Politics

Knocks as Buhari begins 10-day ‘private visit’ to UK

Published

5 years ago

April 26, 2019

The Peoples Democratic Party and the Coalition of United Political Parties on Thursday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to disclose his reason for embarking on a 10 – day trip to the United Kingdom.

They said it was wrong for the President to embark on a journey without telling Nigerians what he would do while away .
Their reactions followed a statement from the Presidency that President Muhammadu would travel to the UK on Thursday on a “ private visit . ”

The President , who was on an official visit to Maiduguri , the Borno State capital , on Thursday , was expected to travel to the UK after the trip to the north – eastern state . He will be away till May 5 .

Due to this, Vice – President Yemi Osinbajo presided over the Federal Executive Council meeting where the Federal Government approved N 52 bn for the electronic monitoring of Nigeria’ s borders with neighbouring countries .

The statement by the President’ s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity , Mr Femi Adesina , stated , “ Further to the official visit by President Muhammadu Buhari to Lagos on Wednesday where he inaugurated a number of projects executed by the state government , the President is scheduled to depart for Maiduguri , the Borno State capital for another official visit on Thursday .
“ He is expected to inaugurate developmental projects especially in the sectors of education , health care and roads .
“ At the end of the visit , President Buhari will be proceeding to the United Kingdom on a private visit . He is expected to return to Nigeria on May 5 , 2019 . ”

Buhari can ’ t travel with public funds and fail to disclose mission – PDP
However , the National Chairman of the PDP , Prince Uche Secondus, who spoke with one of our correspondents , said it was improper for the President to travel with public funds but fail to “ disclose his movements . ”

He said it would be wrong for the President to allow Nigerians to be speculating on whether he ( the President ) was attending to his health or not .

Secondus said , “ The President is not travelling as an individual . He is travelling as the President of Nigeria who was elected by Nigerians in 2015 to lead them .

“ He is not going to the UK on a commercial airline ; but on a presidential jet that is being maintained by taxpayers . Nigerians are going to be responsible for his welfare and the welfare of those who are going with him .

“ The President should , therefore , open up and tell Nigerians his itinerary in the UK . Is he going on holiday ? Is he going for medicals ? Who are those who will be his guests there and where will he visit ? Is he going on a short break ?

“ These are not too much to tell the people , especially by a man who preaches integrity and always claims that his government has nothing to hide . ”

Nigeria is on autopilot under Buhari , says CUPP

In its reaction , the CUPP said the trip had proved that the country had been on autopilot since he assumed office .
The coalition ’ s national spokesman, Imo Ugochinyere , said this in an interview with one of our correspondents .
Ugochinyere also said since his trips were funded with taxpayers’ money , the President should disclose the reason for his latest travel instead of tagging it a private visit .

He said , “ The President is taking Nigerians for granted . He does whatever he likes without bothering about anybody . After spending over a year outside the country in the last four years , he has again embarked on what he called a private visit with the taxpayers ’ money .

“ The man is not doing anything. The country is on autopilot . The country has been on autopilot since he took over and it is still on autopilot .

“ If he is going for regular medicals , he should be bold enough to tell us . If he is going on holiday , he should also tell us because his trips are funded with taxpayers’ money .

“ It is clear that the country does not have a competent leader . The job of the President is a 24 hours job but this man is not doing this job . ”

Buhari ’s frequent trips alarming, says group
On his part , the Executive Director , United Global Resolve for Peace , Shalom Olaseni , said the President had the constitutional right to leave the country even for more than a week without disclosing his itinerary in as much as proper handing over to the Vice – President was done .
He, however , expressed concerns over Buhari ’ s frequent trips, which he said , had not yielded any benefit to the nation .

Presidency declines to shed more light on President ’s ‘private visit ’
However , in spite of the crticisms by the opposition, attempts made by The PUNCH to get the reaction of the President ’ s media managers did not yield fruit .
An enquiry mail The PUNCH sent to Adesina and the Senior Special Assistant to Buhari on Media and Publicity , Mr Garba Shehu, was not responded to as of the time of filing this report on Thursday night .

Buhari is also set to hold a valedictory session for members of the Federal Executive Council on May 22 , less than a week to his inauguration for a second term on May 29 .

The Minister of Information and Culture, Mr Lai Mohammed , disclosed this while speaking to State House Correspondents at the end of Thursday ’ s FEC meeting in Abuja.
Mohammed stated that the cabinet would be intact until May 22 when the President would host the ministers to a valedictory session .

“ We will be having a valedictory session on May 22 . The cabinet remains intact , ” he added .

Recall that the ministers were a week earlier directed to submit “ status reports on policies , programmes and projects ” under their watch by Wednesday , April 24 , preparatory to the winding down of the first term of the President . ”
Mohammed said the fact that the valedictory session of the federal cabinet would be held on May 22 , 2019 did not mean that the cabinet would be dissolved on the same day .
Clarifying his earlier statement to State House correspondents after Thursday ’ s Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja, the minister said it was the prerogative of the President to dissolve the cabinet anytime he chose.

“ It is therefore inaccurate to extrapolate from my statement – that the FEC valedictory session will hold on May 22 – to say that the President will dissolve the cabinet on the same day . They do not mean the same thing, ” he said .

FEC okays N 52 bn for e – border monitoring in Buhari ’s absence
Meanwhile , the FEC on Thursday approved N 52 bn for the electronic monitoring of Nigeria’ s loose borders with neighbouring countries in Buhari ’ s absence .
The Minister of Interior , Lt . Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau ( retd . ) , who spoke on the border projects , said 86 border posts would be covered .
He added that the 1 , 400 illegal smuggling routes along the borders would also be monitored electronically on completion of the projects.

The minister said , “ You will recall that when we came , I made the observation that our borders are very porous and diverse and that it is impossible to man these borders physically . Therefore , there is the need for modern technologies to be able to monitor our borders . We also thought of the capacity to respond to emergencies at the borders .
“ It is on this note that I presented a memo today ( Thursday ) for this e – border solution . This process started in 2012 but we picked it up to move forward when we came in . The project is to be completed within the next two years and it will cost about N 52 bn .

“ There is a pilot project already which has been very successful ; it was installed to monitor two borders.

“ This project is going to cover 86 border posts in the country. We will be able to also monitor 1 , 400 illegal routes that are used for smuggling and all kinds of cross -border criminal activities . ”
In addition , the FEC approved N 202. 6 m for the completion of the Ingawa Dam in Katsina State and the Mangu Dam located in Plateau State .