» $1m On Foreign Trips: Fayose Can Say ‘ Whatever He Likes’ – Buhari «

President Muhammadu Buhari has said that contrary to
the claims by critics of his incessant foreign trips, none of
the trips he had made so far can be said to be frivolous.
He said there were always political and economic
justifications for his trip.
Buhari said this on Friday in London while answering
questions from some Nigerian journalists shortly before he
commenced a six-day vacation that would end on
Wednesday.
Our correspondent obtained the transcript of the interview
on Saturday.
It will be recalled that Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele
Fayose, had asked Buhari to stay at home and govern the
country instead of junketing from one country to the other.
Fayose had said that the President’s incessant foreign
trips were already bleeding the economy with about $1m
being spent per trip.
But Buhari said he did not know how Fayose arrived at the
figure he gave.
He said, “Every one of my trips can be politically or
economically assessed. I recall that the first trip I had
was to go to Chad and Niger. The trip was mainly because
of Nigeria’s security.
“We campaigned based on three issues -security,
economy (employment) and corruption. And then the G-7
invited me to Germany. After that, I went to Cameroon. I
then went to the United Nations General Assembly.
“I have not seen any frivolous journey that I undertook. I
understand that the governor of Ekiti State said that every
trip I make costs Nigeria at least $1m. I do not know how
he worked that out but every trip that I have made, there
must be economic and political reasons that justified
them.
“Those who do not see it the way the government sees it
have the right not to agree and say whatever they like. But
we will try and give them the appropriate reply.”
Buhari also promised to take his administration’s ongoing
anti-corruption war to all sectors of the economy.
“We have to go the whole hog into other sectors because
unlike what some people believe that the fight against
corruption is selective, although they have failed to define
the selectivity in their own understanding, there is no way
we can get a public officer on record that has
misappropriated public fund and we will leave him alone.
“It is one of the undertakings that the Federal Government
made and we are going to see it through,” he said.
The President identified the need for firm evidences
against corrupt persons as one of the main challenges
facing the war.
“The challenge mainly is to affirm evidence. If you just
hear our story that somebody built 12 houses in Abuja,
houses do not move. Do they?
“It is for us to do verification. We need to verify and
quantify before the man is invited to justify how he
acquired those properties while he is a public officer,”
Buhari explained.
He promised to make a representation to the Chief Justice
of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Muhammed, on the various
complaints being made against judges in the country.
He recalled that a lot of allegations had been levelled
against some of the judges who served on election
tribunals.
He, however, declined to comment on the recent Supreme
Court verdict that validated the elections of Governor
Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Governor Udo Emmanuel (Akwa
Ibom) until he holds a discussion with the Ministry of
Justice.
Buhari insisted that despite the killings being witnessed in
public places, his government is winning the war against
terrorism.
He said, “We are winning the war. I have said that Boko
Haram used to effectively control 14 local governments,
they hoisted their flag and declared a caliphate of some
sort.
“But now, Boko Haram is not holding any local
government. They have been dispersed. They have
reverted to technology.
“They use Improvised Explosive Devices. They use
cooking gas, some wires and metals, put them together
and get girls from the age of 15 downwards and explode
them in churches, mosques, markets or motor parks and
kill people en masse.”
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My trips are not frivolous, Buhari replies Fayose
February 7, 2016
President Muhammadu Buhari
16674
President Muhammadu Buhari has said that contrary to
the claims by critics of his incessant foreign trips, none of
the trips he had made so far can be said to be frivolous.
He said there were always political and economic
justifications for his trip.
Buhari said this on Friday in London while answering
questions from some Nigerian journalists shortly before he
commenced a six-day vacation that would end on
Wednesday.
Our correspondent obtained the transcript of the interview
on Saturday.
It will be recalled that Ekiti State Governor, Mr. Ayodele
Fayose, had asked Buhari to stay at home and govern the
country instead of junketing from one country to the other.
Fayose had said that the President’s incessant foreign
trips were already bleeding the economy with about $1m
being spent per trip.
But Buhari said he did not know how Fayose arrived at the
figure he gave.
He said, “Every one of my trips can be politically or
economically assessed. I recall that the first trip I had was
to go to Chad and Niger. The trip was mainly because of
Nigeria’s security.
“We campaigned based on three issues -security, economy
(employment) and corruption. And then the G-7 invited me
to Germany. After that, I went to Cameroon. I then went to
the United Nations General Assembly.
“I have not seen any frivolous journey that I undertook. I
understand that the governor of Ekiti State said that every
trip I make costs Nigeria at least $1m. I do not know how
he worked that out but every trip that I have made, there
must be economic and political reasons that justified
them.
“Those who do not see it the way the government sees it
have the right not to agree and say whatever they like. But
we will try and give them the appropriate reply.”
Buhari also promised to take his administration’s ongoing
anti-corruption war to all sectors of the economy.
“We have to go the whole hog into other sectors because
unlike what some people believe that the fight against
corruption is selective, although they have failed to define
the selectivity in their own understanding, there is no way
we can get a public officer on record that has
misappropriated public fund and we will leave him alone.
“It is one of the undertakings that the Federal Government
made and we are going to see it through,” he said.
The President identified the need for firm evidences
against corrupt persons as one of the main challenges
facing the war.
“The challenge mainly is to affirm evidence. If you just
hear our story that somebody built 12 houses in Abuja,
houses do not move. Do they?
“It is for us to do verification. We need to verify and
quantify before the man is invited to justify how he
acquired those properties while he is a public officer,”
Buhari explained.
He promised to make a representation to the Chief Justice
of Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Muhammed, on the various
complaints being made against judges in the country.
He recalled that a lot of allegations had been levelled
against some of the judges who served on election
tribunals.
He, however, declined to comment on the recent Supreme
Court verdict that validated the elections of Governor
Nyesom Wike (Rivers) and Governor Udo Emmanuel (Akwa
Ibom) until he holds a discussion with the Ministry of
Justice.
Buhari insisted that despite the killings being witnessed in
public places, his government is winning the war against
terrorism.
He said, “We are winning the war. I have said that Boko
Haram used to effectively control 14 local governments,
they hoisted their flag and declared a caliphate of some
sort.
“But now, Boko Haram is not holding any local
government. They have been dispersed. They have
reverted to technology.