Buhari reveals why he stopped Femi Adesina from replying Obasanjo's letter

President Muhammadu Buhari said he stopped his
spokesperson Femi Adesina from replying a letter
written by Olusegun Obasanjo to criticize the
government
- The president said the minister of information and
culture, Lai Mohammed, disobeyed him to reply the
same letter
- He added that the minister, however, did a good job
in his reply to the former president
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.
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.
Adegokblog .com earlier reported that former president,
Olusegun Obasanjo, has alleged that there is a
plot by the President Muhammadu Buhari
administration to detain him indefinitely based
on false charges.
Obasanjo in a statement by his media aide,
Kehinde Akinyemi, on Friday, June 8, claimed
that the government was planning to use fake
documents and witnesses against him.

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