Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina,
has dismissed allegations by the national assembly leadership that the
Presidency was behind its many travails. The Senate during its plenary
last Tuesday June 21st, accused the presidency of using the judiciary to
fight & intimidate the legislature.Lawmakers made the allegation in the wake of the fresh charges of
forgery of senate orders leveled against Senate President Bukola Saraki
and his deputy Ike Ekweremadu, for which they would be arraigned before
an Abuja high court tomorrow June 27th.
In this fresh interview with Independent correspondent in Aso Villa, Innocent Oweh, Femi Adesina, dismissed the claim, stating that President Buhari understands the separation of power in a democratic system
“They
are independent arms, the judiciary is independent, the legislature is
independent of the executive, so if they are independent, how can one be
behind the travails of another. It doesnโt add up. If you know this
President you will know that he plays by the rules strictly. So, he will
not have anything to do with undermining any other independent arm of
government. Not this President. They can source their troubles to
somewhere else, if they have any troubles, but not this President. They
are purely independent bodies, they just relate within the ambit of the
law and constitution and I have no cause to believe that there is
anything wrong with the relationship”he said
With
the gloomy economy, workers are becoming tensed, and recently staff of
the Federal Ministry of Finance protested over poor welfare issues, are
you aware of their grievances?
I
read the explanation from the finance ministry that what they are
agitating for had been stopped by the previous government, that explains
it. If there would be further explanations, I think its the ministry of
finance that would do it, but I think what they have said satisfies me,
it suffices for now
What would you say is the policy direction of this administration, especially on the economy?
It
is that Nigerians need to look inward, all the luxuries that we canโt
afford have to be cut off and that is simply what this government wants
to do. There are 41 items under forex ban now, that already shows you
the direction this administration is going. Whatever we cannot afford
and we can do without letโs cut it off. Why do we expend scarce foreign
exchange on rice, cement, toothpick or tomato puree; on things that we
can produce locally, so that already shows the direction the government
wants to take the economy.
Nigerians seem to have taken government deregulation policy in its stride, what informed this policy? Not
only do you have fuel prices coming down, it shows you that by the time
the thing is in full stream, there is going to be competition in terms
of prices and people will buy where they like and that very process
itself would force down prices.
The
2016 budget is undergoing implementation, should Nigerians still
maintain high optimism that they had at the inception of this
administration?
Optimism
is part of life, optimism keeps us going. By the time we lose optimism,
we have lost everything. So, I expect that we continue to be
optimistic. As clear as day follows the night, things will get better in
Nigeria.
Buhari
has obviously made his mark in tackling terrorism but Nigerians would
like to know what gave him the impetus to deliver in a short time?
The
difference is clear. Government is a continuum; we know where the last
administration stopped. This government continued from there and we all
know where we are now, where we are today is very far to where we were
this time last year. In fact, there is almost no comparison between
where we are now on the issue of terrorism and where we were this time
last year.
How was the magic performed to quell the crisis?
You
know the President himself is a retired General, so he knows what to
do. He changed the leadership of the military, he arranged for
retraining, arranged for re-equipping, he arranged moral booster for
them and everything working together for good has led us to where we are
now.
But challenges of IDPs have cropped up as a result of terrorism, how would the Federal Government address that issue as well?
You
know that there are groups and agencies working with the Federal
Government on that. There is also the Danjuma Committee set up to ensure
that their plight is attended to. There are international organisations
working in concert with the Federal Government on that, all I want you
to know is yes, the issues of IDPs are being tackled. It is a major
issue that is being attended to.
How far about the MoUs signed by President Muhammadu Buhari on his recent trip to China, has it been rested?
We
came back from China with potential investments in excess of about
$6billion dollars and it is work in progress now because itโs a process,
we have signed the Memorandum of Understandings and we must come up
with counterpart funding, which was what the Jonathan administration did
not do; they signed most of the MoUs but they didnโt do their own part
of funding. This government, despite the paucity of funds, will do its
part.
We
have heard that the railway transport programme resuscitated by the
immediate past administration will come on stream by July, can you throw
more enlightenment on that?
Yes,
the Ministry of Transport is in a better position to tell you but I am
aware because I have heard the Minister of Transport, Rotimi Amaechi
saying that it will come on stream soon, so its a good development.
Nigeria is making progress. That shows you the benefits of continuing
with the policies and projects of the previous government because that
was a project inherited and it was taken forward. A petty government
could have come and discontinued it, no it was taken forward and we are
in the verge of launching it. It shows you that government must always
be large-hearted, broad minded enough to continue the good things it
inherited.
You have been with the President as one of his media aides in the last one year, how would you describe your experience so far?
Fulfilling.
I came to do this work in the first place because it is the President,
the person of the President brought me. I am not a person that wanted to
work in government but the person of the President was the attraction
for me and I am happy doing it. I will serve him anyday.
