Why DSS won’t release Dasuki, Kanu, by Buhari; speaks on asset declaration, looters, shi’ite/military clash, ‘corrupt’ judges, fuel subsidy, 2016 Budget, Chibok girls, devaluation

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A livid President Muhammadu Buhari, on Wednesday, defended the action of the Department of State Services (DSS) in re-arresting former National Security Adviser (NSA), Colonel Sambo Dasuki (rtd), despite meeting his bail conditions.
Speaking during his maiden presidential media chat in Abuja, the president said the amount of money running into billions of naira mismanaged by Dasuki’s office was too much “for him to be released to go and see his doctor in London”.
He also declared that Nnamdi Kanu would not be released for now because his action was against the territorial integrity of the country.
To the president, it was wrong for anybody to try and wage war against Nigeria all in the name of ethnicity.
Buhari also said he didn’t really understand what some South-Easterners under the Biafran Movement were shouting about marginalisation, insisting that many South-Easterners are appointed into cabinet positions in his administration.
On Dasuki, he said it was wrong to release him when billions of naira was mismanaged by his office, an action which has affected more than two million people in IDP camps.
“Technically, if you see the type of atrocities those people committed against the country, if they jump bail….
“The former president just wrote to the CBN governor, give N40 billion to so and so and you give the N40 billion and he goes to see his doctor in London, while there are two million people in IDPs.
“Half of them do not even know their fathers… Which type of government do you want to have?’’ the president asked.’’
Buhari also said that the names of those who returned looted public funds would not be divulged, pending the determination of cases in courts.
According to him, some people have returned stolen monies but their names will not be made public as they are assumed innocent until they are found guilty by the courts.
He said that his government had fared well so far in the fight against corruption and appealed to Nigerians to be patient.
He added that “under whatever circumstance, we cannot prejudge what the courts will do. We will submit the documents but how the Ministry of Justice will react to it is what we have to develop the patience. Once we have gone to court, we should keep our mouth shut; we cannot comment on issues when they are still in court.
“Monies have been recovered; the courts have discovered some looted monies in terms of submissions made to them and documentations including bank statements, where the monies are lodged and how much. I think we are doing quite well; considering the circumstances. Those suspected of being corrupt are innocent until they are proved guilty by the court.’’
The President said that the Federal Government had found some documents indicating that so much money had been diverted into personal pockets.
He explained that documents had shown that Nigeria’s crude oil had been lifted illegally and the proceeds put into personal accounts instead of Federal Government’s account.
He, however, urged Nigerians to be patient and wait for the outcome of investigations and prosecutions, noting that Nigeria would be better for it.
Buhari also declared that the Federal Government would explore the potential in agriculture, solid minerals and teaching in solving the unemployment challenge confronting the country.
The president noted that there were abundant deposits of solid minerals across the country.
According to him, agriculture and solid minerals are the quickest ways of providing employment for able bodied people in Nigeria.
“We will make sure we get the machinery, fertilizer, and other inputs and ask people to go to the farm so that we do not import food.
“There are lots of solid minerals in commercial quantities in virtually all the states; there are companies that know about it and they are prepared to come.
“In terms of teachers, there is a teachers institute in Kaduna; and another one in Ibadan.
“We are trying to mop up the unemployed youths; do a crash programme in teaching; post them to teach in primary schools and junior secondary schools.
“So that the quality of education will start from the bottom; all these things will not be there over night but we have to start it,’’ he said.
Buhari said that if the opportunities in solid minerals and agriculture were properly harnessed, the problem of unemployment would be minimised.
Buhari also said he had declared his assets four times over time and there was nothing vague about the issue.
The President said he first declared the assets in the Murtala Muhammad regime and later the Olusegun Obasanjo military regime before every public post he held.
“I have declared my assets four times. First when I was governor of the North-Eastern state, then as the Minister of Petroleum and when I was leaving for War College in 1979 and, of course, when I became the head of state.
“But when I was leaving as head of state I did not declare because I ended up in detention for three and a half years.
“When I came out and got into politics, I declared,’’ he said.
Buhari urged all who were in doubt to seek out the relevant departments and get the full declaration and if the Ministry of Justice did not have the declaration, it should be questioned.
He also said he was not in position to remind members of his cabinet to declare their assets as they were required by the constitution to do so.
Responding to a question on corrupt judges, Buhari said he was aware of such allegations but it takes two to tango.
“When tribunals were to come up, an appeal was made to the judiciary to be impartial because the judiciary has to work within time limit to listen to cases.
“It has reached the high heavens, the scream by Nigerians about corruption in the judiciary; I think this is something the government has to take up with the judiciary itself.
“But the judiciary is virtually a sitting duck, it is what the police take to them, it is what the lawyers present to them.
“So really to blame the judiciary, you are putting them in a very, very difficult position because they cannot work by themselves.
“They are massively contributions from other institutions for the judiciary to be corrupt.
“There has to be proof. You cannot just sit and say the judiciary is corrupt, it takes two to tango, somebody must be offering.’’
Also, Buhari said that the Federal Government would continue with the railway project by the second quarter of 2016 to enhance economic development.
He said the decision would alleviate the sufferings of Nigerians in getting fuel.
“By second quarter of 2016, we will take the Chinese contractors back to continue with the railway project,’’ the president said.
On fuel subsidy, Buhari said the government was working hard to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians to make fuel available at affordable price.
He said government’s priority was to get the refineries working at optimum level, adding that past administrations had failed to maintain them and the pumping stations.
“We will not be talking about subsidy by the end of first quarter next year. I hope that our refineries will be working, we cannot do it overnight but that is our priority now to get them working.
On the 2016 Budget, Buhari said it would address unemployment in the country.
He said a lot had changed in the country, especially with the introduction of Treasury Single Account (TSA).
In addition, he said that the reforms done so far by his administration to merge 42 to 24 ministries would save some money to implement developmental projects.
“All these things will take time; we said during our campaign that we will diversify the economy to agriculture and solid minerals. We are hoping that these sectors will generate jobs from those sectors and our budget has shown that we will focus on those sectors. Also, we have focused on education and other key sectors of the economy.
“Some investors are ready to come and invest in those sectors but our problem is to secure this country first,’’ the president said.
According to him, the government has taken cognisance of the countries that have indicated interest in investing in solid minerals.
He further said that his administration would develop the rail transport to enhance economic development.
He urged civil servants to be prepared to make sacrifices, adding that “you can legitimise the culture of change by being efficient in service’’.
Buhari revealed that the Federal Government had yet to ascertain the exact location of the missing students of the Government Girls Secondary School, Chibok, Borno State.
According to him, no firm intelligence report has been received on the whereabouts of the female students abducted in their school by the Boko Haram insurgents in April, 2014.
“Sincerely, we are yet to get a firm report on the whereabouts of the girls since they were kidnapped and this is because no credible leadership has come out on the part of the Boko Haram to confirm their whereabouts.
“ But what we know so far by attacking some of the locations, Sambisa forest and the likes, no Chibok Girl has been recovered; they must have dispersed them all over the place.
“We are working with Niger, with Chad, with Cameroun, but there is no firm intelligence on where those girls physically are or how many divisions they made of them or where they are. No credible information on their whereabouts,” the president said further.
He said the federal government would, however, sustain its fight against insurgency, rescue the Chibok girls as well as other captives of the terrorist group.
Buhari said due to the ability of security agents to dislodge the insurgents from holding sway in any part of the country, Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) are now being re-united with their families.
The president gave example of the IDPs in Benin, saying some had re-united with their families through the support of the federal government and their state governments, including Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states.
The President kicked against the devaluation of the naira because it will not be favourable to the economy.
To him, devaluation will only benefit developed countries of Europe and America because they are productive economies.
He said Nigeria’s was a consumer economy, which needed to be stimulated into production to create jobs for the population.
“I have to be convinced before accepting the devaluation of the naira. Which country’s currency do we devalue the naira against?

“Devaluation is done between developed countries, in Nigeria; we are still importing ordinal toothpicks.

“We have banned the importation of toothpicks and goods we waste our foreign currency on,’’ he said.

The president said his priorities were not “people wanting to bring rice and luxury goods which do not encourage economic growth”.

He said the country needed to invest in capital projects, especially in power, railways, roads and fight terrorism to create employment for the populace.

He said his administration had taken note of countries that were prepared to invest in Nigeria in spite of insecurity.

“Our main priority is to secure this country so that investors will not be scared of investing in any of the sector,’’ Buhari said.

Commenting on the challenges people are facing in accessing foreign exchange, he said foreign exchange would be made available to the productive sector of the economy and not for luxury items.

He stressed the need for Nigerians to re-order their priorities based on social realities.
The President dismissed insinuation in some quarters that the Federal Government was biased in the handling of the recent clash between members of the Shiite Islamic sect and the Nigerian Army in Zaria, Kaduna State.
He said it was untrue that the Federal Government had been silent over the incident, adding that the perceived silence was to allow the relevant authorities conclude their investigations.

According to Buhari, regardless of whoever is involved in such an incident, there is a standard way of conducting investigation that must be followed before conclusions are made.

“Certainly I know something about the incident; I ought to do something about it and in fact I must do something about it.

“When it happened I was in touch with the governor of Kaduna State; interestingly the President of Iran spoke to me about it but I told him that as a government we have a system.

“I told him that if anything happens in one of the states, the governor has to physically visit the area and we have a system of investigation.

“But as the head of the Federal Government, I have to wait for official report before I can come out to make a statement; so I am allowing the Army and the Kaduna State government to come up with their reports.

“I expect a report from a judicial commission of inquiry by the Kaduna State government because it happened in Kaduna in one of the cities,’’ he said.

Buhari frowned at the flagrant disobedience of law and order by members of the Shiite sect, especially for causing untold hardship to members of the public during their processions.

He said that complaints about the group’s activities which infringed on the rights residents of Zaria and other towns showed that many persons were tired of their actions.

According to the president, for over 20 years the group’s activities has constituted public nuisance especially when they occupy highways and block movement in the name of professing their faith.

Buhari declared that no responsible government would watch a group cause public disorder, adding that the military had the responsibility of addressing such abnormalities in the society.

He said that the military would be the last to watch breakdown of law and order because they suffer the most whenever issues degenerate.
He urged the public to always obey laid down rules and regulations and show respect for constituted authority.

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