We’re already working – APC

The government of the All Progressives Congress (APC) under President Muhammadu Buhari is neither sleeping on guard nor bereft of ideas as being insinuated in some quarters, but already at work to deliver on its mandate, Lai Mohammed, national pub- licity secretary of the party, has said.

Speaking with journalists in Lagos Tuesday, Mohammed said that while some people were engaging themselves in idle talk, President Buhari was busy making efforts to chart a new path for “our dear country, Nigeria.”

“It’s been about one month now since President Buhari assumed office, and I can tell you that there has been motion, and there has been movement, con- trary to what is being peddled in some quarters,” he insisted.

“Since President Buhari’s election on March 28, 2015, Nigeria has been moving fast to regain its deserved place in the comity of respected nations. Leaders who once shunned Nigeria have been inviting, in droves, President Buhari to visit their countries. The latest is US President Barack Obama, who will play host to our President at the White House on July 20. There is no better indication of how much Nigeria is regaining its lost glory than the recent election of former Agriculture minister Akinwumi Adesina as the President of the African Development Bank (AfDB),” he added.

The publicity secretary, who said that the expectations of Nigerians for an urgent change was not lost on the party, said: “Justifiably, the expectations are high and urgent, and the Buhari administration has started ad- dressing them, despite the enor- mous challenges that it faces, including an empty treasury and an economy that has virtually collapsed.

“While Nigerians are right to demand quick and sustained action in addressing these challenges and honestly, we make no excuses it is important for us to put things in perspective for a better understanding.”

According to him, “The Buhari administration got the handover notes from the former government just four days before the inauguration, hampering its efforts to have a clear understanding of the situation on ground before taking the necessary measures to address it. If any disease is not appropriately diagnosed, it cannot be effectively treated. Any government that is truly desirous of bringing about real change will not act hastily and without the necessary understanding of what is on ground. Coupled with the delay in getting the much needed information, that takes time.”

Mohammed, who took time to answer several questions put to him by journalists, said: “Recall that when we raised the alarm over the delay in getting the handover notes, the former government even accused us of
seeking to form a parallel government! Secondly, Nigeria has never before witnessed this kind of transition.

What the country has been accustomed to is tran- sition from one government to another under the same rul- ing party, not from the ruling party to the opposition as we have now.

The implication is that this is a new learning curve, with its attendant hiccups.

“Thirdly, never before has the ship of Nigerian state been steered aground as we have it now. Never before have Nigeri- ans been this expectant from any leader or any government. These are all the more reasons to get things right, once and for all, so we won’t need to continue with the vicious cycle of hopes raised and dashed!

“Even with these challenges, the Buhari administration has availed itself creditably within one month of assuming office- tackling insecurity and fight against terrorism.

This is one area in which the Buhari admin- istration has hit the ground running.

The President had hardly been sworn into office than he embarked on a shuttle diplomacy to rally Nigeria’s neighbors to act as a common front against the terror group Boko Haram.

The President travelled to Chad and Niger, and then hosted a summit of the Lake Chad Basin Commission that comprised Cameroon, Chad and Niger, with Benin also invited.

“The result is the decision to deploy the Multi National Joint Task Force (MNJTF), with headquarters in N’Djamena, Chad, on July 30th to pep up the fight against Boko Haram! This is the same force that the past administration could not get off the ground in six years! That’s what we meant when we said what the Jonathan administration could not do in six years, the Buhari administration has done in three weeks, not minding that some mischievous elements decided to quote us out of context.”

“The APC spokesperson further emphasised that President Buhari had also rallied the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the Economic Community of Central African States (ECCAS) to work with Nigeria in the fight against the Boko Haram insurgency. A joint summit of lead- ers of both economic blocs is to be held shortly to concretise these efforts that will complement the one by Nigeria and its neighbours.”

He also pointed out that out- side our sub-region, “the President travelled to Germany to meet with G7 leaders to present to them a wish list that included getting their support for the battle against Boko Haram.

The leaders of the countries affected by the Boko Haram insurgency have compiled their requirements which are being forwarded to the G7 for appropriate action.

“While waiting for that, the US has announced a 5-million- dollar assistance for the fight against the terrorists who have been ravaging our country and our subregion.

Added to the relocation by the Nigerian mili- tary of the command centre to Maiduguri, these are no mean achievements. “Only a few weeks back, Nige- ria could not enlist the support of any Western nation in the fight against Boko Haram, could not get the military hardware needed to pep up the fight and had to resort to using merce- naries to confront the bandits, even though the country boasts of a military that has been glob- ally acknowledged for helping to restore peace to many countries around the world.”

Lai Mohammed also ex- plained that a lot of improve- ment is being made on the fight against corruption.

“The fight against corrup- tion ranks very high on the list of the Buhari administration’s priorities, and justifiably so. The refrain, ‘If Nigeria does not kill corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria,’ is now commonplace and it is a truism. Nothing, not even the fight against terror, can succeed without putting an end to the kind of prodigious and sickening corruption being witnessed in these climes.

“That is why the President also included it on the wish list he took to Germany during the last G7 summit. Thankfully, some Western nations have now assured the Buhari administration of all possible assistance in its efforts to recover the billions of Naira that was spirited away from the public till by public officers who abused their office during the immediate past administration.

“It was revealed that the President has ordered revenue- generating agencies, including the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), Customs and Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), to close all Illegal Revenue Accounts and to also remit all funds generated to the Federation Account. This is a momentous step considering that those illegal accounts are being used to siphon public funds.”

ZEBULON AGOMUO