President Muhammadu Buhari said he was shocked when former President Goodluck Jonathan called him to concede defeat while votes were still being collated during the 2015 presidential election.





Buhari made the disclosure at the Banquet Hall of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, when he hosted the State House Press Corps to lunch as part of activities marking this year’s Democracy Day.
Buhari said he was shocked because for someone who was a deputy governor, governor, vice-president and president for 16 years to concede that easily showed Jonathan’s “great sense of patriotism”.

Buhari added that a former military Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, advised him to visit Jonathan to reciprocate for his “statesmanship and decision to save the Nigerian state from crisis”.
Buhari said Jonathan belonged to a party that was at the helms of affairs for 16 years and for him to have gone ahead to concede defeat “was definitely not an easy decision”.

The President added that during his visit to thank Jonathan, General Abubakar again advised that in order to make for an easy transition; he (Buhari) should set up a committee to meet with the outgoing ministers to begin the process of handing over at that level.

The President said when he assumed office; he trimmed the number of ministries from 42 to 24, while many permanent secretaries were also dropped for one reason or the other.

He however said his government was still shocked when it realised that “those below were still living in the past”, which he said led to the infamous budget padding.

According to him, the budget padding saga was a nasty experience for him and many ministers who were new in government.
The President also spoke briefly about his inability to release the list of those who looted the nation’s treasury.

The President advised the reporters covering the State House to “always conduct research on those visiting him whenever they plan to ask them questions, so that when next they come, the visitors will come well prepared”.

Speaking earlier, the Chairman of the Press Corps, Kehinde Amodu, said event was the first time that a serving president would host the State House press corps to lunch and thanked the president for the gesture.

He also said the reporters covering the president were willing to contribute their quota to his change agenda, adding that the reporters would not ask for incentives from the president so that it would not be misconstrued as asking for gratification.
He however called for “improved working conditions” for reporters covering the State House.

The oldest journalist covering the State House, 80-year-old Ladan Abubakar, was specially recognised at the event.

Meanwhile, the president’s media aide, Mr. Garba Shehu, also revealed that the details of returned stolen state’s assets would be made public by tomorrow or Thursday.
Shehu, who spoke on Channels TV, said the directive by the president was that monies with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) should be disclosed.

He said he was surprised by the enormity of the criticism that followed the failure by the president to keep to his promise to disclose the details of the recovered loot.

Source : http://www.barbaric.com.ng/buhari-jonathans-sense-patriotism-shocked/

All jail GEJ the Hero of democracy

Buhari think say everybody be like am