Buhari Took Some Wrong Decisions As Nigeria’s President — Garba Shehu

Garba Shehu, a media aide to Muhammadu Buhari, has said that the former president made some wrong decisions as Nigeria’s president.

Buhari who was sworn in as president on May 29, 2015, led the country until May 29, 2023, completing his two terms of four years each.

According to Shehu, Buhari during his eight years at the helm of affairs as president, took many decisions, adding that one or two may have been wrong.

He regretted that despite all the positive changes recorded by Buhari through his major decisions, his government’s achievements have received nothing but criticism.

“In the eight years he led the country, Muhammadu Buhari had taken many decisions and as is human, one or two may have been wrong. But no one, not even critics, can question his intentions when those decisions were taken.

“There has not been a single area that has not been touched by the Buhari government, with massive, positive changes in the eight years he held fort.

“In the normative functions of our governments, an administration takes four to five major decisions in four years and they rush to the public square to celebrate themselves. Looking at the records he left, the Buhari government has taken hundreds of major decisions in the eight years it was in office, and yet you hear nothing but criticism upon criticism,” Shehu said in a post on his X (formerly Twitter) handle on Thursday, titled, ‘One Hundred Days After Buhari’.

Buhari rode to power on the mantra of ‘Change’, with a manifesto which focused on fighting corruption, addressing insecurity and building a robust economy. Citing some of the key decisions the former president took in this regard, Shehu said that Buhari upon assuming office, directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to close their accounts with deposit money banks to fully operationalize the Treasury Single Account (TSA). This, he said, was in addition to the institutionalization of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System (IPPS) to cover all MDAs.

He informed that following this, more than 17,000 bank accounts were closed, adding that an average of four billion Naira in monthly bank charges was saved.

“The promise of tackling corruption and establishing a strong democracy was a prime factor in the rise to power by Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress party in 2015.

“On coming to office, the administration directed all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to close their accounts with deposit money banks to fully operationalize the Treasury Single Account. TSA was launched in 2012 but left on the drawing boards. More than 17,000 bank accounts were closed and an average of four billion Naira in monthly bank charges was saved. Government revenue, it was found out, was being banked in personal accounts and signatories were, in some instances, big men and women who had retired from service.

“This was closely followed with the institution of the Integrated Personnel and Payroll System, IPPS to cover all MDAs in spite of great opposition by the armed forces and the universities. Ghost workers in excess of 50,000 were flushed out and savings in hundreds of billions made.

“The last administration established “project lighthouse,” a financial data integration engine that helped to identify unpaid debts put at more than five trillion Naira, out of which a good part has been recovered. It subscribed to the Open Government Partnership, OGP in 2016, instituted the Whistleblower mechanism which has been legislated into law, fast-tracked Identity Management taking registered entries to well above 100 million from just about 20-25 in 2015, boosted assets recovery at home and abroad with enhanced laws that ensured transparency in the management of the funds and generally increased the latitude of power and authority of anti corruption agencies and the office of the Auditor General of the Federation,” the former Senior Special Assistant (Media and Publicity) to Buhari said.

Shehu stated that Buhari’s government launched programs to streamline 46 million vulnerable people into the country’s development process. Under these programs, he said two million poor and vulnerable households received N10,000 bimonthly stipend per month; and 10 million school children received a meal a day.

He also cited schemes such as Nigeria’s Micro Pension Scheme, Survival Fund, National Youth Investment Fund, National Special Public Works Program, Covid-19 Targeted Credit Facility, Survival Fund, Nigeria Investment and Growth Fund, the Development Bank (created in 2017) and the enhancement of the Bank of Industry as all measures put in place by Buhari to make life better for Nigerians. Others, he noted, include programs such as the Anchor Borrower Scheme and the launching of the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative.

“The Covid-19 pandemic was brought under control due to the relentless leadership of President Buhari. In fact, the country was among the top few that came out with strong economic activities after the pandemic. It has happened due to the farsightedness of the President and the effective leadership of the efforts by the former Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Boss Mustapha,” Shehu stated.

“One of the greatest achievements of the Buhari government has been that it diversified the economy. The administration achieved self-sufficiency in rice, and financed millions of small farmers of 23 different commodities, an effort that helped to boost the export of agricultural commodities.”

On security, he claimed that Buhari’s government almost quashed Boko Haram, adding that the nation’s intelligence agencies diminished the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), its affiliates and other secessionist movements.

Shehu also asked the critics of the former president where they were when he was “keeping awake at night to ensure that the Abuja runway was repaired in record time? Or working to fully execute the modernization of terminal buildings in Lagos, Abuja, Kano, Enugu (plus runway) and Port Harcourt?”

“The critics don’t want to acknowledge that maritime security experienced such a turnaround when Admiral Gambo came on board. In less than one year, the International Maritime Bureau was singing the Nigerian Navy’s praises for normalizing the dire security situation in the Gulf of Guinea, GoG. Their reports clearly stated that for the first time in 27 years, the GoG had become the safest maritime environment.

“There has not been a single area that had not been touched by the Buhari government. We have seen massive positive changes in the last eight years but as they say, the one who is pretending to be asleep is harder to wake up than the one who is actually sleeping.

“Bullies who attacked governments and “something dropped” will continue to antagonize Buhari borne of anger from lost opportunities,” Shehu addied.