President Muhammadu Buhari welcomes the criticism of the Emir of Kano, Mohammadu Sanusi, who said in a recent speech that his administration may end up like that of Goodluck Jonathan if it doesn’t take some measures to rescue the economy from decline.
On Thursday, August 25, 2016, presidential spokesman, Garba Shehu, who spoke to Punch, revealed that Buhari will not fight with the Northern monarch as such “criticism was healthy for democracy”.
“This government will not fight people for criticising the present administration led by President Buhari. This kind of criticism is healthy for our democracy. One cannot get better without being criticised. I can assure you that this government is listening,” Shehu said.
In a speech on Wednesday titled Nigeria in search of new growth model, Sanusi said that some of Buhari’s policies are bad for the economy, and even when policies are gotten right, the federal government fails to follow up.
“We should not just keep blaming the previous administration; we also made some mistakes in the current administration. They must retrace their steps. They have to retrace those steps all the way. We should not fall into the same trap we fell the last time when the government was always right. The bottom line is that if your policy is wrong, it means you must change it and nothing will make it right as it has to be changed,” Sanusi said.
Just this weekend, a former vice president of the World Bank and leader of the Bring Back Our Girls Movement, Dr. Oby Ezekwesili was lampooned by the Nigerian presidency following a news report that wrongly alleged that she criticised President Buhari over the handling of the 2,000 protesting Immigrations Service recruits.
When contacted for comment by Nigerian Tribune, Garba Shehu said, “Did I hear you say that Madam Ezekwesili said President Muhammadu Buhari is not fit to be in that office?
“That is a political statement. What I will advise her to do is to come out of the shadow of the grieving Chibok parents, register a political party and go into the election against the APC and President Muhammadu Buhari.
“If she thinks she is a better person to be in that office, let her present herself to the Nigerian people in an election. She has the right to do so under our constitution.”
“The issue of democracy is that there is a right to vote and be voted for. If anybody thinks that they can do a better job than President Muhammadu Buhari as president of Nigeria, let them go and run for the office to win election and take over.”
Nigerian Tribune recanted its story on Monday and Mrs. Ezekwesili demanded an apology from the presidency. The presidency is yet to react to her request.
