The Nigerian Presidency has reacted to a report by the UK Telegraph that he has been using hundreds of millions of pounds of British foreign aid given to the country to help combat Boko Haram terrorists to fund a witch-hunt against opposition politicians instead.



In a publication on Tuesday, UK Telegraph defence editor, Con Coughlin, said Britain had committed to spending £860 million in foreign aid to Nigeria to support the efforts to crush Boko Haram.

“Since Mr Buhari came to power last July, a number of prominent members of the former ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have been arrested and imprisoned without charge. Among those detained was the party’s official spokesperson,” the report read.

Reacting to the report, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media & Publicity, Garba Shehu in a statement on Wednesday denied it.

Below is his full statement:

“Our attention has been drawn to a piece published in your paper, by one Con Coughlin, identified as your Defence Editor, and titled, ‘Nigeria using UK aid to persecute president’s political foes rather to fight Boko Haram.’

The piece is not only full of factual inaccuracies, it also betrays a shocking level of ignorance of Nigeria and the country’s ongoing war against terrorism.

Mr Coughlin’s editorial tactic is to quote unnamed “senior officials” and “Western diplomats” and “Western officials” and “political opponents” making fact-free and unfounded statements. It also appears that he sought out only those opinions which suited and reinforced his disgracefully false headline. Nowhere in the piece is there anything that suggests he attempted to contact the Nigerian government for its own side of the story.

Coughlin writes that “American officials are also angry that $2.1 billion of aid given to the Nigerian military to tackle Boko Haram has not been properly accounted for.”

It does not occur to him that the $2.1 billion he refers to was budgeted for and wholly spent by the government that President Buhari and his party defeated in the March 2015 presidential elections, and that one of President Buhari’s priorities has been investigating the misuse of those funds.
It also does not appear to occur to Mr. Coughlin that the “political opponents” he is falsely accusing President Buhari of “targeting” and “persecuting” are actually on trial on account of how they spent the $2.1 billion in question. Mr. Coughlin is equally unaware of the fact that the investigating panel set up by Mr. Buhari to probe the $2.1 billion recently published a preliminary report that confirmed that much of that money was indeed looted or mis-spent by the accused persons, and that the government has started to recover the funds.

Coughlin accuses President Buhari’s government of attempting to cover-up the abductions of 400 women and children “abducted last year by militants from the Nigerian town of Damasak.”

This is absolutely untrue. The Damasak abductions he’s referring to, which were recently widely reported, took place, not “last year” as he says, but in late 2014, well before Mr. Buhari was elected President of Nigeria. (And, by the way, Mr Buhari came to power on May 29, 2015, not July, as Coughlin reports).

A simple search by Mr. Coughlin of his paper’s archives would have revealed these facts. A simple fact-check by his copy-editors would have spared the Telegraph the embarrassment of publishing this drivel.

There are several other inaccuracies and baseless statements in the piece, but Mr. Coughlin is too enamoured of his anonymous sources to realise they might be misleading him, or be as ignorant about the situation as he is. The suggestion that Boko Haram is going “from strength to strength” is an eminently laughable one; not even Nigeria’s opposition party would make such an absurd claim.

Since President Buhari took office, schools in Borno State, shut for more than one year under the previous government, have reopened. The same applies to the airport in Maiduguri, shut down in December 2013 after a devastating Boko Haram attack on the nearby military airbase.
Thousands of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) have now started returning home. Last Sunday, El-Kanemi Warriors Football Club played its first game in its home base of Maiduguri in more than two seasons. Until now they had been forced to play home games outside the region, on account of security concerns. There are several more examples of how the people of the region are finally getting a chance to rebuild their lives, as the Nigerian Armed Forces and a Multinational Joint Task Force continue their work of routing the terrorists.

Mr. Coughlin not only sounds like a spokesperson for the very people whose corruption and mismanagement allowed Boko Haram to bring Nigeria to its knees – and whose disastrous legacy President Buhari has spent the last one year redeeming Nigeria from – he is also guilty of failing to observe the most basic rules of responsible journalism.

Mr Coughlin needs a refresher course on responsible journalism as much as he needs a crash course on Nigeria. Until he submits himself to these, we’re afraid he will continue to embarrass not only himself, but also the revered British media institution that is the Telegraph.”

Source: http://www.trezzyblog.com/2016/04/see-how-president-buhari-reacted-to-uk.html

The telegraph needs to investigate this journalist, as that report we read seemed more likely to be written by a Chigozie Coughlin than a Con Coughlin, judging from the sheer amount of falsehood, misinformation and outright ignorance that was contained in the report.

The respected publication had better start some housecleaning asap. Coughlin ko, Procold ni.

so oyinbos too dey collect brown evelope

Amazing letter

ok

Firebrand response. Western banks are closing shops due to stoppage of cash inflow to their countries. So, don't blame this quack journalist.

If not for improving ones knowledge I would not have wasted my time to read the rubbish the UK based journalist wrote. That was thesame way the rubbed america to invade Irag, hence the world never remain the same.

Thank you presidency for responding.

ziccoit:
Firebrand response. Western banks are closing shops due to stoppage of cash inflow to their countries. So, don't blame this quack journalist.

Neatly delivered with fact?

God guide PMB

God bless Nigeria

Let's pray it ends there.

Methinks the West is upset by GMB's love affair with the Chinese. The timing of the article is ominous.

Same back hand they gave to GEJ

That's a powerful response from the presidency.

Buharism:
O boy see Punchline.

Don't mind those crazy oyibos

So sound! This reply is epic! Con conghly shud be investigated! I suspect he must ve gotten ssme share from d armgate mney!

hahahahahahhahaha image laundary at work.
dem APC don dey reap wat dem sow. una tink say una colaboration with d west in d last election no get hidden clause shine ur eyes well well. if una renede on una agreement with d western con3s, den be prepared to face d consequencies. afterall na dem install APC buari govt to pawa.
western con3s ar not don with buari dullard yet.

Cry baby Bubu...U

.

J

Error 404

The truth of the matter is that every body even oyibos know that buhari is witchhunting politically

Don't mind the telegraph news paper. It's seems they have started collecting brown envelop just like their Nigeria colleagues we are watching them in 3D ! !!

Wonderful reply. May God continue to bless and direct my able presido.

Ka Chineke mezie okwu. Ise!!!

Epic response to thrash report.. Con coughly ko corn kata ni...

Too little too late, Most UK citizens have already formed an opinion about buhari corrupt and dictatorial tendencies. The best bet would've been to force the paper to retract and publish an apology to the Nigerian government.

drss1:
hahahahahahhahaha image laundary at work. dem APC don dey reap wat they sow.
d west ar not don with buari yet.

You are a stark illiterate that shouldn't comment on high level issues such as this

You need to enroll in a school near you

This is beyond your mental capacity


*** EDIT

The IPOB Yoot edited his post and ALAS more errors as expected

dem APC don dey reap wat dem sow. una tink say una colaboration with d west in d last election no get hidden clause shine ur eyes well well. if una renede on una agreement with d western con3s, den be prepared to face d consequencies. afterall na dem install APC buari govt to pawa.
western con3s ar not don with buari dullard yet.

IPOB Illiterate!!

SleekMallam:
---

What else will you say apart from abuse Buhari

No analysis whatsoever

Proper IPOB man

very good reply from Garba SHEHU. Its so well written nice line by line reply. I hope telegraph gets to read it.

This is the first time this government has spoken the truth and has given us fact beyond reasonable doubt