Nigerian president Mohamadu Buhari has held his maiden presidential media chat, Wednesday. He responded to various questions that centers on national issues of which included the situation of the Chibok girls, the Shi’ite killings in Zaia, Corruption among many issues.
Below are the major highlights of the presidential media chat;
On his promise of releasing the Chibok girls: He said ,the government tried to negotiate with people claiming to be Boko Haram leaders, but they had no credible information to give the government . I’m working with our neighbors to #BringBackOurGirls. Although we have no credible information on their locations, we are keeping our options open, if a credible leader of Boko Haram can come out; we are prepared to negotiate with Boko Haram for the girls”.
On Corruption he said; he said, we cannot name those who return stolen funds as we have to take documents to court. There are terrible cases of corruption; we can only appeal to Nigerians to be patient. We have to develop the patience to prosecute corrupt officials through the courts. As a military leader it was possible to round people up & jail them for being corrupt, but not in a democracy. By end of the first quarter of 2016, we will give Nigerians update on how far our anti-corruption war has gone.
On Shiite Killings; he said, I cannot make any statement until the official report of inquiry is released. “The president of Iran spoke to me about the Shiite crisis; and I told him as a government, we have a system. I am allowing all the investigative bodies to do their job regarding the Shiite crisis. I have to wait for the official reports before I can make a statement. How can any group create a state in another state? I saw clips of excited teenagers hitting the chests of generals. No justification for Shi’ite killings but to be fair to both sides, I have to wait for the outcome of the inquiry. I expect an inquiry on Shi’ite killings by Kaduna state government because it happened there.
On saying his government has technically won the war against Boko Haram; he said, When I say the war has been technically won, I meant their capacity to carry out conventional attack has weakened.
Other statements of President Buhari during the chat includes;
Hijab will have to be banned if Boko Haram bombings continue”
We may have to send the young unemployed youth seeking the N5,000 fee to farm to earn the money
I have declared my assets four times.
We have documents showing that Nigerian crude oil was diverted and proceeds from the oil were diverted to private individuals.
When I say the war [against Boko Haram] has been technically won, I meant their capacity to carry out conventional attack has weakened.
There are evidences of treasonable felony against Nnamdi Kanu.
Nigeria is not borrowing again but renegotiating with creditors.
I cannot see the NASS spending N45billion to buy cars on top of the transport allowance they collect.
I don’t think I picked anybody (as Minister) that I know will embarrass my government.
