As Nigerians continue to lament over the ongoing
hardship caused by economic recession, Special
Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on
Political Matters, Senator Babafemi Ojudu, has
said even minister and other appointees of the
president are not left out of the pains.
He said a lot of ministers, special advisers and
chief executive officers of government agencies
and parastatals are sacrificing for the betterment
of the nation.
Ojudu likened the current situation of the political
appointees to that of the ordinary Nigerian in the
face of the economic crisis in the country.
He said: “Here is my office. People tell me what
this office was like when I was not here. The air
conditioners you are seeing, I had to buy them
myself. These bulbs you are seeing, I bought
them myself. The TV inside, I bought it myself.
The government couldn’t even do it for me. I
have no personal staff, no official car.”
On why it is taking the present government to
reduce the number of aircraft in the Presidential
fleet, Senator Ojudu said, “Again, you should
know the workings of government. Sometimes, it
could be very slow to take such decision. You first
want to know how many you have. How
serviceable they are, what use would you want to
put the ones available, all of that decision.
“The President has said I want to provide free
food for students, it’s taking six months to do
procurement, to go through all of the steps in the
civil service. If you don’t do them, in future when
you are not there, they can come and pounce on
you and say you contravened government
processes.
“So, some of these things you cannot blame on
the President or the vice president. There are laid
down procedures for doing this. What you cannot
say is that since he got there, he has made
approval for the purchase of new aircraft.
“He cannot use more than one, neither could the
vice president use more than one but he has
insisted that something must be done but the
system is still there.’’
Asked whether the aircraft would be sold
eventually, Ojudu said: “Of course, he has said it
many times over that look, get buyers for those
that are not of use to me. Those ones that will be
of use to the Airforce, give it to the airforce. But
as I said, government processes move so slow
and that’s why, for example, we are requesting
for some powers to enable him take decisions
quickly.”
Recall that The Minister of State for Education,
Anthony Anwukah, has admitted that Nigerians
are truly suffering as a result of the current
economic recession.
According to him, most products consumed in
Nigeria were imported, adding that Nigerians
failed to “swiftly” adjust to the present economic
recession in the country due to their “bloated”
lifestyle.