In a recent interview with Radio Continental 102.3
FM, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to
President Buhari, Femi Adesina, gave more insight
into the 2 SUVs Buhari received from the past
administration after the Boko Haram attack on
his convoy last year. According to Adesina, there
is no basis for linking Buhari to the Dasuki arms
deal scandal
"Maybe there is an attempt to just tar
everybody in the country with the brush of
corruption, and that is not necessary,
because this is our country and it belongs
to all of us. We don’t have an alternate
country. What happened was that suddenly
out of the blues, we began to hear that
Gen. Buhari, while not yet elected President,
collected five SUVs and the sum of
$300,000 from the security funds.
I then checked up and what I was told was that
prior to the Boko Haram attack of July last year,
President Buhari never got anything from any
government though the Gen. Abdulsalami
Abubakar regime had enacted a decree that spelt
out what former heads of state were entitled to,
and that decree specifically says they are entitled
to three vehicles from the federal government
,which should be replaced every four years. He
never got any. And then came the Boko Haram
attack of July 2014, which by the grace of God,
he survived. One day, two vehicles were just
driven to his office in Kaduna, Land Cruiser SUVs,
one armoured and the other not armoured, and
they said it was from the Federal Government. Of
course, It was part of his dues as a former Head
of state, and he collected. No cash component,
nothing else"he said
Read excerpts of his Interview with the Radio
station below
Q: The last time you were on air here, you made a
promise that the federal government would
stabilize the electricity supply before talking about
tariff increase, and we have not also handled the
issue of metering, because people need to be
metered before the issue of tariff. Now, we are
suffering unstable power, we have not gotten our
meters, which the federal government, the last
administration even decreed would be given to
Nigerians free, and we are now talking about the
new tariff. How do you react to this?
Ans: The last time I was on this station, you were
particular about that. When we went to Iran about
five weeks ago with the President, on the return
trip home, I and Mr Raji Fashola, the Minister for
Power, Works and Housing, sat together in the
plane and we had the opportunity to discuss over
the seven hours trip. And one of my concerns was
this increased tariff. Why should tariff be
increased when services have not also increased
concomitantly. Shouldn't we increase services
first and then increase tariff, and Nigerians would
gladly pay? Then he told me that it is the same
dilemma of the chicken and the egg, which comes
first? Is it the chicken or the egg? We anchored
that discussion on the fact that unless tariff was
increased, there is no hope for better electricity
supply in the country. He was emphatic on that.
He added that Nigerians would have to trust and
believe the administration, believe in him as a
minister, and if tariff went up, things would get
better. It has become inevitable that if things are
going to get better, then tariff would have to
increase. I would like to join Mr Fashola to say,
can we then trust the government, trust the
minister and believe that with higher tariff, things
would get better.
Q: The issue of meter, and estimated bill, if you
increase the tariff, of course they would keep on
estimating your bill and sometimes it’s very
outrageous. Is it not better that Nigerians have
meters installed, that you pay what you are
consuming. The last administration directed this
and up till now some people borrowed money to
establish the meter company, so much money,
and they have built and they have also produced
but no one is buying from them, people keep
buying from abroad, from China, and that is
capital flight. And so, what do we do with the
issue of meter?
Ans: I constantly engage with His Excellency, Mr
Raji Fashola and this is one thing that I would
bring up with him.
Q: I just like to get a glimpse of what we are
looking at from the strategic direction in going
forward because this year things have been
rough, and we are looking forward to 2016.
Ans: I agree that 2015 has been a tough year, but
then it’s like 2016 would still be tougher, at least
in the early part of that year. We have been
running a mono-product economy based on oil,
and as long as oil prices remain down, things will
be tough.
Q: What are the other tactics that we are going to
use?
Ans: Repeatedly, the President has said, that the
alternative would be agriculture and mining.
Agriculture has a gestation period, we may have
to talk about two or three planting seasons before
we begin to see changes, but mining can give us
immediate succour and that is where we have Dr
Kayode Fayemi as Minister. Mining can give us
immediate succour because the products are
there, the solid minerals are there, it’s just to
process them and Nigeria can make good money
from that area. But we must be ready to swallow
some bitter pills before things get better. Why do
pharmacists ensure that most of the drugs that
we take are very bitter? These drugs are like the
path Nigeria must pass through. A patient that is
ill and must get well must be ready to swallow
bitter drugs. If he doesn’t swallow those bitter
drugs, recovery may elude him. But if he does,
chances of recovery are very high. It’s the same
thing with Nigeria. We have had this despoliation
of our economy, it has been ravaged. To use the
President’s words, “Nigeria was vandalized”. With
that vandalization, did we think that in one fell
swoop, things are going to change? No, it doesn’t
work like that, it has to be progressively built and
rebuilt. It’s like the process of taking that bitter
drug, that medicine can cure eventually, that is
what would happen to Nigeria.
Q: What do you intend to do to stop the re-
occurrence of fuel scarcity in the country? What
do you intend to do to fight corruption in our
universities, and what is the administration doing
to attain uninterrupted power supply?
Ans: That is a multiple question. The first one, on
the recurring fuel scarcity, the Federal Executive
Council Meeting that held recently dedicated good
part of the four hours to the fuel situation in the
country. One assurance that we got from the
Minister of State for Petroleum Dr. Ibe Kachikwu,
is that, the normal fuel crisis that occurs at
festive periods would not happen this year,
because like he said, we have double cargo
coming into the country. That double cargo is to
clear the queue that we still have at the stations,
and then it would last us over the festive period.
We can be assured that this fuel scarcity would
soon be over. It was precipitated by a number of
factors, one, was that the major marketers were
beginning to hoard their products. You must have
read reports of how DPR went to those stations
in different parts of the country and began to
auction the stock. One major marketer, when they
got to his depot, had about 33 million litters of
petrol stored away, and he was not selling,
because all of them were waiting for January
thinking that fuel subsidies would be removed
and they could make a lot of money. They were
the ones who precipitated that crisis because
people naturally responded to the artificial
scarcity through panic buying, and in no time
there was chaos all over the country in petrol
stations. There was some glitch in the supply
chain, no doubt, but the attitude of the marketers
and the panic buying escalated the issue. The
Minister of State for Petroleum has assured that
once this matter is cleared, it would not reccur
again. I want to trust him and I want to believe
that this would be the last time that Nigeria
would have to suffer this agony of fuel crisis.
The second one, corruption in universities.
Universities are part of the Nigerian society. As
long as there is tendency to corruption in the
country, universities are not immune to it. We
know that one of the cardinal things this
administration is doing is to fight corruption,
therefore if there are proven cases of corruption
in our universities, you can be sure that the
administration would not close its eyes to such.
Q: On the issue of oil, we are saying we need to
know more about the state of our refineries, how
much are we refining, how much are we importing
and how much are we using to supplement? All
these explanations have to be done before any
increase. So, what’s your take on it?
Ans: Yes, that explanation would be done. I
remember it was the Minister of Information,
Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who spent some time on
the need to adequately educate Nigerians and
alert them as to what is coming and I believe
that would be done. The Minister of State for
Petroleum also told us that the refineries are part
of the problem. Apart from hoarding, panic
buying, among others, that the refineries were not
working at all. The truth is that our refineries are
now like scraps, government has to take a
decision on what it would do with them.
Q: This issue of the Presidential jets, we have 11.
When the President came, there was this
announcement that he had the intention to sell
them and there was rejoicing over the land. All of
a sudden there was a counter information that
the President does not intend to sell, now the
information at our disposal is that about N2
billion is being spent annually in servicing these
aircraft.
Ans: The information that Nigeria was going to
sell was not correct and we immediately corrected
it then, I remember it was ThisDay newspaper
that published that the President had taken a
decision to sell. When that story was reported, we
cross checked with the President, he said no such
decision was taken and we issued that release
immediately that a decision had not been taken
on the number of planes to be in the Presidential
fleet. Secondly, another newspaper published that
some staggering figure was being spent to
maintain those planes. We checked again, and it
was discovered that the amount published was
ballooned by almost four times, and we corrected
it. In Nigeria, it is the first information that goes
out that people like to believe. When superior
information comes, correcting the earlier distorted
ones it's either they would not read or they
choose to believe the first one. If the presidential
fleet would be reduced, it would be the decision
of the President. He has not taken that decision
yet.
Q: What is the federal government doing to stop
the Shi'tte, Boko Haram, and Biafra, apart from
military force?
Ans: Apart from military force, I can tell you that
there is a lot going on through back channels.
Nobody should think that the federal government
is not doing anything. Just because it is not
made public does not mean that things are not
going on. A lot is going on, just like the President
indicated earlier that the government is disposed
towards dialogue with Boko Haram, if they could
identify the authentic leadership of the group.
Also Biafra, a number of well meaning, south-east
leaders are intervening, they are talking to the
people. I have heard some of those young people
saying they would not listen to anybody. No, it’s
our country and we cannot continue that way.
Q: This issue of Biafra agitation, it is important
that the President engages genuine Igbo leaders.
With Nnamdi Kanu, a pronouncement should be
made about him. We need to reduce the tension
in the south-east.
Ans: I can tell you that that is going on.
Q: The last time you were here, we talked about
the yam eaters and how much yam has been
returned. The Minister of Finance has denied
knowledge of any returned loot, and we are yet to
know the names even when the President said
that he would order the Central Bank of Nigeria
to publish the names of those yam eaters. Is it
not better if the government comes out with how
much has been recovered and also to publish the
names of these yam eaters, because we are eager
to know them?
ANS: If you recall , the President was at the
International Conference Centre in Abuja recently,
where he delivered a lecture at the Anyiam-
Osigwe Foundation, which was on corruption. Let
me clarify the issue of the Minister of Finance.
The Minister, Mrs. Kemi Adeosun, did not deny.
She said she was not aware. They are two
different things. She was not aware because the
pronouncement the President made was prior to
her appointment. The President spoke about
money being returned, and that it was in an
account in the Central Bank. That was in India,
and then the cabinet had not been constituted.
The Ministers came after. If the Minister of
Finance says she was not aware, she was telling
the truth, but it does not mean that the account
does not exist. At the Anyiam -Osigwe Foundation
lecture, the President said he is aware that people
are asking, tell us the names of those who have
returned money, and tell us the amount so far
collected. He said no, that it was still early days
in the collection, a lot more is possible to collect
if we continue to be discreet about it for now. He
said no doubt, an account would eventually be
given. Also in Kaduna recently, the President said
that the recovered loot is going to be spent on
infrastructure. There are virtually no roads in the
country again and the south-east is worst hit.
Every part of the country is hit but south-east is
worst hit and the President has said the
recovered money would be spent on
infrastructure. Let me go back to the discussion
that I had with Mr Fashola on the way back from
Iran. He said these roads that have virtually
disappeared can be built in two years. To quote
him, he said, "is it not to build roads? It is one of
the easiest things as long as money is available."
And anytime I remember that, it makes me glad
that we can rebuild those roads that have
disappeared in two years, if funds are available. I
think we should be patient and look forward to
having a tidy amount still recovered from those
who stole our patrimony.
Q: What would you say as a parting shot to
Nigerians?
Ans: What I like to say is that Nigeria is in good
hands. The times are rough, it could get rougher
in the nearest future, but it would then get better.
Don’t forget that in 1983, times were really very
rough with Nigeria also. Then, there came a Head
of State who began to reset the buttons, began
to relay the foundations. And 20 months after,
things were getting better, before a spanner was
thrown in the works. That person, who is now the
President, can do it again, I will just tell people to
be patient. Rough times would come, but we will
survive it .Tough times may be here but it will be
over. There may be some turbulence, but after
some time, we would begin to cruise. This
President would get it right. We need to be
patient and lend support. A number of people
have decided to be critical, even when criticisms
are not necessary. We are not in pre-election
mode again. I would like to tell them that
elections are over. In other parts of the world,
when elections are over, they all team up and
move the country forward. Let’s do the same with
Nigeria.
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