By Dele Ogbodo
The Presidency on Wednesday responded to former President Olusegun Obasanjo’s criticism of the Muhammadu Buhari led federal government administration urging him not to re-contest the 2019 election.
Speaking on behalf of federal government in a statement reeled out to the media in Abuja, by the Minister of Information Alhaji Lai Mohammed, who said divergent opinion have emerged on whether the president should run or not, admitting that the call is in itself distractive to Buhari, as he is battling day and night to resolve the enormous challenges facing the country, which he said was bequeathed by the last administration.
The minister who though appreciated the former president’s criticism, said his criticisms and assessment of Buhari’s performance in the last 2 years was however unfair as he took just two planks out of the lots that the administration is doing, adding that Buhari must be commended for reversing the tide on insurgency across the country.
He said: “Apparently, because of his busy schedule, he may not have fully availed himself of developments in the government’s efforts to revamp the economy, which was battered by the consequences of over dependence on oil as well as u prevented pillaging of the treasury.”
Citing improvement in the economy for instance, Mohammed said, foreign reserves have peaked at $40 billion, which is the highest in the past 4 years and up from $24 billion a year ago, stressing that this is happening when the prices of oil crashed when the present administration was sworn into government.
According to Mohammed’s reply, which chronicled the achievements of the Buhari administration from the successful implementation of the TSA, through the increase revenue harvest from Customs to the rail sector expansion, he said the administration is however not unaware of the enormity of the challenges facing the nation, explaining that the administration is up to the task.
On the rampaging herdsmen and farmers clash, he added that government is determined to end the crisis, urging Nigerians to have confidence in government’s ability to curtail the crisis.