Buhari Chastises Saraki, Dogara over Budget Delays

Buhari Chastises Saraki, Dogara over Budget Delays

…Says those Calling Him Baba Go Slow Are In for Surprise President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would make the Police and Judiciary more efficient in his second term just as he also chastised outgoing Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara for delaying budget passage during his first

…Says those Calling Him Baba Go Slow Are In for Surprise

President Muhammadu Buhari has said he would make the Police and Judiciary more efficient in his second term just as he also chastised outgoing Senate President, Dr Bukola Saraki and Speaker, House of Representatives, Mr Yakubu Dogara for delaying budget passage during his first term.

Responding to questions in an NTA special interview on Monday in Abuja, Buhari described as unpatriotic the action of the two principal officers of the National Assembly over the years, rating both Saraki and Dogara, “very very low” over the budget delays.

“I told Saraki and Dogara that by holding the budget for 7 months, you’re not hurting me, you’re hurting Nigerians? In terms of patriotism, I rate them very very low,” Buhari said.

“I feel very bad indeed. NASS to hold the Budget for seven months,” he said.

The President said he would reform both the Judiciary and the Police to ensure effective administration.

“Police and Judiciary are to be in frontline of law and order. They should be able to know the offender in their communities.

“What the government needs to do is to provide the basic need. People should try to expose criminals in their communities,” he said.

Applauding Nigerians for their love, respect and trust in him, the President commended them for finding him worthy to rule for the second term in the office.

Buhari linked the secret of love, respect and trust he enjoyed from Nigerian citizens to his hard work to survive in life, promising to continue to do his best towards national security.

While noting that his coming to power in 2015 was a relief to the North-East of the country because there was reduction of activities of Boko Haram in the region, he said the administration had ensured food security by making fertiliser available and affordable for the farmers.

The President said the present administration had worked tirelessly to recover looted money from banks in Europe and U.S, explaining that the recovery was a gradual process by investigation.

He said government was intensifying effort to fix roads, improve power and other infrastructure to create a conducive environment for business as well as encourage foreigners to invest in the country.

Vowing to shock those who call him “Baba Go Slow” in his second term, President Buhari said: “Those who call me ‘baba go slow’ will see whether I am slow or fast.

“It means I will persuade the Police and the Judiciary to be hard and where I uncover that they are not hard, I will find out who is responsible for the slowness in terms of command from the DPO (Divisional Police Officer) upwards.

“The IG (Inspector General of Police) cannot do it alone.

“He needs to depend on Commissioners who in turn depend on DPOs.”

The President maintained that the Nigerian elites have never been in support of his political ambitions, saying the ordinary citizens should take the glory of making him a leader and, therefore, saving everyone from acute leadership failure.

According to him, the elite have always pushed a candidate they believe would be amenable to their political and economic interests, but Nigerians saw through their selfishness and settled on him without preconditions.

“They want to impress and they try to dictate the terms for government. I contested three times before I won the fourth time. The elite should thank other Nigerians who voted for me.”

Buhari said Nigerians supported him massively during the campaign, a gesture that moneybags could not have been able to procure.

“People trooped out to see me on the campaign trail, which means that the elite had always been in the minority. “Nigerians understood me,” the President said.

Buhari said he traversed across the country during the course of four election cycles, building alliances and familiarising himself with the grassroots.

“There is no local government in Nigeria I have never visited between 2003 and now,” he added.

In a related development, President Buhari has also assured members of the Northern Governors’ Forum that he would not let the nation down on security in the country.

A statement by the President’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Garba Shehu, said the governors led by the outgoing Chairman of the forum, Governor Kashim Shettima of Borno met with the President at the State House, Abuja.

Buhari said: “The security of the country is on my mind 24 hours of the day.

“I get daily and weekly situation reports. I have listened to your brief. I will look into your recommendations. I am acutely aware of the situation, but I have learnt more today.”

The President bemoaned the ravaging effect of unchecked corruption in the past on the country’s Armed Forces, saying “the terrible effects of mismanagement were prevalent, and these are the consequences”.

He said: “If you follow the efforts we are making within the system, you will see that we have curbed much of the corruption that is there.

“See the recoveries that we have made – money, landed property. We are not going as fast as we want under the system, but we will keep trying to improve it.”

The President promised to increase the frequency of his meetings with security chiefs and keep updating himself and also expressed interest in getting reports from Governors who have difficult relationships with security heads in their states.

In their presentations, the Governors drew the President’s attention to specific challenges they each faced in their respective States, while commending the Federal Government’s efforts in curbing Boko Haram terrorism and farmers/herders clashes, which they said had been dealt with.

While noting that normalcy had virtually returned to the North-East, the Governors, however, warned that armed banditry was posing a dangerous threat and needed to be tackled with equal swiftness.

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