Gives
reasons he stopped visits to London By Levinus Nwabughiogu I ABUJA— President
Muhammadu Buhari, yesterday, said his commitment to better the lots of the
citizenry was the main reason he would not take more rest after his return from
London on medical vacation.
This
came as the President ordered the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and Finance
Ministry to immediately release the second tranche of London-Paris Club refunds
to state governments, as a way of helping them meet with their financial
responsibilities.
The President was reacting to suggestions by
state governors that he took a little more rest, as he narrated his experience
in London. He also said he turned down requests for him to be visited in London
because he wanted to avoid moving government abroad.
President
Buhari, who spoke when he made a sudden appearance at the National Economic
Council, NEC, meeting at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, walked into the meeting
at exactly 12:30 p.m. Muhammadu Buhari Journalists were later excused from the
hall. A statement issued later by Senior Special Assistant to the President on
Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said President Buhari made a strong
case for settlement of unpaid salaries and pension liabilities of workers in
states.
“I
will not rest until I address those issues that affect our people. One of these
basic things is the issue of salaries. It is most important that workers are
able to feed their families, pay rent and school fees, then other things can
follow,” he said. Buhari, who expressed delight at the unity within the
Nigerian Governors Forum, NGF, also thanked them for their display of “love and
respect” for him.
Gives
reasons he stopped visits to London The President said he was overwhelmed by
his recent experience in which states, irrespective of political differences,
charged their citizens to pray in mosques and churches for his well-being and
apologized to the governors for barring them from visits to him while he rested
in London. “I didn’t want government to move to London; I wanted it to remain here
and I am glad I did,” he said.
After narrating what he went through during
his vacation, President Buhari noted the suggestion by the governors for him to
take more rest but insisted that he would remain relentless in the pursuit of
the interest of the Nigerian people at all times.
This,
according to him, is the only way to show his gratitude to the people who, he
said, had given so much to him ‘’I was overwhelmed by the celebration of my
return across the country,’’ the President said. Chairman of the Nigerian
Governors Forum, Abdul-Aziz Yari of Zamfara State, assured the President, on
behalf of his colleagues, that they would continue to support his policies and
actions.
In response to the kind gestures of the
President, the governors of Imo, Akwa Ibom, Osun and Abia states thanked
President Buhari for saving the day for states through the first tranche of the
London-Paris Club refunds, while calling for the immediate release of the
second one. They also commended the trust the President reposed in the
Vice-President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo, who they said did not disappoint when
he acted as President.
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