President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his
government and Nigeria can not afford to pay forty
two ministers and that not all the minister nominees
that have been screened will have portfolios.
Moreso he went on to say that the country Nigeria
was ‘material and morally vandalized’ and that he will reduce the numbers of ministries.


Buahri in an interview with Channels TV and Nigerian Television Authority in New Delhi in India said that he is working with a team of people introduced to him by others that he trust and must work with them.

Buhari while reacting to question on the the divide in the National Assembly over Rotimi Amaechi’s
confirmation as minister said he did not walk into the presidency alone hence he can not work alone and that some of those having problems at the National Assembly he had never meet them.

‘This is team work I said I know people but there are
people that I accept from other people in our team
that I trust without even knowing them.’

‘May be those that are having problem in the
National Assembly I doubt if I have meet him in my
life but then I am working with others.’

‘I did not work into the presidency alone. I have to
defend on all the three tiers of government from all
part of the country.’

Backing his 36 Minister nominees Buhari said that he
can not work out outside the constitution and that
ministers must be appointed in conformity with the
constitution of the Federal Government in that
ministerial appointment must reflect the 36 states of
the country.

And that these minister nominees though
representing their states some will not have
portfolios but will be part of his cabinet.
‘We can not work outside the constitution there must
be a cabinet representative from each state.’

‘There use to be forty two ministers but I think we can
bearly keep half of that now because we can not
afford it.

‘Other may not be substantive ministers but they will
seats in the cabinet because that is what the
constitution said and we can’t operate outside the
constitution’
‘We are reducing the number of ministries we can’t
afford to pay.’

Buhari in the interview also said that the country has
no money to pay salaries as the government had to
seek the Central Bank governor to look for ways to
pay states workers’ salaries.

‘Where is the money? Do you know the Federal
Government has to help twenty seven states out of
thirty six to pay salaries?.’

‘Nigeria can not pay salaries Nigeria had to summon
the Governor of the Central Bank to see how it could
pay salaries not to talk of projects, agreement signed
with foreign countries, counter funding and so on.
The country was material vandalized and morally so.’

On his ambition to see that the dreaded Boko Haram
group is crushed by December the president said
that his is optimistic on the capabitiy of the military
and other government agencies in crushing the
terrorists and as he feels sorry for those who think
otherwise or have given up on winning the war
against terrorist.

‘I am an optimistic person. I am sorry for those who
have already given up. I remain confident that our
military and other law enforcement agencies are
more than equal to the task.’

‘Don’t forget that I made an earlier statement to the
effect that the Nigerian military and police earned
accolades all over the world: Liberia, Sierra Leone,
Sudan.’

“They earned international respect and then here you
are, the Nigerian military and other law enforcement
agencies could not secure 14 local governments out
of 774 until the government was changed.’
Further more on how he feels when critics say he is
being selective in the fight against corruption Buhari
said that anyone who is not corrupt should not be
afraid rather they should encourage him to go
headlong with the fight.

‘…if they are not involve in corruption they won’t
mind they would encourage us to get whoever
compromised his position in the trust being given on
to him. I see it in the papers, watch it on screen but I
have never lost a sleep on it because those that are
not corrupt should even encourage us to do more.
But those that are interested in the safety of those
that have abused trust in the country office will go to
any lenhgt including bribing people to give false
information and so on.’

He went on to say that he is not being selective in his
fight against corruption and that any bdy caught will
be prosecuted for Nigerians to see.

‘Whoever is caught the document use in
incriminating him or her will be use to prosecute him
for Nigerians to know who has abused thrust’
On how he want to remembered the president said
that ‘if we survived it I want Nigerian to have found
out that I was genuine,a real patriot not that I only
fought the Civil war but fought corruption to a stand
still’.