Economic recession: Buhari’s ministers, appointees are also suffering, says Ojudu

By Ameh Comrade Godwin 

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 ministers and other appointees of the president are not left out of the pains.

Senator BabaFemi Ojudu, Special Adviser to President Buhari on political maters

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.

* Source: Daily Post