The Presidency has countered claims in some quarters that President
Muhammadu Buhari has not achieved anything in the seven months of his
administration.
The Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam
Garba Shehu, in a statement on Wednesday highlighted some achievements
of President Buhari who took over on May 29 last year.
Shehu was reacting to a recent report by the Centre for Democracy and
Development which claimed that Buhari had only achieved one out of his
222 tracked electoral promises, representing 0.5 per cent of the
promises.
But the presidential spokesman said it was unfortunate to attribute
to the President promises he did not make during the campaigns and hold
him accountable.
The presidential spokesman warned the group against misleading Nigerians with its cooked up analysis.
According to him, no sincere Nigerian will fail to recognise the
courage of the President to tackle corruption in a country where
impunity was once celebrated.
He said as a result of these efforts, the Nigeria Customs Service had
quadrupled its revenue base within seven months, a feat the service
could not achieve in years.
“Doesn’t the President deserve credit for this and other efforts to confront the monster of corruption?” Shehu asked.
On the economy, he said it was wrong to blame the President for the
falling oil prices in the world market, a challenge which he said had
made Buhari lay emphasis on economic diversification.
He recalled that President Barack Obama of the United States had
inherited an economy in crisis in 2009 and was not judged in his first
seven months in office.
He, however, said progress was being made in recovering the nation’s stolen funds.
He said an escrow account had been opened for that purpose.
Shehu added, “He (Buhari) is making good strides towards improving
governance by tackling corruption. Till date, a good number of persons
believed to have collectively stolen billions from taxpayers have been
arrested and are facing the courts.
“We are working with our allies across the world from Britain and
America to France and Germany to China and the UAE to source, locate and
repatriate misappropriated funds.
“So far, an escrow account has been opened for money that is being
returned. This is only the start. The return of stolen funds is
important, but it is just as critical to ensure that those who seek to
steal realise that no longer will there be such impunity in Nigeria.”
He said Buhari’s war against corruption and terrorism had become a template for Africa and the rest of the world.
Shehu said, “The latest CDD episode is a shocking reminder to their
failed attempt to hold the President to ‘100 promises in 100 days’ which
disastrously crashed on the head of the proponent.
“The elevation of the act to a new high of 220 promises is a
knee-jerk reaction that seeks to play to the gallery and score points
against the President.”
SUNS NEWS
