The Presidency, on Sunday, stated that President Muhammadu Buhari is firmly in control of his administration, .
In a communique, the Presidency through Garba Shehu, the President’s Spokesman, said that as many detractors have done lately, these “influencers”, “celebrated Columnists”, and “editorial comments”, do no more than endorsing the opposition’s utterly wrong and fallacious position, that President Buhari is not in charge of his government.
Shehu stated that sometimes, “we are forced to wonder whether some Writers are mindful of the implication of words for the strategic and territorial interests of the nation.
“An entrenched culture of dissent in our country, is not something that anyone, not least a Buhari Presidency, wants to stamp down.
“The fact that these baseless and appallingly mischievous attacks can freely be aired, is itself evidence of the right to freedom of expression prevailing in the country today.
“Whether it is Ibrahim Magu, Godswill Akpabio, NDDC, NSITF, and the others, Nigerians are bound to hold differing opinions, write letters, opinion columns, editorials, and even stage lawful protests.
“What is sometimes worrisome, is that several of these comments, disguised as objective criticisms, are merely speaking the language of the opposition, the people who ruined the country during their 16 years of corruption, on an industrial scale.
“These detractors pick up isolated issues like the ones in the EFCC, NDDC, and incidents of crime and corruption which have been with the country for years, and without any serious effort to uncover them, paint them a phenomenon orchestrated and happening, because President Buhari’s administration has decided to pursue cases of suspected wrongdoing in the anti-corruption Agency, Pension funds, NDDC, and other government Agencies.
“But the government was the first to point out the obvious embarrassment that potential acts of wrongdoing by the EFCC Leadership would cause the administration. The question to ask is: did they expect the President to draw a curtain over these suspected scandals, by not ordering audits and investigations? And for them to turn around to accuse him of a cover-up?
“To do a cover-up and not order audits and investigations as the President did, would amount to a historic betrayal of the mandate and the faith placed in him by the Nigerian people.”
He added that President Buhari’s integrity, uprightness, and probity, are intact and well known, saying: “Let us remind these so-called Editorial Writers, that ECOWAS, African Union, and the International Community at large, recognised President Buhari as Champion of the Anti-Corruption fight in Africa.”
He argued that Nigerians are convinced that President Buhari is honest, adding: “They voted for him as President, against the background of corruption, public policy paralysis, and growing menace of terrorists threatening to take over a sizeable portion of the nation’s territory. In his 5 years in Office, there is not a single charge of corruption against his person.
“As the Leader of the country, President Buhari fully understands and bears the full weight of the solemn oaths he swore to defend the nation’s Constitution, its citizens, and territory. Disinformation is not a viable option for opposition. The Buhari government has done nothing to warrant these criticisms. Under our laws, you are innocent until proven guilty: investigation, trial, then conviction. Not the other way round. To carry out investigations before condemnation or conviction, should not be misconstrued as a weakness or a vacuum in leadership.
“He is determined to get justice for Nigerians on all these corruption cases being pursued”, the Presidential Spokesman noted.