to you.
“But that money is there, it is identified, if is quantified and when the budget comes back eventually, the Ministry of finance will see how to allocate it to the rest of the country.
“We have tried to make sure that NNPC is reorganized, so that we know how much of our crude is taken, how much it is sold and to which account the money is going.
“But I tell you that up to the time we came, if anybody told you that he knows how much of crude is exchanges hands either on the high sea or reaching their destination and the accounts the money goes into, that person is not telling you the truth.
“We are getting the cooperation of countries that has received this crude. But we have to be sure of the facts in our hands before we start prosecution so that Nigerians will believe what we have been telling them.”
On the fight against corruption, President Buhari said: “I was telling a British team that came to supervise the training team they sent that when I was in uniform, we took the perceived corrupt ones and put them in safe custody and quietly told them they were guilty until they can prove themselves innocent.
“But now under multiparty democratic system, I see some of them ride flashy cars, some of them have built estates here, but they are innocent until we can prove them guilty. This situation is true and you don’t need to stress your imagination to find out.
“If you can find out, you discover that a level eight officer has five houses, while you, as a Permanent Secretary or Commissioner still living in a rented house. That is the credible thing to do now.
“We have to get credible evidence to carry our successful prosecution and get judgment from the judiciary. But effort is being made to give a list of recoveries in whatever currencies so far so that Nigerians will know that it is not all about long stories”.
While assuring Nigerians that the government was winning on war against insurgency, he said “we have made progress. It was a very courageous decision that the party took and executed by the Executive by removing most of the military hierarchy and appointing those to take over from them, acquiring some new hard and soft ware and raising the moral of the military to go secure the rest of the country which was then 14 out of 774 local government.
“I have said it often that as far as I know and the service Chiefs who are on ground, they are not holding any local government. But the still have some capability especially on soft target by using technology.
“For Niger Delta, the militants are sending some conflicting messages. Some have said they are ready to drop their arms and join the rest of the nation to build it. But part of them is still sabotaging installations which are making investments in that lucrative area of Nigeria difficult because nobody will submit his riches to financial institutions; get money only to suffer huge loss.
“So, the environment for investment is being sabotaged by our own selves, Nigerians. We are doing our begs with the military by trying to persuade them to join the rest of the country because in unity lies our strength.
Turning to the party, President Buhari said: “I will like you to continue to make sacrifice. I know you are being harassed since the election that they haven’t seen anything on the ground. Well, if you have any explanation that could be accepted, is that you have three more years to go.
“When we came in after 16 years if PDP, each government had 42 ministries. We reduced them to 24, removed 21 Permanent Secretaries. We sat down and reflected seriously. We were all in the process of taking over at a time of national budget.
“So, imagine the volume of work and with what happened in the National Assembly, the padding, it would appear that below the Permanent Secretaries, there are still a lot of bureaucracies that are still with them. So, you have to appreciate the position we are in.
“Having cut 42 to 24, correspondingly, the parastatals will be cut down to some size and realigned and the boards reconstituted. We gave a blanket order which we had to rescind when we said all boards are suspended or dissolved.
“We had to go back and lick our vomit in terms of university boards because we found out that according to their laws, they cannot choose Vice Chancellors unless the Boards seat down, interview prospective candidates who wants to be VCs. So, there is nothing wrong in saying sorry and going back on your decision. So, we said sorry and allow all the universities to continue with their boards. But for the rest, eventually, we will make it. So, please, try to bear with us as we reflect on where we found ourselves.
“For globetrotting, sometimes, you need to present your case on personal basis to your economic colleagues and neighbors. Nothing is better than personal touch and I believe that we are learning a lot and eventually, the nation will realized so, I don’t envy you on the harassment you are going through from your constituencies. Take it with a lot of determination and we will be all right God willing”.
National Chairman of the party, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun said naturally, this would have been the time to roll out the drums and celebrate loudly, adding that being a government and a party that is responsive, “we are very well aware of the hardships in the land and for that reason, it should be a period of introspection, a period for memories and a period for reminiscences.
“The problems we have are well known, of course originating from two well known factors, our squandered patrimony of course, the unfortunate coincidence of the collapse of the price of crude. Nevertheless, inspite of these hardships, our government has recorded strides that are worth mentioning, that are worth celebrating and that are worth noting.
“No question at all, that the vigorous and focused leadership provided in the fight against insurgency has yielded results that we all, as a nation, must be proud of. The insurgents have been deprived of the possibility of ever again, holding Nigerian territory and hoisting any of their dastardly flags.
“We have other issues like the TSA, and what it has done for our states even though temporarily and of course, Mr President’s shuttle diplomacy, which as we can see, is gradually beginning to stabilize. The oil market, the price of crude is gradually beginning to crawl persistently, slowly but upwards.
“It is true, these are hard times, but hard times create challenges. Challenges call for men and women to agree in leadership, united, focused, passionate in the policies that they stand for, which means that this party must rediscover itself, which means that this party must stand as one behind the success of our president and of the policies that we stand for and of the promises he has made to the Nigerian people.
“This also means that this is a time to stand together, which means that this is a time to rededicate ourselves and the party to the vision to which the people of this nation voted. We must leave this arena once more as a strong, united fighting force dedicated to delivering on the promises made by Mr. President to the Nigerian people.”
