Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu
The Presidency, on Monday, claimed that the security situation has improved nationwide in the last seven years, warranting the removal of security barricades around the Media Trust Head office in Abuja.
“Seven years is a long time and their new managers may be unaware that in 2015, The Daily Trust needed barriers around their premises and heavy security- as did many other sensitive institutions- to be safe from terrorists. Now, they have all that removed, a clear indication that the threats, as they existed at that time have abated,” the Presidency said in a statement signed by President Buhari’s Spokesman, Garba Shehu.
The response came 24 hours after a scathing editorial by the media house in which it castigated the Buhari regime for last Tuesday’s Kuje attack lamenting that “no one would be held responsible for such a massive breach in security.”
Describing the piece as “ill-informed”, the Presidency said although “the authors are correct that Nigeria like every other country in the world is undergoing a period of hardship, all and any suggestion that the Buhari administration is not leaving Nigeria in a better place than we found it – especially on the key pillars of the economy, security and corruption – is pure fantasy.”
According to Shehu, the Boko Haram Terrorists who, in 2015, held territory the size of Belgium in Nigeria, no longer hold any Nigerian territory.
“In March our military eliminated the leader of ISWAP in an airstrike using U.S. jets and British intelligence – a testament to the newfound trust our allies hold in our administration, not enjoyed by previous administrations.
“Moreover, our administration is the only in Nigeria’s history to implement a solution to the herder-farmer conflicts through our landmark National Livestock Transformation Plan. Already, where ranches have been established under that initiative, we are seeing a sharp reduction in disputes.
“It is therefore incorrect to say nothing has changed, not to talk of getting worse. Even around the Daily Trust, things have improved. Seven years is a long time and their new managers may be unaware that in 2015, The Daily Trust needed barriers around their premises and heavy security- as did many other sensitive institutions- to be safe from terrorists.
“Now, they have all that removed, a clear indication that the threats, as they existed at that time, have abated,” the statement read.
The Presidency also noted that the regime has done its part in fighting corruption by putting mechanisms in place to stop corruption from happening.
It said “that include the strengthening of the office of the Auditor General, enhancing the capabilities of the anti-corruption agencies by signing into law several legislations and Executive Orders; the implementation of the Treasury Single Account, whistleblower; the implementation of public expenditure management and forensic accounting management systems and several others.”
It added that the return of millions of dollars of looted funds signifies the newfound trust international partners have in Nigeria because of the regime.
“Those same partners refused to return stolen monies to previous administrations for decades, knowing it would simply be stolen again,” Shehu explained.
The Presidency further said that the due credit should be given to the regime seeing that it is battling problems that it did not create.
According to Shehu, “But fairness demands that we should give credit to whom it is due. President Buhari put in place a food policy, to grow what we eat and eat what we grow, that has averted the growing food security threat that is pushing nations into a conundrum.
“In a time of global hardship, we are faced with enough challenges without inventing them where there are none. Moreover, pretending that achievements do not exist where they do helps no one. Rather, let us focus on what we have achieved so that we may build further upon those achievements to tackle the new challenges that continue to arise.”
READ ALSO: It has been tough ruling Nigeria – Buhari
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