He
also vowed that the Islamist sect would not bring his government to its
knees as he pledged last night to change the face and structure of the
administration to combat what he described as the varying strategies of
the insurgent group.
Speaking
during a presidential media chat, President Jonathan gave reasons why
he removed Gen. Andrew Azazi as the National Security Adviser, NSA; why
he traveled to Brazil last Tuesday despite the carnage in Kaduna and
Yobe states and the administration’s response to the recent scandal
involving the House of Representatives ad-hoc committee on fuel subsidy
management.
For
the first time President Jonathan also opened the lid on the
differences between him and former President Umaru Yar‘adua on the
public declaration of assets, noting that no one can blackmail him to
now disclose his assets just as he affirmed that he would not dabble
into speculations of his ambition concerning the 2015 presidential
election. He, nevertheless, revealed that he would not reveal his plans
until next year.
The live media chat was anchored by Ohi Alegbe with TribuneEditor, Edward Dickson; Ishak Modibo Kawu, Vanguard columnist and Maupe Ogun of Channels as panellists.
Giving
reasons for the recent sack of Azazi as NSA and Dr. Haliru Bello as
Minister of Defence, he said that the security challenges faced by the
administration has overtime evolved through various stages and forms
necessitating changes in the administration to combat the growing
insurgency.
Jonathan
said his decision to change his National Security Adviser is to conform
with the changing tactics of the Boko Haram sect.
According
to him: “if you study the evolution of Boko Haram, they are changing
their tactics every day, so you also have to change your staff and
personnel to beat their styles.”
Why I traveled to Brazil — Jonathan
Responding
to public criticism on his travel to Brazil despite the troubles in
Kaduna and Yobe, he said the government would not allow the threats from
the Islamic militant group to cripple the machinery of government.
“It
would have sent a negative signal to the international community, and
the Boko Haram sect would have been seen to have achieved their aim of
strangulating the government.
“The
aim of terrorists all over the world is to strangulate government and
ensure that government does not function. If they know I did not travel
because of their activities, they would rejoice. If I do not travel
because of Boko Haram activities, why should foreigners want to travel
to Nigeria? My inability to travel would send a negative signal to the
international community,” he added.
He
thus vowed that the activities of the sect would not stop government
functionaries from moving around or from doing their work, adding that
it is committed to ensuring that all the arms of government keep faith
with their various international commitments.
“Boko
Haram can not bring us to our knees, this government must keep faith
with our international business allies, notwithstanding the threat of
the sect. We must do all in our powers to stop them and we must stop
them.”
Boko Haram aiming to destabilize my government
Jonathan
further stated that the aim of the Boko Haram sect is to destabilize
the government, saying that the various attacks on churches are aimed at
instigating religious violence.
He
also alleged that if Christians do not retaliate, the sect would adopt a
change of strategy by attacking mosques, in a bid to achieve their aim.
However, he promised that his government will surely bring the Boko
Haram menace to an end.
“Boko
Haram aims to destabilize the government. By attacking the churches,
they hope that Christians will retaliate against the Muslims. If the
Christians fail to retaliate, the same sect will start attacking
mosques, hoping the Muslims will attack the Christians.”
He
said that the government is ready to dialogue with the sect, but that
the only problem was that the sect is faceless and the government
cannot dialogue with a faceless body or group.
Asset Declaration
For
the first time the President responded to critics on his failure to
publicly declare his assets as he did when he was Vice-President. He
explained that while he was Vice-President he disagreed with former
President Yar‘adua on the principle of public declaration of assets
saying that it was an unnecessary step. Describing it as an anomalous
action, Jonathan said that he told the late President that they should
not start something that they could not control saying that they could
not as well compel all other senior officials of government to follow
their action.
He,
however, confessed that he had to declare his assets publicly then
because he was under President Yar‘adua, but affirmed that no one can
now compel or intimidate him to do so, saying that would not “improve
the economy, would not stop the Boko Haram menace and would not advance
governance in any way.”
“When
I was Vice President, I declared my assets, because the President then
did. In any case, between the time when I was Vice President and
President was just a few months, so what would I have acquired within
that short time?”
He however, stated that he has nothing to hide and could even decide to declare tomorrow, if he so wishes.
Speaking
on the fight against corruption, he defended the government’s decision
to sack the former boss of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission,
EFCC, Mrs. Farida Waziri, saying: “When I give people work and
assignment, I give them time and the latitude to do the job. It is when
they are not performing that I take action. Everybody likes the new
boss, Lamorde, people like his mode of operation and I do too.”
He,
however, noted the procedural difficulties in bringing corrupt persons
to book. “To arrange a case file to prosecute corrupt criminals is
difficult and it would be wrong to convict an innocent person. It is
better for nine criminals to go scot-free than to convict one innocent
person.”
He
urged the public to allow both Lamorde and the Acting Chairman of the
Independent Corrupt Practices Commission, ICPC to do their job.
Fuel subsidy probe
On
the fuel subsidy probe scandal in the House of Representatives, he said
the reference to patrons of the PDP as being behind the scandal was
uncalled for.
“The
PDP has a board of trustees and since the fuel subsidy probe report was
made known, no PDP member was indicted in that report. So the claims
that PDP was indicted are wrong. All the noise that the President is
part of the Farouk sting operation is wrong. Yes, I have heard about the
Farouk issue and the matter is being investigated by relevant agencies.
As a president I don’t have time for that. Femi Otedola is a business
man, why would I be involved in the sting operation?
“The
questions on Farouk are questions you have to take up with the SSS. One
thing I discovered is that criticising Jonathan and Jonathan’s
administration is a serious business among Nigerians. People don’t know
that I initiated the subsidy probe before the Senate and the House of
Representatives started it.
“Just yesterday I read a story in Punch Newspapers
and I have directed the EFCC to start investigating Nigeria’s accounts
in the United States following the newspaper report.”
The President also asked Nigerians to give him time to fix the country’s epileptic power situation.
He
disclosed that some power transformers to address the issue were
already on ground but regretted the absence of some needed
infrastructure.
“Some
of the basic things needed before the importation of more transformers
were not put in place. For example, the pipelines that would bring gas
to the turbines have not been put in place. Where the transmission lines
would pass are not ready also. However, with time we would get over
it.“The gas Nigeria is depending upon belongs to multinational companies
and they have invested heavily on it. It takes time to address this
issue with the multinational companies, with time it would be addressed.
Periodically, the Minister of Power will brief the country on this
issue.”
Increase in PHCN Tariff
On
the increase in electricity tariff, he said: “Nigerians have been
paying tariffs before now. What we did was to adjust the tariff for
Nigerians to pay more. Those with low income will pay less than what
they were paying before now, while higher income consumers will pay
more.
“If we can generate electricity freely and distribute it freely without it affecting our economy we would have done so.”
On
the time frame for steady power supply, he said the government is
working to improve the power situation in the country, adding however,
that the government cannot give a specific time frame.”
The
President also spoke on his administration’s efforts to revive the
railways saying that his government should be praised for what it has
done.
2015 Presidency
Asked
on his plans for the 2015 elections, the President said that it was
quite early to make a declaration saying that he would not allow himself
to be distracted on the issue. Pressed on the issue, the President said
he would not make his public intention until two years into the
lifespan of his administration.
“When
you ask me about 2015, I will say that it is not proper for any
president given our circumstances. If I say so, whether left or right,
people will misinterpret it.
“We
have just spent one year. If I say I am running, the polity will be
overheated. Allow us at least the next two years before we start talking
about 2015.
“I
said so during one of our PDP meetings that we should concentrate now
and forget about 2015 debate. If we start campaigning now, we will end
up campaigning for the next four years.”
UNILAG
Defending
the process in renaming the University of Lagos after the late
democracy icon, Moshood Abiola, he said that there is no law compelling
him to send a proposal to the National Assembly before declaring the
name change. “In establishing a university, the university is set up
first, before it is sent to the National Assembly to ratify. In name
change, we have to declare the new name before sending it to the
National Assembly.
“There
is no law that says that we must first of all consult with the National
Assembly or the Senate of the University before coming up with the new
name.”
Vanguard Nigeria
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