It is madness for anybody to come into government to look for money- VP Osinbajo says
A statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Laolu Akande, quotes Osinbajo as saying this while receiving a delegation of Christian Ministers Welfare Initiative also known as the Pastors’ Forum, Taraba State, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja yesterday.
President Muhammadu Buhari’s greatest dream is to see the emergence of a greater and more prosperous Nigeria from the current crisis situation, his deputy, Yemi Osinbajo, has stated.
Vice President Osinbajo said the President told him during a meeting on Thursday that despite the present situation in the country, his only objective was to make necessary sacrifice to make Nigeria great again.
“At my age, there is only one thing I am looking for. I want to see a great Nigeria,” Mr. Osinbajo recalled the President as saying.
“This morning, I had a meeting with the President and he repeated to me twice. I feel very inspired by that,” he told a delegation of Christian Ministers’ Welfare Initiative known as the Pastors’ Forum, Taraba State, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
Mr. Osinbajo said the president reaffirmed his commitment to a great Nigeria where peace and justice reigned.
“It is madness for anybody in our position to be looking for money. God put people in positions of authority for them to do something for their people.
“I think if any Nigerian gets the chance to be president of the country, there is nothing he/she is looking for anymore, except to improve the lot of the people while there,” he noted.
Linking the current economic situation to corruption and official graft, the vice president said no economy would tolerate the level of corruption in Nigeria without consequenc“Nigerian lives were being lost and yet people cannot account for $15 billion meant for purchase of security equipment to fight the insurgents,” he said.
On how vandalism of oil installations contribute to the current economic recession the country is facing, Mr. Osinbajo said Nigeria lost millions of barrels of crude oil due to the activities of militants in the Niger Delta.
In early 2016, the Vice President said, the country was generating 5,000 MW of electricity.
However, due to the destruction of Forcados terminal by militants, he said about 40 per cent of the gas used to fire the power plants were lost and electricity supply was cut down to about 2,500MW.
He said the vandalism of oil facilities cost the country loss of over one million barrels of oil a day, and about 60 per cent of the country’s revenues.
“There is nowhere such amount of revenue is lost without the country going into some economic challenges like the current recession,” he noted.
Assuring that the country would soon come out of the recession, the VP said “there is no question at all, God has a reason for bringing us in at this time. God helping us, we will see a change in this country.”
Vice President Osinbajo urged the Church and religious leaders to stand up against corruption.
“If this government is doing the right thing by fighting corruption the Church should support it,” he said.
Assuring the group that government was working seriously to end the herdsmen crisis, the vice president said the president had instructed the police and the military to deal decisively with anybody found carrying arms.
“It is not possible for one tribe to dominate another based on the way God has structured the country. The reason we have Christian president and Muslim vice president or Muslim president and Christian vice president is to have balance,” he said.
Earlier, chairman of the delegation, Godwin Nyiekule, a reverend, said their visit was to pledge their support to the present administration for its forthrightness and fight against corruption.
Mr. Nyiekule said the group was a non-partisan group that supports persons interested in participating in governance.
Comments
Post a Comment