President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday said has proven his fitness
to hold the top job for the next four years.
Mr Buhari said this at a meeting
of the Federal Executive Council, where ministers congratulated him on his
success at the polls.
Mr Buhari, whose health has been
called to question after he repeatedly travelled for medical treatment in the
United Kingdom in the early days of his administration, said his visits to the
states for campaign showed his fitness.
He said, “during the campaigns, I
tried to visit the 36 states and Abuja, firstly, to prove to the other side
that I am fit. I tried to cover two states per day and secondly, not to make
anybody feel that any state had been left out.
“So, I thank God that He gave me
the strength and health to see through my plan and I think it is appreciated.”
Mr Buhari, who defeated Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP) to win a second term in office, said his second term in office will
be tough because Nigerians appear to be “forgetful”.
“My last lap of four years, I
think, is going to be tough because people are being forgetful. That was why
wherever I went, I reminded them of the campaign promise of our party,
particularly security, as I kept on saying that you have to secure the country
well. If you don’t secure the country, you can’t achieve anything no matter how
many programmes you put in place,” he said.
Mr Buhari also said unemployed
able bodied youth remains a big problem in Nigeria today. He said the youth
need to be kept busy.
Mr Buhari said he is glad that the
country had good two rainy seasons and his government had the foresight to get
the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Central Bank of
Nigeria to give soft loans to farmers “so that everybody that is educated and
looking for white collar jobs and cannot get it, can go back to the land. We
are lucky the rainy season had been good”.
He also
said his administration was lucky as a result of efforts of some state
governors in Lagos, Ogun, Kebbi, Jigawa, Ebonyi. “We don’t import rice but we
have savings from rice in terms of foreign exchange which we put in the budget
and use for infrastructure.”
“That
is a very good thing because the oil sector is becoming very difficult to
predict. It is becoming unpredictable and depending on it makes us materially
insecure but thank goodness, agriculture has come to save it and people are
appreciating it,” he said.
Elated
ministers
Earlier,
the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Boss Mustapha said the
Ministers decided to visit the villa and congratulate the president because his
victory at the polls was well deserved.
The SGF
said the victory of Mr Buhari “was a referendum on honesty, integrity,
uprightness and sincerity”.
He said the change promised by the president four years ago to
put the Nigerian economy on a sustainable development path; restore security of
lives and property; and to fight corruption has laid the firm foundation for
growth in the country.
“Your commitment, dedication and
purposeful leadership has indeed become the springboard that has taken us to
the Next Level,” he said.
He said Nigerians have validated
and rewarded the long rigorous hours they (ministers) spent in the Council
Chamber to deliberate on matters of national importance.
“You led us with assured calmness,
understanding and ensured that we gave account of our stewardship openly,” he
said.
The SGF also spoke ongoing reforms
aimed at strengthening good governance.
“For the records, we recall your
reform achievements signposted by the introduction of the Treasury Single
Account (TSA), Bank Verification Number (BVN), Presidential Initiative on
Continuous Audit (PICA), the Open Government Partnership (0GP), the whistle
blower policy, and the Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan
[FCSSIP] 2017-2020.
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