LIVE: President Buhari Hosts First Media Chat
One day before the new 2016 year President Muhammadu Buhari is finally hosting his first media chat at the Aso Rock presidential villa in Abuja today, December 30.
President has very often been blamed for disclosing his biggest moves to foreign rather than Nigerian media.
Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, announced in statement that Buhari will speak on current national issues. Some of the biggest challenges Nigeria is facing now are the Boko Haram insurgency, failing economy, war against corruption etc.
READ ALSO: #PMBMediaChat: Top Eight Questions For President Buhari
The announcement was met with mixed feelings. While a lot of Nigerians welcomed the idea, others took the opportunity to start asking the president about the victims from the supposed army/Shiite clash, while some were asking for the release of Nnamdi Kanu, the acclaimed leader of the IPOB.
Naij.com has gathered top eight questions that the leader of the nation may be required to answer during the chat.
Everyone is looking forward to #PMBMediaChat so join us for our live stream of President Buhari maiden media chat.
20.02 “But Mr.President would you support the devaluation?” The answer from Buhari: “If you devalue the naira, against what? Against the dollar, sterling, yen, dutch?”
19.59 “Insecurity, downturn of petroleum are very unfortunate incidents in this country,” Buhari continues.
19.58 “There are 45 accounts in NNPC alone. We introduced the Treasury Single Account so that we can know what comes in and goes out.”
19.57 “I don’t support devaluation,” the President says.
19.55 Buhari answers on naira devaluation issue. “Should we be looking at devaluing naira?”
Buhari speaks to journalists.
19.53 The next portion of questions is on economy.
19.52 “When I say Boko Haram had been defeated technically, we have weakened capacity for conventional attacks” – Buhari.
19.51 “People die, it’s very serious. Hijab will have to be banned if this (female suicide bombings) continues,” the president says.
19.50 Is banning hijab an option or not?
19.49 The interviewer asks about the Boko Haram deadline. “Can you say whether the war has been ‘technically’ or otherwise won?”
19.48 Last question on security and the next subject comes.
19.47 Another question for Buhari: “Who would you be expecting the report of the Shi’ites’ killings from?”
19.46 “The President of Iran spoke to me about it and I told him as a government, we have a system. I am awaiting the report of the military,” Buhari says.
19.45 “I don’t want to speak about it in detail now,” the president continues.
19.43 Both the president and interviewers avoid giving names: “When it (clashes with Shiites in Zaria) happened in the state (Kaduna), the governor (Nasir El-Rufai) was visiting the area,” Buhari.
19.41 The conversation moves to the confrontation between the army and the Shi’ia sect, and its similarities with the start of the Boko Haram insurgency.
19.38 The president says he has money to take care of IDP’s and he wants to settle the kids in schools/communities. His words: “We are determined to resettle Children transported across the country as a result of insecurity.”
19.37 Buhari says the Boko Haram victims are orpharned and Dangote, Danjuma have donated.
19.36 President Buhari speaks also on IDPs, he stated that there are about two million IDPs in the country, especially in Borno state.
19.35 “Do we have any intelligence that the girls are alive? No credible information. Working with Chad, Niger and Cameroon. Boko Haram kept shifting them around,” Buhari said.
19.34 “Are you sure the girls are there and alive?”
19.32 The president continues: “Some supposed leadership wanted to make contact, but we insisted on identifying the leadership of the so called Boko Haram.”
19.29 “I have answered questions on Chibok Girls and we know so far from our attack on Sambisa that the girls are not intact. We are more than willing to negotiate to free the girls without compromising our National Security,” he responds.
19.28 The next question comes: “On Chibok girls and technical defeat of Boko Haram, when are we bringing the girls back?”
19.27 “My ministers must make sure they declare their assets, that is a constitutional requirement,” President Buhari says that any person would go to court if he or she to be found guilty. “I am going to make sure that nobody is above the law.”
19.26 Buhari seems to be a bit annoyed, or even angry.
Buhari hosts media chat
19.25 “Nigerians to know progress of the anti-corruption war by end of 1st quarter of 2016,” the president continues.
19.22 “When I was being harassed, I told people that I had declared my assets four times. I mentioned which banks I borrowed money, the number of cars and all they were all deposited at the ministry of justice. If they cannot produce the documents that I declared, they should also answer questions on documents of public officers.” the Nigerian leader says.
19. 21 “When do you intend to make full declaration of your assets?”
19.19 Buhari answers: “I have said that I will defend every property of Nigeria. We are appealing to countries to please cooperate with us.”
19.16 “How long are you willing to go in this fight against corruption?” the journalist asks the next question.
19.15 “We have to be very sure of the documents we get. We have to cross check records. I have confidence in the way EFCC and ICPC are structured now,” Buhari added.
19.11 The next question is “What we have now is an iceberg, and I am just wondering is there no way to rejig ICPC and EFCC?”
19.09 Buhari continues: “Money has been recovered but whatever has been recovered, we have to remain in court.”
19.08 “Under whatever circumstances we cannot pre-judge what the court would do,” President Buhari.
19.07 KayodeAkintemi: “Who are the people that the gov’t claimed have returned money and how much have they returned?”
19.06 “We are taking the people suspected of corruption to court. We cannot comment. We want Nigerians to be patient,” the president says.
19.05 Buhari answered: “We are doing quite well. We have some documents where Nigerian crude oil were lifted illegally and proceeds diverted into personal accounts”
19.04 And the first question. Nigerians very love you. You are the man of integrity. You were elected on the promise to fight corruption.The honeymoon is over how do you think we are doing with the fight against corruption?
19.02 Kayode Akintemi of Channels TV, the anchor of the chat, welcomed Mr. Buhari and introduced his colleagues.
19.00 All eyes on President Buhari as media chat begins.
18. 45 Garba Shehu, special adviser on media and publicity says that Nigerians can participate in the discussion on social media by using the hashtag and also mentioning President @MBuhari.
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