The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has explained why President Buhari has not gone to Benue State to commiserate with the government and people of the state over the recent killings saying the President will eventually visit the state and other troubled states.
Adesina, who was a guest on Channels Television programme, Politics Today, however, did not state when exactly the President will visit Benue. He also reacted to claims by some Nigerians that the Presidency has been slow in action towards the herdsmen attacks noting that the President reacted immediately and has directed top security officials to the state.
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“Before I talk about visiting, you need to also recall the things the President has done. Apart from condemning, the Deputy Inspector General in charge of operations was directed to go into that theater of unrest. After that, the Inspector General himself was directed to go, after that, the Minister of Interior was sent, then the military, so a lot has been done.
“Tomorrow (Monday), the President is receiving 35 elders from Benue at the State House. He has received the governor of the state, last week. So, a lot is been done on that issue.
“In terms of visiting, the President will eventually visit, not just Benue. Recall that killings are taking place in Taraba, Kaduna, Rivers. The president will visit most of these theaters of killings, not just Benue,” he said.
Adesina said the Presidency is not sluggish in reacting towards the attacks as much efforts has been taken by the Federal Government. The President, according to Adesina, is saddened by the killings and has not only condemned the attack but also ordered security agencies to take speedy actions.
”If killings happened on January 1 and the President reacts on January 1, then I don’t see anything sluggish in that. If you call it sluggish, it will just be your opinion. Anybody that says sluggish, it will be that person’s opinion and they will have a right to it. But what we know and it is on record that on the day it happened, the President condemned it and directed security agencies on what to do.
”It is a very sad development in our country. The President himself has expressed his sadness about it. You would recall that right on the day the incident happened, he caused a statement to be issued from the office of the Special Adviser on media and publicity that the development was condemnable, that the security agencies must move in immediately and put it in check and then he directed that the malefactors must be arrested and brought to justice,” he said.
Reacting to Red card movement led by the former Minister of Education, Oby Ezekwesili giving a warning to the two major political parties in Nigeria and other dissatisfaction from Nigerian citizens, Adesina said everyone is entitled to their opinion.
“In a country of 180 million, there is no way you won’t have dissatisfaction from some areas. But, every news of dissatisfaction that comes to the President, he looks into. If anybody is waving a red card and the Nigerian Referees Association recognises her as a referee, then she can wave the red card,” he said.
