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President Goodluck Jonathan |
President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, evening stated the reason
for the sack of his erstwhile National Security Adviser, Gen. Andrew
Azazi, saying it was to conform with the changing tactics of the Boko
Haram insurgency.
He also vowed that the Islamist sect would not bring his government
to its knees as he pledged last night to change the face and structure
of the administration to combat what he described as the varying
strategies of the insurgent group.
Speaking during a presidential media chat, President Jonathan gave
reasons why he removed Gen. Andrew Azazi as the National Security
Adviser, NSA; why he traveled to Brazil last Tuesday despite the carnage
in Kaduna and Yobe states and the administration’s response to the
recent scandal involving the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee
on fuel subsidy management.
For the first time President Jonathan also opened the lid on the
differences between him and former President Umaru Yar‘adua on the
public declaration of assets, noting that no one can blackmail him to
now disclose his assets just as he affirmed that he would not dabble
into speculations of his ambition concerning the 2015 presidential
election. He, nevertheless, revealed that he would not reveal his plans
until next year.
The live media chat was anchored by Ohi Alegbe with Tribune Editor, Edward Dickson; Ishak Modibo Kawu, Vanguard columnist and Maupe Ogun of Channels as panellists.
Giving reasons for the recent sack of Azazi as NSA and Dr. Haliru
Bello as Minister of Defence, he said that the security challenges faced
by the administration has overtime evolved through various stages and
forms necessitating changes in the administration to combat the growing
insurgency.
Jonathan said his decision to change his National Security Adviser is
to conform with the changing tactics of the Boko Haram sect.
According to him: “if you study the evolution of Boko Haram, they are
changing their tactics every day, so you also have to change your staff
and personnel to beat their styles.”
Why I traveled to Brazil — Jonathan
Responding to public criticism on his travel to Brazil despite the
troubles in Kaduna and Yobe, he said the government would not allow the
threats from the Islamic militant group to cripple the machinery of
government.
“It would have sent a negative signal to the international community,
and the Boko Haram sect would have been seen to have achieved their aim
of strangulating the government.
“The aim of terrorists all over the world is to strangulate
government and ensure that government does not function. If they know I
did not travel because of their activities, they would rejoice. If I do
not travel because of Boko Haram activities, why should foreigners want
to travel to Nigeria? My inability to travel would send a negative
signal to the international community,” he added.
He thus vowed that the activities of the sect would not stop
government functionaries from moving around or from doing their work,
adding that it is committed to ensuring that all the arms of government
keep faith with their various international commitments.
“Boko Haram can not bring us to our knees, this government must keep
faith with our international business allies, notwithstanding the threat
of the sect. We must do all in our powers to stop them and we must stop
them.”
Boko Haram aiming to destabilize my government
Jonathan further stated that the aim of the Boko Haram sect is to
destabilize the government, saying that the various attacks on churches
are aimed at instigating religious violence.
He also alleged that if Christians do not retaliate, the sect would
adopt a change of strategy by attacking mosques, in a bid to achieve
their aim. However, he promised that his government will surely bring
the Boko Haram menace to an end.
“Boko Haram aims to destabilize the government. By attacking the
churches, they hope that Christians will retaliate against the Muslims.
If the Christians fail to retaliate, the same sect will start attacking
mosques, hoping the Muslims will attack the Christians.”
He said that the government is ready to dialogue with the sect, but
that the only problem was that the sect is faceless and the government
cannot dialogue with a faceless body or group.
Asset Declaration
For the first time the President responded to critics on his failure
to publicly declare his assets as he did when he was Vice-President. He
explained that while he was Vice-President he disagreed with former
President Yar‘adua on the principle of public declaration of assets
saying that it was an unnecessary step. Describing it as an anomalous
action, Jonathan said that he told the late President that they should
not start something that they could not control saying that they could
not as well compel all other senior officials of government to follow
their action.
He, however, confessed that he had to declare his assets publicly
then because he was under President Yar‘adua, but affirmed that no one
can now compel or intimidate him to do so, saying that would not
“improve the economy, would not stop the Boko Haram menace and would not
advance governance in any way.”
“When I was Vice President, I declared my assets, because the
President then did. In any case, between the time when I was Vice
President and President was just a few months, so what would I have
acquired within that short time?”
He however, stated that he has nothing to hide and could even decide to declare tomorrow, if he so wishes.
Speaking on the fight against corruption, he defended the
government’s decision to sack the former boss of the Economic and
Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, saying: “When I
give people work and assignment, I give them time and the latitude to do
the job. It is when they are not performing that I take action.
Everybody likes the new boss, Lamorde, people like his mode of operation
and I do too.”
He, however, noted the procedural difficulties in bringing corrupt
persons to book. “To arrange a case file to prosecute corrupt criminals
is difficult and it would be wrong to convict an innocent person. It is
better for nine criminals to go scot-free than to convict one innocent
person.”
He urged the public to allow both Lamorde and the Acting Chairman of
the Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC to do their job.
Fuel subsidy probe
On the fuel subsidy probe scandal in the House of Representatives, he
said the reference to patrons of the PDP as being behind the scandal
was uncalled for.
“The PDP has a board of trustees and since the fuel subsidy probe
report was made known, no PDP member was indicted in that report. So the
claims that PDP was indicted are wrong. All the noise that the
President is part of the Farouk sting operation is wrong. Yes, I have
heard about the Farouk issue and the matter is being investigated by
relevant agencies. As a president I don’t have time for that. Femi
Otedola is a business man, why would I be involved in the sting
operation?
“The questions on Farouk are questions you have to take up with the
SSS. One thing I discovered is that criticising Jonathan and Jonathan’s
administration is a serious business among Nigerians. People don’t know
that I initiated the subsidy probe before the Senate and the House of
Representatives started it.
“Just yesterday I read a story in Punch Newspapers and I
have directed the EFCC to start investigating Nigeria’s accounts in the
United States following the newspaper report.”
The President also asked Nigerians to give him time to fix the country’s epileptic power situation.
He disclosed that some power transformers to address the issue were
already on ground but regretted the absence of some needed
infrastructure.
“Some of the basic things needed before the importation of more
transformers were not put in place. For example, the pipelines that
would bring gas to the turbines have not been put in place. Where the
transmission lines would pass are not ready also. However, with time we
would get over it.“The gas Nigeria is depending upon belongs to
multinational companies and they have invested heavily on it. It takes
time to address this issue with the multinational companies, with time
it would be addressed. Periodically, the Minister of Power will brief
the country on this issue.”
Increase in PHCN Tariff
On the increase in electricity tariff, he said: “Nigerians have been
paying tariffs before now. What we did was to adjust the tariff for
Nigerians to pay more. Those with low income will pay less than what
they were paying before now, while higher income consumers will pay
more.
“If we can generate electricity freely and distribute it freely without it affecting our economy we would have done so.”
On the time frame for steady power supply, he said the government is
working to improve the power situation in the country, adding however,
that the government cannot give a specific time frame.”
The President also spoke on his administration’s efforts to revive
the railways saying that his government should be praised for what it
has done.
2015 Presidency
Asked on his plans for the 2015 elections, the President said that it
was quite early to make a declaration saying that he would not allow
himself to be distracted on the issue. Pressed on the issue, the
President said he would not make his public intention until two years
into the lifespan of his administration.
“When you ask me about 2015, I will say that it is not proper for any
president given our circumstances. If I say so, whether left or right,
people will misinterpret it.
“We have just spent one year. If I say I am running, the polity will
be overheated. Allow us at least the next two years before we start
talking about 2015.
“I said so during one of our PDP meetings that we should concentrate
now and forget about 2015 debate. If we start campaigning now, we will
end up campaigning for the next four years.”
UNILAG
Defending the process in renaming the University of Lagos after the
late democracy icon, Moshood Abiola, he said that there is no law
compelling him to send a proposal to the National Assembly before
declaring the name change. “In establishing a university, the university
is set up first, before it is sent to the National Assembly to ratify.
In name change, we have to declare the new name before sending it to the
National Assembly.
“There is no law that says that we must first of all consult with the
National Assembly or the Senate of the University before coming up with
the new name.”
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