Support for Buhari won’t be in vain, Presidency pleads with Nigerians

THE Presidency at the weekend restated its admonition to Nigerians to be patient with the present administration in its onerous task of revamping the ailing economy.
Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity Mallam Garba Shehu made the plea while addressing gathering of Nigerian youth at a forum organised by a pro-Buhari group, Citizen
Support for Good Governance  in Nigeria (CSGGN).
His declaration is coming on the heels of a consultative meeting on the 2017 budget between members of the All Progressives Congress National Working Committee, (NWC) governors on the party platform and federal lawmakers.
The session expected to hold today at the Sheu Musa Yar’Adua centre in Abuja according to a party source ‘’was put together to ensure that all stakeholders are on the same page on the 2017 budget.’’
National chairman of the ruling party, Odigie Oyegun,  is expected to lead members  of the NWC to the meeting while Imo State governor and chairman of APC Governors’  Forum, Rochas Okorocha will be attending with his colleagues.
Addressing  gathering of students at the event held at Women Development Centre, Mallam Sheu  assured that the Buhari administration was working hard to put the economy in good shape and
assured that  the administration would not disappoint Nigerians.
‘’Your support for Muhammadu Buhari, I assure you will not be in vain.
If you look at him, he has achieved everything one desires to achieve and he chose the military career and rose to become an army general, beyond that became a military Head of State.
‘’So, if the ambition is to rule one’s country, he has achieved that already. But President Muhammadu Buhari fought three times and won on the fourth count with the firm belief that he has something to offer the future generations of this country. In essence what I’m saying is that he doesn’t have personal wish for fortune, for power and money. No! That isn’t Buhari.
‘’He wants a future that is secured and stable for young generations that are coming that is yourselves.
‘’The president is working hard to restructure the economy, this is very much misunderstood by Nigerians, and unfortunately, it is easier to destroy than to build. We met a situation that the economy had been ravaged and people are used to lifestyles that can no longer be sustained. No country will develop when you have to import everything including toothpick and tissue paper.
‘’All of the money earned was just going to buying food. As I speak to you now, Nigeria just achieved the record as the second largest rice exporter in the world. The rice revolution just started a year ago. A newspaper did an investigation in Kebbi and they found out that there were 48,000 new millionaires in Kebbi State alone for growing rice. ‘’Over reliance on oil has killed this country and we cannot continue like this.’’
In his contribution, a member of the APC Board of Trustees, Barrister Ismaila Ahmed called on Nigerians to be ready to hold the present administration accountable for its electoral promises.
“As a government, we have to be open to criticism. Some people are not happy, people have to express their frustrations, people have to express their anger, we cannot and we should not have a problem with that.
‘’ We campaigned all through because I headed the youth wing during campaigns, I knew from day one that it wasn’t going to be an easy task; even the President knew it won’t be an easy task. So the
responsibility is not for us to start promising anymore because we are two years into the administration.
‘’ We have made promises during campaign, now we have to act on those promises and that is what the president will continue to do and our responsibility as members of this party is to tell Mr President you can chose who you can work with, but we will make sure that we can hold you and those you appoint to account how you do that work because of the promises we made. So, feel free and ask us questions about what you feel is wrong with this administration. We will take it up with
them. What we can do we will do, where we make mistake we will admit we made mistake, but the essence of governance is welfare of the people. ‘’
Speaking on the fight against corruption, Alhaji Tahir Abubakar Umar, identified greed, poverty, illiteracy among others as reasons responsible for corruption, adding that the country has lost over a
trillion Naira to  the menace.
The CSGGN national convener, Moses Abdullahi, expressed concern that Nigerian youths are at the receiving end of the pillage of the country treasury.