An estimated N2.7 trillion ($13.6 billion) worth of direct investment is part of the
immediate benefits accruing from President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent state visit to the
United States, the Presidency claimed yesterday.

The presidency also affirmed that the visit cost the Nigerian treasury less than N220 million
contrary to assertions in some sections of the media.

It further explained that President Buhari’s son, Yusuf, did not receive any estacode for the
trip even as it contended that great savings were made by members of the delegation against previous visits.

The five governors who were in the delegation, the presidency said, paid their way while
permanent secretaries and other senior government officials only received their entitlements.

File: US President Barack Obama speaks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari during a
meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC, July 20, 2015. Obama welcomes Nigeria’s freshly elected president after the country’s first ever democratic transition. AFP File: US President Barack Obama
speaks with Nigerian President Muhammadu Buhari during a meeting in the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, DC,
July 20, 2015.

Obama welcomes Nigeria’s freshly elected president after the country’s first ever democratic transition. AFP The presidency’s explanations followed news reports in some
sections of the media that the visit was wasteful, cost N2.2 billion and was not in anyway
beneficial.

In a statement, yesterday, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said besides the
economic benefits, plans were already in motion to lift hindrances to the flow of military
support for Nigeria’s war against insurgents in the North-East.

Some immediate benefits According to him, “some of the more immediate benefits of the
President’s trip to the US include: the proposed$2.1 billion fund from the World Bank for the re-development of the northeast battered by Boko Haram; $5 billion from US investors in
Nigeria’s agriculture sector; $1.5 billion investment in the Nigerian’s health sector; and
another $5 billion investment from the US in our country’s power sector.

“Also, as things stand, the embargo on weapons sales to Nigeria is in the process of being removed. The trip to the US by President Buhari was definitely very successful and beneficial to
Nigeria. Only those rabidly determined to
find faults unnecessarily will cook up falsehood in a futile effort to rake up murk where none exists.

“It is very sad that in this age of free-flowing information and in this era of change, a media
organisation would make itself available as a vehicle to peddle a lie of such low and ignominious quality.

“Contrary to the newspaper’s assertions, the total cost of the trip to the Nigerian taxpayer was at the most minimal, in line with the policy of this administration to cut waste and extravagance. Buhari’s son didn’t receive
estacode, govs paid their way “In point of fact, the total amount expended on the trip by the
office of the President amounted to nothing near 10 per cent of the speculated figure.

“Owing to the free accommodation provided by the host government, all the personal
staff who accompanied the President on the trip received reduced allowances.

“His son, Yusuf, received neither allowances nor estacode. The five governors on the trip
each paid their way. Permanent Secretaries who
travelled on the delegation did so in accordance with extant rules and none of them exceeded their estacode entitlements.

“Apart from the Nigerian pilot’s mischievous mathematics, it is shortsighted and misleading of the newspaper to have claimed that President Buhari’s trip to the US achieved nothing.

“Nigerian-US relations had suffered severely over the past few years. That relationship has now been reset. The benefits of this symbiotic relationship will become more and more evident
as the Buhari administration continues to tackle the challenges of corruption, security
and the economy.

Source - http://naijanote.com

ok.....lets move on

Thank God for democracy, a news paper would have been on the way to the slammers by now. Why report what you did not verify........hmmm

Baba, no weapon formed against you shall prosper. Do more than your best, God is your strength

Behold Our messiah, even without ministers, Nigeria is already working, the Lord has set us on the right part finally, all the years the canker-worm and Caterpillar (Jona) has eaten, the lord is restoring, thank you lord.