13th July, 2015
Malam Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President on media and publicity has stated categorically that President Munammadu Buhari is not a Baba-Go-Slow, noting that, Nigerians are only misunderstanding his strategy and approach to ‘Change’.
Shehu said this in Abuja, Nigeria’s capital while fielding questions from journalists.
He stated that the perception by some Nigerians at home and abroad that the President is slow in effecting change is misunderstood as he was taking his time to sort out the huge mess left behind by the Goodluck Jonathan administration.
He said Buhari had been busy working out an action plan that would include “taming the monster of corruption, assets recovery and making the power sector functional”.
“When people say the President is slow in effecting change, I will say it depends on what the people think is more important for the country. Those who feel the most important thing that Buharri ought to do is appointment would naturally feel disappointed. There are those who think he has problems of security to solve. You know that in the last one month, he has broken the Boko Haram rank and it is in disarray now. The central command has scattered. What you have now are splinters on a vengeance mission, creating havoc wherever they can.
“Those people who feel the war against corruption is key know that Buhari has started already. When last did you see this kind of high profile prosecutions? This thug stopped half-way through President Olusegun Obasanjo’s tenure. So, this war against corruption is being renewed all over again and people can see it. Whether it’s assets recovery or any other matter, it is ongoing,” he said.
He noted that Buhari was concentrating on ensuring regular power supply to help small and medium scale business thrive. “Then there is the issue of the economy with power being a major focus. Without power, you cannot get anywhere. So, the President is putting together an action plan that excludes corruption, that cleanses the rot that he met on the ground, particularly the oil sector. You just cannot believe the kind of mess that the previous government left behind.
“Oil theft would end because the President is going to plug the loopholes. Do you know that, for the first time, somebody said at the governors’ meeting with the President that that was the first time they were being told how much had come into the treasury? Before now, they would probably be told what was on the table and they’d just share it. Now, transparency, which has never been with us, has come. There is so much openness now,” he said.