Breaking: Some of the things Buhari said at his Media Chat this Evening

 

 President Buhari this evening, held his first presidential media chat. Here are some of the things he said.    Click here to watch video of the chat  and read the rest after the cut

On Unemployment, Buhari said, youths may be Sent to farms to end N5K Stipend. 

According to him;


''When my VP is quoted, how can I disown it? . We may have to send the young unemployed youth seeking N5k fee to farm to earn the money"

When asked about difficulty in identifying the unemployed for cash transfers, Buhari says "you know Nigerians, we are a very difficult lot."


Hijabs won by Muslim women, 

Buhari said' that he may be forced to ban hijabs worn by Muslim women.

 "If Boko Harram continues with suicide bombings, we might consider banning wearing Hijab"


On corruption;  and allegations that some members of his party that have been accused of corruption are being shielded from investigation, he said 

"I don't tolerate corruption and I did not pick anyone that will corrupt my government. It is the right of Nigerians to take them to court. I have not taken anybody who is facing corruption charges. I cannot make the mistake of appointing anyone with corruption. Whoever is found to be corrupt would not only be sacked but prosecuted."  He dared journalists to name one corrupt minister out of the thirty six in his cabinet.  All journalists on the panel went silent after the President made the dare.

President Buhari then proceeded to say, ''They (the minister) they have to declare their assets. I don't think I have picked anybody that I know will embarrass my government among the ministers''.   

On the devaluation Of Naira Buhari said; 

The devaluation of the naira is not favourable to Nigeria’s economy considering that ours is a consumer economy. "Personally, I don't support the devaluation of the Naira. We handed over a secured country in 1979, but by 1984, nobody knew how much Nigeria was owing. The situation now is aggravated by the downturn in the petroleum industry. It is now per barrel and we have debt service of about N1.5 trillion and we have commitment on the ground. We have to reorganize the NNPC. We have to introduce the TSA. There were 45 accounts in the NNPC alone. Ministry of Defence had about 70 accounts. We have got about N1.5 trillion through the TSA. The oil downturn is very unfortunate for this government. Check previous records. Over 90% were recurrent. No country can develop without capital projects. We were in very very bad shape. I will not support devaluation of the Naira. I need to be convinced that there is need for the country to devalue the Naira. Is it against the dollar or pound? We have our priorities. To provided money to fund the projects we have already outlined, and not for those who want hard currency to import textile and toothpick."

Buhari Forgets Important Detail

President Muhammadu Buhari also committed a major public blunder during the Presidential Media chat.

When responding to a question on the devaluation of the Naira, the President said, ''I need to be convinced. If you devalue the naira, against what? Dollar, sterling, yen, French Franc, Deutschmark ''

Some of the currencies mentioned by the President in the statement above no longer exist. 

On Biafra;s Agitation Buhari said; 

 "We will not allow anyone create a state within the Nigerian state"     ''Biafran protesters are marginalised, how? . Nnamdi Kanu has Nigerian, British passport and didn't use either in coming into the country''

    "There's a treasonable charge against Kanu and I hope the court will listen to the case against him. Do u know Kanu brought in sophisticated weapon into the country?.

    ''What do the Igbos want?
    
On Car Allowance for NASS Assembly members, 

President Buhari said  he will be exploring the possibility of stopping National Assembly members from spending N4.5 billion on car purchase when they still collect transportation allowances. He said he turned down a N400 million car proposal for the presidency

    "I turned down a N400million car proposal for the presidency. I said the cars I have are good enough for 10 years. We are having problem with the National Assembly regarding TSA. I have to holding a closed-door meeting with the National Assembly regarding the cars they are trying to buy. I hope they haven't bought them yet.

    They can't buy cars for themselves and also take money in car loans. I can't see the National assembly paying 4.5 Billion Naira to buy cars after collecting transport allowance. I will revisit that story. We have to live within our means."he said 

On Oil subsidy, chiibok girls, Army/Shiite clash, others, Buhari Said; 

     "Thirty years ago as Head of State, we collected those we perceived to be corrupt and put them in protective custody, until they prove they were not guilty. At present, those suspected of being corrupt are innocent until they are proven guilty. 

    "We have documents showing Nigerian crude oil was lifted illegally and proceeds are put into personal accounts instead of Government account. We are in court with suspected corrupt persons and we cannot comment until the court are through.We can only appeal to Nigerians to be patient."

    "Our constraint is that the accused persons have to defend themselves in court to defend themselves. So, we cannot release their names to the public until the issues are completed in court. Whatever we recover will be presented in court. "The documentation in court include bank statements and documents from Customs Service that are to be presented in court. Until then, we ask Nigerians to have patience." 

    "We have to be patient and await outcome of courts decision. Government will only react through the Ministry of Justice after the courts have finished with matters before them. "We have documents showing where monies have been lodged."

ON EFCC, ICPC, Buhari said

    "We have to be very sure of the documents we get and we have to cross check records sometimes across countries and in the EFCC. Those who were engaged in the theft of oil were people of substance and have the wealth to hire the best of lawyers to defend them.

    We need to submit fool-proof documents to succeed in prosecution.

    How many people have ICPC prosecuted in the past? That is why we are being thorough now. By the end of first quarter of next year, we would be in a position to tell Nigerians how far we have gone. By the end of the first quarter of next year, we will tell Nigerians how far we have gone on the fight against corruption. I swore by the Holy Koran to defend the country's constitution and the law. So, we will not put any body above the law".

On Asset declaration

    "I have declared my assets four times in the past. You have the constitutional right to go to the relevant government agency to go and seek for it. "They were deposited at the Ministry of Justice. If Ministry of Justice cannot produce my asset declaration form, then they too should answer some questions.

    "Why me alone, why not others who were governors and Ministers as well. I think I don't have to ask them to give, it is your constitutional role."

On Boko Haram, Buhari said he swore by the Holy Quran to fight corruption

    "‎By the end of the first quarter of next year, we will tell Nigerians how far we have gone on the fight against corruption. I swore by the Holy Koran to defend the country's constitution and the law. So, we will not put any body above the law."

On the missing Chibok girls, Buhari said his administration is working towards their rescue

    "‎We want to be sure that the girls are complete, safe and sound before we attempt any form of negotiation on the girls. We are still keeping our option. If a credible leadership of Boko Haram is ready for negotiation without any condition we are ready to listen to them. We are working with Niger, Chad and Cameroun on the girls. We have no credible intelligence of where they are. "

On the Shiite/Army clash, he said

    "‎The President of Iran spoke to me about the situation. But, I told him that as a government we have a system we must follow. "As the head of the Federal Government, I told him I will have to wait for the official report from the Kaduna State government from their investigations. To be fair to the both sides, we have to wait for the report of the inquiry. I expect the Kaduna State government will bring the report on the inquiry because the crisis happened in its domain. There are all sorts of allegations. So, we just have to wait for the report.  I was in touch with the governor of Kaduna state and the president of Iran talked to me about it. We have a system of investigation as a government and as the head of the federal government, I have to wait for official report before I comment. The Police and the SSS are doing their own role of finding out what happened. In any incident where lives and property were lost there is a standard way of doing things and people would be asked to come and give evidence. How can any group create a state within a state? I saw a clip in which some dissidents were virtually hitting the chest of Generals."

Regarding the continuous detention of Sambo Dasuki and Nnamdi Kanu;  Buhari said,


 "If you see the atrocities those committed against this country, we can't allow them to jump bail."


Some of his LIVE QUOTES From the Media Chat 

        Those suspected of being corrupt are innocent until proven guilty.
        Those who are perceived to be corrupt are corrupt until proven innocent.
        "I have declared my assets four times, mentioned which banks I took money from and how many cars I have"
        Nigeria doing quite well in anti-corruption war, treasury looters will eventually end up in courts.
        If you are in doubt of my asset declaration go and ask the account office"
        "Money has been recovered, whatever has been recovered we have to end up in courts
        "I swore by the Holy Qran to protect and obey the constitution, no one will be above the law"
        'I did not pick anybody that have been in court for corruption. I don't think I will make that mistake
        I have not taken anyone into my cabinet who is being prosecuted for corruption, consciously I have not
        "I can not comment on the Shite crisis as I am a seating duck, I have to let investigations be"
        "We will not allow anyone create a state within the Nigerian state"
        "We have to let the institutions work, as President I cant pre judge the investigation on Shite crisis"
        "If Boko Harram continues with suicide bombings, we might consider banning wearing Hijab"
        "Without capital projects to create employment, we are in very bad shape"
        "We have banned the importation of toothpicks & goods we waste our foreign currency on. Those who want to import Rice & Toothpick should go somewhere else to get foreign currency"
        "Our priority is for our local industries"
        "You cannot manage the country if you cannot secure it."
        "Fashola wasn't made a Super Minister for nothing".
        "Our dreams and aspirations for Nigeria will not happen overnight"
        I will revisit the story of the National Assembly spending N4.5bn to buy cars
        "The question of parastatals earning money, spending it and giving Govt the change will stop."
        I assure you that Federal Government will not touch the minimum wage but we cannot determine what the states will do
        We may have to send the young unemployed youth seeking N5k fee to farm to earn the money"
        I approved budget for Youth and Sports without any inhibitions, I want them to do well
        "There's a treasonable charge against Kanu and I hope the court will listen to the case against him."
        Do u know Kanu brought in sophisticated weapon into the country
        If you see the kind of atrocities people like Dasuki committed you won't give them bail.
        ''They say they are marginalized. But they haven't defined the marginalisation.Who is marginalizing them?Where?''
        ''What do the Igbos want?
        ''Who is Minister of State for Petroleum, is he not Igbo? Who's Gov of Central Bank? Is he not Igbo? Who's Minister of Labour, Science and technology? 

Pls lets have your opinion