From WOLE BALOGUN, Ado Ekiti
Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Political Affairs, Senator Babafemi Ojudu has said the President Buhari is currently addressing his mind to surmounting myriad of challenges confronting the nation and as such is not yet interested in 2019 presidential election.
Ojudu who spoke to Daily Sun recently when he visited his hometown, Ado-Ekiti, capital city of Ekiti State, said 2019 was still far away for President Buhari to worry himself about it. He also reacted to several other issues for which his principal has been heavily criticised for.
On the Maina scandal, many have said that the presidency has not handled it very well. They cited an example of the President sending him packing without proper investigation into his case, what is your take?
Maina was taken back to the service, the news got to Nigerians and they protested and the President insisted that since he has been declared wanted by the state security agencies, he has absconded from his duty post; he should therefore be removed from the service so that he can face the trial. What else do you want the presidency to do in the circumstances? The president didn’t condemn him, neither as he absolved him of any crime.
Reports of Committees set up on various allegations against those serving under Buhari, some of which include the NIA DG, Babachir Lawal issue and others, are yet to be made known to Nigerians, and they are worried about the development. What is really happening?
A Committee was set up to look into the issue of Ikoyi money and the chairman of that committee was Vice President. The Vice President presided over the committee and they came up with a report and submitted it to the president and the President acted on it. So, what else do you expect?
On 2019, Atiku, Fayose and others have indicated their ambition and some APC governors have endorsed Buhari…
… (Cuts in) where was that done? There was nothing like the APC governors endorsing Buhari for 2019.
What should we look forward to concerning Buhari about 2019?
2019 is still far away, there is 2017, 2018 before 2019. The President will come out at the appropriate time to say whether he wants to run or not. As at now, the President is addressing his mind to issues of governance. There are lots of problems confronting the country. If you read the budget, government is paying a lot of attention to power, infrastructure and to fighting anti-corruption and he is busy doing all these not thinking about 2019 for now.
We have been hearing that you may contest the governorship race in your state, next year. How true?
(Cuts In) I have been hearing that too.
So, is this true or not?
Again, when the time comes, I will let the world know if I will be contesting or not. For now, I am busy working as president’s aide. I’m not a flippant person. I plan my things. The INEC has come up with a time table. Ban on campaign will be lifted in April next year and at that point I will call a press conference to tell the people of Ekiti what my manifestos are.
The critics of your government have also faulted Mr. President on appointments; they cited an example of the service chiefs which they said didn’t go round the six geo-political zones…
(Cuts in) who are saying that?
The public.
Really? Just recently, the so-called public came out to say that the appointments under Buhari were skewed in favour of the north and the presidency came out with a list of all appointees which in fact showed that the South had more than the north. Sometimes, while public opinion is important, you should watch for fake news. A lot of people are out there to just de-stabilise this country and they are doing that by dishing out fake news. So, we journalist should watch out. We should not take anything that has not been well investigated, as a lot of fake news is out there by mischief makers. Until recently when the list came out, a lot of people had the erroneous impression that the President skewed the appointments to the north. We have now seen that it is not true that such assumption is false.
On the just presented 2018 budget, some critics of your government have said that the 2017 budget has not seen the light of the day and now you have come up with another budget, what is your reaction?
That is exactly what the President said in his speech during presentation of that budget, that he prays budget be approved on time to allow for speedy implementation. He has appealed to the legislature that this particular budget be passed early January to allow for enough time for implementation. A situation where the budget stays for six to seven months before it is passed is not good enough. That is why he has presented it on time.
So, what would you say are the achievements of the Buhari’s administration in almost three years now?
Quite a lot, first of all is the diversification of the economy. Before now, we were importing almost all the rice that we eat in this country. Now rice importation has been reduced by almost 90 percent. Right now, there are rice plantations all over the country.
Look at the north- east, if it had been Jonathan who won the last presidential election, the whole country would have been conquered by Boko Haram now. But the Buhari government has beaten back that insurgency. Also, about corruption, it may not have been eradicated but the kind of impunity with which people were stealing money under the immediate past administration has been drastically reduced. Corruption cannot be eradicated in all societies but with the Buhari’s administration, we have been able to tame it and reduced wastage and eliminate the leakages.
The critics of your government have also said that Buhari’s anti-corruption fight has been selective, what is your take?
No. You see, a thief is a thief. If you found out that I have stolen money, bring out the evidence and I would be tried for it. Somebody is stealing and you begin to say he belongs to a particular political party, to a particular religion or faith. No, a thief is a thief. Theft has no colouration. If I was not in government, can someone accuse me of stealing government’s money? It is those who were in government as at that time that would be arrested and tried and punished if found guilty. So, I don’t agree with you when you say the anti-corruption fight is selective.
Governor Fayose, a leading critic of your government, recently told Ekiti people that the government of President Buhari has not done anything for Ekiti people since it came on board, what is your take?
I think you journalists should ask Governor Fayose what he has done for Ekiti people. He was not elected to be a critic, he was elected to govern. Let him tell us what he has done for our state? How has he been able to improve on our schools? How has he been able to improve on our medical services? What level is our food production in Ekiti now? What has he done to help our environment except the bridge to nowhere that he is building in Ado-Ekiti here and the water fountain that would not have water after some time in Ikere? Let him tell us what he has put in place to provide employment for our people. Was he elected to be a critic of Buhari? Let him do his own, and let Buhari do his. Buhari has been assisting him by giving him N2 billion, as monthly bailout and he has also received the Paris Club loan refund but he still owes workers in the state their salaries. Let him pay salaries of workers and also put in place those things that would affect the lives of the people positively. Then he can criticise others. He has no moral right to criticise anyone now.
I have been around the country to see what other governors are using bailout funds and Paris Club refund to do; to help their people. I know what those other governors are doing for their people in their states. Let Fayose tell us what he has done for Ekiti people.
Against the background that governor Fayose has supported a candidate from the Southern senatorial district of the state in the person of his deputy, Olusola Kolapo to satisfy the yearnings of those agitating for governorship slot from that district, what advice do you have for delegates of APC ahead of your party primaries for the 2018 election?
I have looked at the constitution of Nigeria and the electoral law and the constitution of our party. There is no where that the governor of a state must come from a particular part. Ekiti electorate and the delegates in APC must look for the best person that can serve them. They should look for this person with a political clout to win election and also perform in government. They should not bother about whether the person is from north, south and central. The thing is that let the best person emerge who can rule Ekiti very well. This is my take.