Wisdom C. Nwoga
This is a random selection of some ridiculous and fraudulent headlines in the 8 years of Buhari’s administration. Number 9 and 10 might throw you off balance.
1. Rats ‘chase out’ President Buhari from office, to work at home
The administration came under intense ridicule when it claimed that President Buhari was compelled to work from home because he discovered that rats had taken over his office when he returned from his medical vacation in the U.K. The presidency was trying to disabuse the public from reports that the president might not have recovered well enough to undertake presidential duties. On August 22, 2017, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Shehu Garba, said that “Following the three months period of disuse, rodents have caused a lot of damage to the furniture and the air conditioning units.” Some things that happen in Nigeria was only seen in movies.
2. COVID-19 Lockdown: Minister insists N500m was spent on school feeding in two states, Abuja
On March 27, 2021, the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Farouq, insisted that her ministry spent over N500 million on feeding schoolchildren in two states and Abuja during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown. The minister says a total 382,765 pupils, 124,589 households, and 2,859 schools in Ogun State, Lagos State, and Abuja, benefited from the school feeding programme during COVID-19 lockdown. But the question is, how did she feed students who were locked down in their various houses?
3. Repentant Boko Haram Members will get free foreign education
According to a report by Punch on February 28, 2020, the bill which will offer repentant terrorists the opportunity to study abroad, will be funded by the Universal Basic Education Commission (UBEC) and the Tertiary Education Trust Fund (TETFUND). As stated in the bill, other sources of funding the rehabilitation of the repentant terrorists will include- donations, grants, annual subventions from the government and counterpart funding from the six North-East states of Borno, Bauchi, Yobe, Adamawa, Taraba and Gombe. The bill also provides that the agency would be funded by grants in aid, gift, testamentary dispositions, endowments and donations.
4. FG Trains 177 Youths In Smartphone Repairs With N5.9bn
The Federal Government revealed that it spends N5.9 billion on training, tooling, and monthly stipends for Batch C N-Power Program recipients in Kano State. Sadiya Umar Farouq, Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management, and Social Development, made the announcement during the concluding ceremony of the N-Skills programme, a component of the N-Power initiative in Kano, which trained 177 youngsters in Smart Phone Repairs and Services.
5. Rats tampered with budget
The Minister of Health, Isaac Adewole, blamed rats for manipulating the budget of his ministry — subsequently disowning it. The excuse competed with an earlier claim by lawmakers that their version of the same 2016 budget had suddenly gone missing.
6. Termites allegedly eat up documents on N17.128b expenditure at NSITFAugust 15, 2022
The Senate Public Accounts Committee (SPAC) put the current and past management of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) under scrutiny. The committee said it discovered that the fund’s management failed to produce relevant documents to justify alleged spending of N17.158 billion in 2013. Some of the documents to back the expenses were said to have been eaten up by termites. The Office of the Auditor General of the Federation (OAuGF), in its 2018 audit report had queried the agency over the disbursed sums without appropriate supporting documents. In his report, the AuGF said the N17.158 billion represented the total sum of money, transferred by the agency from its Skye and First Bank accounts, into various untraceable accounts belonging to individuals and companies between January and December 2013.
7. PDP to blame for all that ails Buhari’s government
Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Hameed Ali, dropped a hoopla on when he held the PDP responsible for Mr. Buhari’s shortcomings. Mr. Ali, a key ally of the president, declared that the administration has failed, but said all the recorded misfortunes could be ascribed to PDP’s alleged influence over Mr. Buhari’s choices.
8. Federal Executive Council meeting cancelled because of Sallah
The FEC meeting for Wednesday, September 6, was cancelled since ministers had no time to prepare their paperwork due to Sallah break, according to Mr. Mohammed. The government declared public holidays for Friday, September 1 and Monday, September 4 for 2017 Sallah. The celebration itself held on September 1. The excuse sent tongues wagging across the country since the FEC has a fixed date that all cabinet members are aware of. In 2014, Sallah holidays were on October 6 and 7, yet the Jonathan administration convened FEC on October 8.
9. Buhari regime used N18.9 billion to clear bush, says Agric Ministry
On August 17, 2022, Nigeria’s agriculture ministry spent N18.9 billion on bush clearing during the COVID-19 lockdown. Wole Oke, chairman of the House of Representatives committee on public accounts, said the ministry disclosed this while responding to a probe on how it spent N18.9 billion. The agric ministry was the subject of an investigation by the House committee into a N18.9 billion contract for bush clearing, preparing the ground, and restoring soil plant laboratories during the 2020 COVID-19 lockdown.
10. We Need N81 Million To Cut Abuja Stadium Grass, Says Sports Minister, Sunday Dare
He made the revelation on November 29,2020, while speaking during a seminar organised by the Sports Writers Association of Nigeria. The Minister of Youth and Sports Development, Mr Sunday Dare, said that the government needed N81 million to cut the grass that has taken over the Moshood Abiola National Stadium in Abuja.
11. 67B School Feeding Fraud: Minister orders investigation
The Minister of Education, Adamu Adamu, on October 6, 2020, directed a full investigation into the report of the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) on how N2.67 billion released for school feeding of the 104 Unity Colleges during the COVID-19 lockdown found its way into individual accounts. Mr Adamu in a statement signed by the spokesperson of the federal ministry of education, Ben Gooong, said the investigation is compulsory in order to establish the ‘’veracity of the claims and to ensure that there is no diversion of public funds or misappropriation of same.” PREMIUM TIMES reported how the chairperson of the anti-graft agency, Bolaji Owasanoye, said investigations done by the ICPC had shown that the said funds were diverted into private accounts. “We discovered payment of N2.67 billion during lockdown when the children were not in school, and some money ended up in personal accounts. We have commenced investigations into these findings,” he had said.
12. #EndSARS: No Evidence Of Killings At Lekki Tollgate – Lai Mohammed
October 20, 2021, the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, claimed that there was no evidence to show that any protester died even after one year of the shooting at Lekki tollgate by soldiers. Lai Mohammed said it was a mere fabrication of lies. One wonders who the liar is here.
13. EFCC To Arraign Babachir Lawal Over N544m Grass-cutting Scandal- February 12, 2019
Lawal was accused of benefiting illegally from the approval of N544,119,925.36 for the removal of invasive plant species and simplified irrigation. The former SGF was then to be tried on a 10-count charge, alongside Hamidu David Lawal, Sulaiman Abubakar, Apeh John Monday, Rholavision Engineering Limited and Josmon Technologies Limited. The EFCC accused Lawal of indirectly holding a private interest in the contract awarded to Rholavision Engineering Limited and Josmon Technologies Ltd by the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (OSGF) through the Presidential Initiative.
14. Buhari’s govt has reduced terrorism to ‘almost nothing’ – Festus Keyamo
The Spokesperson for the All Progressives Congress (APC) presidential campaign, Festus Keyamo, on August 16, 2022 had said that “Boko Haram has been reduced significantly.” He added that the party-led federal government has reduced Boko-Haram’s dominance to “almost nothing.” Mr Keyamo, who is also the minister of state for labour and employment, had said this in an interview with Trust TV. He was defending the performance of the APC-led government in the last seven years that it has been in power. With President Muhammadu Buhari as its flag bearer in 2015, the APC had promised to ensure a buoyant economy, fight insecurity and corruption to reposition the country.
15. FG to Spend $1.5bn on Port Harcourt Refinery Rehabilitation
In 2021 the Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Chief Timipre Sylva, told State House reporters in Abuja after the Federal Executive Council (FEC) meeting that President Muhammadu Buhari had approved the $1.5 billion for the rehabilitation of the refinery, which will be done in three phases of 18, 24 and 44 months. Despites all these billion which late accumulates to almost $26 billion, Nigeria government has no working refinery. Guess what? Dangote just built a world class refinery in Lagos with just about $20 billion.
16. The Buhari Legacy Series: Naira loses over half its value in eight years
According to a report by Business Day on May 18, 2023, Nigeria’s currency has depreciated by 57.45 percent against the dollar on the official foreign exchange market in the eight-year tenure of President Muhammadu Buhari. Buhari had in 2015 promised that his administration would help stabilise the naira. In fact it was a Dollar to Naira promise which has turned a mirage. The foreign exchange pressure continued at the parallel market, where the naira depreciated by 37.58 percent (N280) to N745 per dollar as of Wednesday, May 17, 2023, compared to N465/$ in 2016. Like Reno, “the Naira was stable at N150 to $1 for 4 years of Goodluck Jonathan, now the Naira has less value than the Zimbabwean dollar.”
17. With Total N14billion Budget, Nigerian Government Moves New Furniture Into Aso Rock, Repaints Offices Ahead Of Inauguration
The State House Management in the Aso Rock Villa has begun the renovation and refurbishing of sections of the Presidential Villa, Abuja, ahead of the swearing-in of the “President-elect”, Bola Tinubu on May 29. In the 2023 Appropriation Act, a total of N148,168,464,339 budget was allocated to the Presidency, while over N14billion is for the State House Headquarters. It was also observed on that new furniture was delivered to the green room adjoining the Council Chamber, PUNCH reports. Shehu, had said the President’s office needed renovation because of its devastation by rodents during Buhari’s long period of absence, adding that rodents had caused a lot of damage to the furniture and air conditioning units. Out of the total N148,168,464,339 allocated for the Presidency, N14,808,479,660 was allocated to the State House headquarters, a sum of N3,441,177,028 was budgeted for State House operation of the President, while N1,555, 447, 054 was allocated on the State House operations for the Vice-President. A total of N10,108,606,550 was budgeted for projects in the State House headquarters from which a sum of N19, 382, 375 was allocated for the purchase of sporting equipment for the State House Sports Club, while N14, 773, 412 was budgeted for procurement of equipment for the central gymnasium renovation.
18. Buhari to Nigerians: I won’t fail you, don’t lose faith in my administration: After 8 years! Well, the testimony in this regard is left for Nigerians.
Leave your comments below in the comments section.
