President Muhammadu
Buhari has said that his government cannot afford to pay forty-two ministers
and that not all ministerial nominees screened by the Senate will have
portfolios.
The President also
said that Nigeria has been ‘material and morally vandalized’ and that he will
reduce the numbers of ministries.
President Muhammadu Buhari
Buhari in an interview with Channels TV and Nigerian Television Authority, NTA, in New Delhi in India said that he is working with people introduced to him by others that he trust and must work with them.
Buhari while reacting
to a question on the divide in the National Assembly over Rotimi Amaechi’s confirmation
as minister said he did not work into the presidency alone hence he can not
work alone and that some of those having problems at the National Assembly he
had never met them.
‘This is team work, I
said I know some people but there are others, I accepted from other people that
I trust without even knowing them.’
‘May be those that are
having problems in the National Assembly I doubt if I have met them in my life
but then, I am working with others.’
‘I did not work into
the presidency alone. I have to defend all the three tiers of government from
all parts of the country.’
Backing his 36
Minister nominees Buhari said that he cannot work out outside the constitution
and that ministers must be appointed in conformity with the constitution of the
Federal Government that stipulates that ministerial appointment must
reflect the 36 states of the country.
And that these
minister nominees though representing their states some will not have
portfolios but will be part of his cabinet.
‘We can not work
outside the constitution there must be a cabinet representative from each
state.’
‘There use to be forty
two ministers but I think we can barely keep half of that now because we cannot
afford it.
‘Others may not be
substantive ministers but they will sit in the cabinet because that is what the
constitution said and we can’t operate outside the constitution’
‘We are reducing the
number of ministries we can’t afford to pay.’
‘Where is the money?
Do you know the Federal Government has to help twenty seven states out of
thirty six to pay salaries?.’
‘Nigeria can not pay
salaries Nigeria had to summon the Governor of the Central Bank to see how it
could pay salaries not to talk of projects, agreement signed with foreign
countries, counter funding and so on. The country was material vandalized and
morally so.’
On his ambition to see
that the dreaded Boko Haram group is crushed by December the president said
that his is optimistic on the capability of the military and other government
agencies in crushing the terrorists and as he feels sorry for those who think
otherwise or have given up on winning the war against terrorist.
‘I am an optimistic
person. I am sorry for those who have already given up. I remain confident that
our military and other law enforcement agencies are more than equal to the
task.’
‘Don’t forget that I
made an earlier statement to the effect that the Nigerian military and police
earned accolades all over the world: Liberia, Sierra Leone, Sudan.’
“They earned
international respect and then here you are, the Nigerian military and other law
enforcement agencies could not secure 14 local governments out of 774 until the
government was changed.’
Further more on how he
feels when critics say he is being selective in the fight against corruption
Buhari said that anyone who is not corrupt should not be afraid rather they
should encourage him to go headlong with the fight.
‘…if they are not
involve in corruption they won’t mind they would encourage us to get whoever
compromised his position in the trust being given on to him. I see it in the
papers, watch it on screen but I have never lost a sleep on it because those
that are not corrupt should even encourage us to do more. But those that are
interested in the safety of those that have abused trust in the country office
will go to any length including bribing people to give false information and so
on.’
He went on to say that
he is not being selective in his fight against corruption and that any bdy
caught will be prosecuted for Nigerians to see.
‘Whoever is caught the
document use in incriminating him or her will be use to prosecute him for
Nigerians to know who has abused thrust’
On how he want to
remembered the president said that ‘if we survived it I want Nigerian to have
found out that I was genuine,a real patriot not that I only fought the Civil
war but fought corruption to a stand still’.
Source: Vanguard
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