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Be Fair In Your Criticism – Buhari Urges Nigerians
In criticising his regime, Buhari said critics should first consider the state of the country he inherited in May 2015.
President Muhammadu Buhari on Thursday, asked those who have been criticising his regime, particularly the nation’s elite, to be fair in their criticism.
In criticising his regime, Buhari said critics should first consider the state of the country he inherited in May 2015.
According to a statement by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President made the call while receiving the Executive Secretary of the Nigeria Christian Pilgrims Commission, Rev. Yakubu Pam, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
The statement was titled “Criticise us fairly, President Buhari appeals to Nigerian elite.”
Apart from the state of the country at the inception of his regime, Buhari also asked his critics to consider the resources available to the Federal Government under his watch while criticising him.
He said, “Those criticising the administration should be fair in terms of reflecting on where we were before we came, where we are now and what resources are available to us and what we have done with the limited resources.
“We had to struggle paying debts, investing in road repairs and rebuilding, to revamp the rail and try to get power.
“This is what I hope the elite when they want to criticise will use to compare notes.”
Buhari also gave his regime a pass mark on the security situation in the North East.
Although he admitted that there are still what he called “occasional Boko Haram problems,” the President said there was a lot of improvement when compared to the past experience of the residents of the affected states.
He added, “What was the situation when we came? Try and ask people from Borno or from Adamawa for that matter and Yobe. What was the condition before we came and what is the condition now?
“Still, there are problems in Borno and Yobe, there are occasional Boko Haram problems, but they know the difference because a lot of them moved out of their states and moved to Kaduna, Kano and here (in Abuja).
“We were not spared of the attacks at a time. The government is doing its best and I hope that eventually, our best will be good enough.”
Buhari also assured all stakeholders that the welfare of Internally Displaced Persons was paramount on the agenda of his regime.
“The people in IDP camps, the weak, aged, I feel sorry for the young because this is the time they are supposed to get education.
“We must not allow this time to pass because it will never be regained. So, we are really interested in what is happening there and we are doing our best,” the President said.
He commended the Executive Secretary on his appointment and activities on peace building around the country despite his short time in the saddle and assured him of the listening ear of the government whenever he had contributions to make.
Earlier in his remarks, Pam was said to have intimated the President with some of the activities of the commission since he was appointed in July 2020.
These include; organisation of Peace Summit on Southern Kaduna as well as peace-building efforts in Plateau, Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa States.
He added that the commission has proposed to host Christian religious leaders in a summit to help douse pressures within the polity, among other plans.
The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Board of Trustees, BoT, is currently holding an emergency meeting.
The meeting was called to find lasting solutions to the current leadership crisis bedeviling the party.
Those who have arrived include the BoT Chairman, Senator Adolphus Wabara; Secretary of the BoT, Senator Ahmed Makarfi; and former Governors Achike Udenwa, Sam Egwu, Babangida Aliyu, Senator Ben Obi, and Chief Olagunsoye Oyinlola, among others.
The meeting is holding amid the crisis surrounding the struggle for who occupies the position of the PDP National Secretary.
Last week, at the PDP national secretariat, a fight broke out between Samuel Anyanwu and Sunday Ude-Okoye during its BoT meeting.
The crisis between the duo started when Anyanwu left to contest for Imo State governorship election and Ude-Okoye was was selected by the Southeast arm of the party to replace him.
This led to a lawsuit, after which the Court of Appeal sitting in Enugu declared Ude-Okoye as the substantive National Secretary.
But Anyanwu said Ude-Okoye has no authority to assume the position, despite the ruling.
Anyanwu cited his appeal of the ruling at the Supreme Court as grounds for maintaining the status quo
The Nigerian Senate has approved the termination of three Resident Electoral Commissioners who have been suspended since 2023 for flouting the provisions of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Act
The approval followed the request from President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, urging the Senate to terminate the appointments of the embattled State Resident Electoral Commissioner for Adamawa, Sokoto and Abia.
Sponsor of the motion and Leader of the Senate, Michael Bamidele Opeyemi sought the invocation of Section 157 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, 1999 as amended, saying that the law empowers the Chamber to approve the request.
Those whose appointments will be terminated include, Dr Nura Ali, Sokoto State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Barr. Hudu Yunusa Ari, Adamawa State Resident Electoral Commissioner and Professor Ikemefuna Chijioke Uzochukwu, Abia State Resident Electoral Commissioner respectively.
He said, “Aware that the aforementioned Resident Commissioners were earlier suspended in 2023, bordering on allegations of infractions of the Electoral Act; compromise of elections and abandonment of duty without cogent reasons.”
A copy of the motion sighted by Newsmen on Wednesday revealed that the Office of the National Security Adviser, NSA, and the Department of State Services, DSS, indicted Dr. Nura Ali in their reports, having confessed to corruption, incompetence and receiving bribe to the tune of $150,000 from politicians.
According, the plenary which was presided by the Senate President, Godswill Obot Akpabio activated the relevant provisions of the Constitution and approve the termination of appointment of the affected Commissioners.
President Bola Tinubu will depart Abuja on Wednesday for a private visit to Paris, France, before proceeding to Addis Ababa for the 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State.
“The president will arrive in Addis Ababa early next week for the AU summit,” Mr Bayo Onanuga, presidential spokesman, said in a statement.
The AU Summit is scheduled to hold from Feb. 12th to 16th.
“In Addis Ababa, President Tinubu will join African leaders at the 46th Ordinary Session of the Executive Council and the 38th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the AU Heads of State, scheduled for Feb. 12th to 16th.
Hea said while in France, President Tinubu would meet with his French counterpart, President Emmanuel Macron.
BREAKING: PDP BoT holds emergency meeting amid Anyanwu, Ude-Okoye crisis
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