President Muhammadu Buhari has said that Minister of information, Lai Mohammed disobeyed him by responding to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s allegations against him.
Buhari said he earlier stopped his Special Adviser on Media and
Publicity, Femi Adesina from replying Obasanjo’s allegation against his
administration because of his (Adesina’s) age.
The president stated this when members of Buhari Support Organisation
visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Friday night.
He further noted that the other reason he never bothered to reply
Obasanjo was that he and the former president were from the same
(military) constituency.
“I really appreciate how you choose this time during Ramadan to come
from across the country to see and congratulate me for what we were able
to do.
“We were constraint to explain our position when the former head of
state wrote a letter; Adesina was agitated and wanted to immediately
reply; I stopped him for two reasons; first, he was much younger than me
and Gen. Obasanjo.
“Secondly, I am from the same constituent with Gen. Obasanjo; so, I
wouldn’t know how it will affect him if I allow him to go wild or to go
public, but when Lai Mohammed came, I said he shouldn’t and he insisted.
He disobeyed me.
“He said I must allow him to talk; then, of course, being a
professionally information person, I listened to him and asked him what
are going to say.
“He said he was going to remind Nigerians where we found ourselves
when we came in as a government, where we are now, what we have done in
between with the resources available to us.
“And I understand he did a good job because a number of people rang
me and said Lai Mohammed has done a good job because I went public in
several times.
“I said it is on record and I challenged anybody to check from
Europe, United States and Asia that between 1999 and 2014 the 16 years
of previous administration there was an average of 2.1 million per day
of crude oil at the average cost of 100 dollars per barrel,’’ Buhari
said.