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Tag: Garba Shehu

  • Buhari Is Home In Daura, Not In Exile – Garba Shehu

    Buhari Is Home In Daura, Not In Exile – Garba Shehu

    Former President Muhammadu Buhari has denied being in exile.

    Buhari described the report of him fleeing the country and in exile as false.

    Speaking through his former media aide, Garba Shehu, Buhari said there was no veracity in the report because he has returned home in Daura, Katsina State.

    Shehu said it was misleading to report that former President Muhammadu Buhari has ‘fled’ and was on ‘exile’ when he is currently at home with family in Daura, Katsina State.

    “Every platform has tools to verify any information and we don’t expect anything less,” he said.

    Recently, Buhari travelled to London to rest. During his visit, he met with President Bola Tinubu.

  • What Buhari Didn’t Say To President Tinubu — Garba Shehu

    What Buhari Didn’t Say To President Tinubu — Garba Shehu

    Spokesman of former President Muhammadu Buhari, Mallam Garba Shehu, yesterday, debunked social media report that Buhari had in his meeting with his successor, President Bola Tinubu, pleaded that former government officials should not be investigated.

    Mallam Shehu stated this in a statement, titled “What Buhari didn’t say to President Tinubu.”

    Recall that a social media report had it that when Buhari and Tinubu met in London last week, the former pleaded with his successor not to probe his cabinet members.

    But describing the report as fake, Shehu said: “If social media is to be believed, former President Muhammadu Buhari is requesting his successor, President Bola Ahmed Tinubu not to investigate some former officials of his government.

    “It is fake, let us not discuss it or give it energy or air of publicity. This is fake news, and nothing more. Thankfully, there was no one other than the two leaders in the room in which they met, so no one was there to report their conversation.

    “As much as possible, the former President wishes to remain outside the spotlight so as not to distract the new administration.

    “He chose to go home in Daura hoping to find the type of quiet he wished for himself but realizing that this was not the case, visitors trooping in morning, day and night, he moved out to a more distant place.

    “It remains his wish that he be allowed to have his needed rest, and for the Tinubu administration to have the right atmosphere to work on the realisation of the promises they made.”

  • APC’s 2023 Victory Confirms Buhari Performed Well – Garba Shehu

    Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu has described the victory of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the 2023 general elections in Nigeria as proof of the performance of the Buhari administration.

    Garba Shehu made this assertion on Thursday in his office in Abuja when he was appointed Grand Patron of the Arewa Young Lawyers’ Forum (AYLF).

    Shehu asserted that the triumph of President-elect Bola Tinubu, Vice President-elect Kashim Shettima and governorship candidates had established the APC as a “dominant national party.”

    He noted that an opposition victory in February and March would have been a career-ending moment for many APC leaders.

    According to him: “APC victory in the election is a watershed moment for the Buhari government, its orientation, its programmes and projects.
    “In the hands of the opposition, many of the laudable programmes of the Buhari administration would have been sabotaged or unimplemented.”

    Shehu added that Tinubu/Shettima’s victory not only ensures an orderly transfer of power but also the safety of the policies of the outgoing government.

  • Nigerians will yearn for Buhari when he leaves office – Garba Shehu

    Nigerians will yearn for Buhari when he leaves office – Garba Shehu

    The Senior Special Assistant to President Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has said that just like Goodluck Jonathan, Nigerians will yearn for President Muhammadu Buhari when he leaves office.

    In an interview with Channels Television, Shehu lamented over the level of criticisms thrown at the president, asserting that leaders are not loved while in office. Citing the case of Goodluck Jonathan who he says was persecuted out of office, but has now become the favorite of many Nigerians, Shehu argued that it will be the same way Nigerians will yearn for President Buhari after he hands over power to the next president come May 29.

    Regarding the cashless policy, Shehu affirmed that the current cashless policy of the present administration is desirable and therefore irreversible. According to him, “cashless is the way forward for Nigeria because cashless nations and in fact, all advanced nations of the world have gone cashless”.

    Acknowledging the challenges that have accompanied the change, the president’s spokesman said it is sad that the only people who should have been more pained are the ones who are inflicting pains on the lower segment of the society.

  • Nigerians Fueling Terrorism by Paying Ransom – Garba Shehu

    Nigerians Fueling Terrorism by Paying Ransom – Garba Shehu

    Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has said the payment of ransom by families of kidnapped victims is fuelling terrorism in Nigeria.

    Shehu, who spoke on Channels TV on Monday, said kidnapping would continue until Nigerians stop paying ransoms and allow the security agents to do their job.

    He said, “You are mentioning all of these about kidnappers and the people that have been taken and the President even in his Sallah message mentioned an appeal he was making to fellow citizens to expose them (the criminals), tell the security agencies where they are and sometimes you also can sympathise with the family members in that highly emotive situation.

    “The first priority for most of them is to get their family back and they are willing to pay, and they’ve paid and these payments, whether anybody likes it or not, will continue to fuel terrorism, we have to learn from experiences in other lands that when you pay, you are fuelling terrorism, you are fuelling the hijack and kidnapping of fellow citizens and it will go on and on until simply people call off the bluff and be prepared to allow law enforcement.”

    Shehu also spoke on the recent Kuje Prison attack by suspected Boko Haram members.

    He said, “I’m a Nigerian, I have family members that live in the society, I don’t come from the moon, I feel it and I have never in any way suggested that there’s no hardship in the country, I have never in any place or position indicated that there’s no criminality.”

  • Nobody Can Take Credit For Buhari’s 2015 Election Victory – Garba Shehu

    Nobody Can Take Credit For Buhari’s 2015 Election Victory – Garba Shehu

    Tens of millions of Nigerians voted for President Muhammadu Buhari and that led to his victory in the 2015 general elections, Mr Garba Shehu has said.

    The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity made the remark on Monday in a statement in Abuja, the nation’s capital.

    Shehu’s statement was in reaction to comments by a presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, during a meeting with party delegates in Abeokuta, Ogun State.

    While Tinubu had said he played a critical role in the events that led to President Buhari’s victory in 2015, he has since clarified that he was taken out of context, adding that he holds the President in high esteem.

    But Shehu, in his reaction, stated that President Buhari defeated the then-incumbent President Goodluck Jonathan because of the millions of votes he garnered at the poll.

    According to him, it is very wrong and out of place for anyone to claim responsibility or take credit for the President’s victory in that election.

    Read the full text of the statement by the presidential aide below:

    It is perhaps not surprising that on the eve of the All Progressives Congress (APC) flagbearer primary there are those running as candidates who wish to associate themselves with the President’s rise to elected office seven years ago.

    There are many people who played parts large and small in his historic election in 2015, making history as the first opposition candidate to defeat a sitting president with power changing hands peacefully at the ballot box.

    There are those who advised the President to run again; those who decided to build a political party – the APC – that could finally be the political vehicle capable of delivering victory where all other opposition parties and alliances before it had failed.

    Those decisions may have been agreed upon by a few. But they were delivered by thousands and voted for by tens of millions. No one can or should claim to have made the possible.

    Yet as important as that moment was, it is not what should decide the next general election.

    What matters is the future: the policy platforms, the ideas, the drive, and the determination to take over the President’s stewardship of our country and build upon his legacy to make our country better than it has ever been.

    The person most demonstrable in those qualities is the one to lead our party and our country forward.

  • Why FG Is Yet To Deploy Tucano Jets In N/West — Presidency

    Why FG Is Yet To Deploy Tucano Jets In N/West — Presidency

    The presidency says before the Tucano jets acquired from the United States can be deployed in the banditry-ravaged North West, the terms of agreement for the purchase of the aircraft need to be adhered to so that Nigeria will not be in the “black book” of the US.

    A presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, said this while featuring on Trust TV.

    “The military is a trained military. The president is responsible. If he finishes now, we want him to go and rest in Kaduna or Daura, we don’t want him to go to the International Criminal Court, that is not the idea. We should allow the military to use their methodical process for dealing with these things, let them do it.

    “When you are dealing with countries like America, you have to be sensitive to public opinion which is important to them as it is to us. Yes, it is clear when they sold the super Tucano to the government of Nigeria. They were looking at the law. The law does not allow you to use weapons on targets they classify as civilians otherwise America will no longer sell weapons to you. Don’t forget that it took a buildup of years of rejection until President Buhari came in the scene and was able to establish credibility with America and they said they would sell.

    “It is true that from the beginning, the Air Force could not use the aircraft in the North West and even after that, it took some time because these things also use precision type weapon. From my own understanding, these were not to be made available until March, we are just into April.”

    On what the government is doing to rescue to the abducted Abuja-Kaduna train passengers, Shehu noted that the military has the capacity to bomb the enclave of the bandits if it wishes, but the determination to rescue them alive is preventing the government from engaging in any military actions.

    He said the government was also making heavy investments in drone technology, stating that “quite a lot is being achieved with the drones.”

    He said the Abuja-Kaduna train service was ready for resumption after the recent attack, “but with air protection by the Nigerian Air Force pending the time when the appropriate technology is acquired for the rail.”

    He said the train operations were suspended in order not to be insensitive to the families of the victims.

    On why the national population census was planned for 2023 despite the security challenges, he said the government should be given the benefit of doubt as it delivered on Anambra elections despite the security situation in the state.

  • Garba Shehu: No moral justification for Wike’s criticism of pardon granted to Nyame, Dariye

    Garba Shehu: No moral justification for Wike’s criticism of pardon granted to Nyame, Dariye

    Garba Shehu, presidential spokesperson, has faulted Nyesom Wike, governor of Rivers, for criticising the state pardon granted to Joshua Dariye, former governor of Plateau, and Jolly Nyame, former governor of Taraba.

    On Thursday, the council of state pardoned 159 inmates, including the two former governors.

    Nyame was sentenced to a 12-year jail term for diverting N1.64 billion during his tenure as governor of Taraba, while Dariye was on 10 years imprisonment for N1.126 billion fraud.

    Reacting to the state pardon, Wike said the pardon granted to the two former governors was a “disservice” to the judiciary.

    The Rivers governor claimed that the two former governors were granted pardons so that they can help the All Progressives Congress (APC) in the forthcoming general election.

    Responding to Wike, Shehu said Wike does not have the “moral justification” to criticise the decision since he did not attend the council of state meeting despite being invited.

    The presidential spokesperson added that Ipalibo Banigo, Rivers deputy governor, who attended the meeting virtually, switched off her camera and it was difficult to determine if she monitored the meeting or walked away.

    “I do not see the moral justification for Governor Wike’s criticism of the decision of the government to pardon Governors Dariye and Nyame at a meeting to which he was duly invited but did not attend,” Shehu said in a series of tweets.

    “The Rivers State Deputy Governor, Dr. Ipalibo Banigo, who joined the Council of State meeting virtually, switched off her camera, so it was difficult to determine whether she sat behind the dark screen or just walked away after first joining.

  • Buhari’s Aide, Garba Shehu Recovers From COVID-19

    Buhari’s Aide, Garba Shehu Recovers From COVID-19

    The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, has recovered from COVID-19.

    Shehu announced his recovery in a Facebook post on Wednesday, barely a week after he confirmed his initial positive status to Channels Television.

    “I thank Almighty Allah for my speedy recovery from COVID-19,” he said in the social media post. “My prayers and deepest respect are for all of you, who prayed, called or texted expressing your concerns for me.

    “May all of our countrymen and women still afflicted with the virus fight this scourge with all their might and get well soon.”

    Reports had emerged that some of President Muhammadu Buhari’s aides have gone into isolation after they tested positive for COVID-19.

    While the number of those infected could not be ascertained, Shehu revealed on Saturday that he had contracted the disease.

    Despite being fully vaccinated, he disclosed that he had mild symptoms of the disease – a trait connected with the omicron variant.

    On the other hand, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, stated that he was neither in isolation nor receiving treatment for the disease, contrary to reports suggesting he was positive for the virus.

    Reacting to the COVID concerns within the Presidential Villa, another presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina, said there was nothing abnormal about the President’s aides testing positive for COVID-19.

    Adesina, who is the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, stressed that they were just humans like every other person.

    “They can fall sick, they can contract the virus, and the virus can also disappear,” he had stated in an earlier interview. “The fact that we are presidential aides does not make us immune to certain things. If there is a virus that is ravaging society, well, it can touch anybody.”

  • Buhari Deserves Credit For Tackling Insecurity – Garba Shehu

    Buhari Deserves Credit For Tackling Insecurity – Garba Shehu

    Mallam Garba Shehu, the Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammad Buhari on Media and Publicity, says the president deserves credit over his efforts in tackling the farmers/herders crisis in the country.

    Shehu disclosed this on Friday while presenting a paper, tagged ‘Fake news: Challenges of information management’, at the 10th year anniversary of the Federal University Dutsin-Ma (FUDMA), in Katsina State.

    “It is a fact that the Buhari administration is the only government of Nigeria that has put forward a workable solution to the herder-farmer challenge in all the years since independence.

    “The threat to civilians and peaceful co-existence between different ethnic and religious groups from farmer-herders clashes, banditry and land disputes are of serious concern to the Buhari government.

    “It is incorrect, however, to assert that the government has or is doing nothing to address the threats.

    “Firstly, there are ongoing efforts for the establishment of cattle ranches to prevent or curtail open grazing, the practice that brings herders and farmers into conflict.

    “This is an age-old problem facing Nigerian Governments since the colonial days. However, matters of land distribution are dealt with at state level.

    “This means willingness has to be shown by state governors to drive the process forward. The Federal government launched a plan last year to work with states to address these issues together.

    “Unfortunately, this has been lacking in some states, and with regards to the long and determined battle waged against Boko Haram, Nigerians are aware of the efforts made by this Government.

    “When the government came to power, the terrorist group held and administered an area the size of Belgium. Now they hold none. The terrorists are hiding out amongst remote forests and across borders.

    “This makes it difficult to extinguish the final flames of the insurgency, and the government has no illusions of the potent threat still posed.

    “Recent statistics have shown that over 14,500 boko haram members have voluntarily surrendered.

    “However, the progress made cannot be denied. In the face of rising crime and insecurity, the government’s new community policing initiative was launched.

    “Some 10,000 new constables were recruited and the process is on for another 10,000 to be recruited from the areas they will safeguard as opposed to past practice.

    “The government hopes this will bring policing closer to local communities. N13 billion was earmarked for the initial initiative. Going by the plan, every year will see an additional 10,000 policemen.

    “It is an opinion that the president’s comments on IPOB, which led the banning of twitter in Nigeria was controversial. For many it was not.

    “President Buhari has therefore been warning against social media disruptive and divisive influences, and the government’s action is not a knee-jerk reaction to Twitter’s preposterous deletion of his tweet which should have been read in full.

    “The tweet was not a threat, but a statement of fact. As a terrorist organisation, IPOB poses a significant threat to the safety and security of Nigerian citizens.

    “When the President said that they will be treated “in a language they understand,” he merely reiterated that their force shall be met with force. It is a basic principle of security services response world over.

    “This is not a promotion of hate, but a pledge to uphold citizens’ right to freedom from harm. The government cannot be expected to capitulate to terrorists,” according to Shehu.

    Earlier in his welcome address, the Vice Chancellor (VC) of the University, Prof. Armaya’u Hamisu-Bichi, said it is a great pleasure to witness a decade of existence of the institution.

    According to him, “it is not an easy task to develop an institution from the scratch to its present level, saying it is the best among other universities FUDMA was established together with.

    He also narrated the challenges the university’s management has passed through in the past 10 years before it attained its present status.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the university, during the event, rewarded some of its staff for their commitments and dedication to duty.