5 things we learnt from Buhari’s interview with Amanpour

by Kolapo Olapoju

On Wednesday, February 11, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd.) was interviewed remotely by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour.

During the interview, Buhari harped on the inability of the Nigerian Army to defeat Boko Haram; the endorsement of him by former president, Olusegun Obasanjo; his perception as a military dictator and the scourge of corruption.

Below are 5 things we learnt from the interview:

1. Buhari explained why the Nigerian army seemingly lacks the motivation to defeat Boko Haram

“Well this has been made much more clear when the National Assembly attempted to conduct a hearing after the soldiers were giving interviews to foreign media about being sent to the front without proper weapons. The National Assembly attempted to conduct a hearing by getting the budgets approved by the National Assembly over the last three years and inviting the service chiefs to come and tell them [why the] weapons were not procured and sent to the soldiers — and competent leadership. And that hearing was scuttled. So in short, it’s the misapplication or misappropriation of the resources provided by the government for weapons. That’s why the Nigerian military was unable to defeat Boko Haram.”

 

2. Buhari said the endorsement from Obasanjo will get many people off the fence – and into the camp of the APC

“Well it would certainly bring more supporters to us and more confidence again to us from those who were sitting on the fence, because General Obasanjo is highly respected and as far as Nigerians [issues are] concerned, there’s no serious issue that can be discussed without people seeking for his opinion and listening to it.”

 

3. Buhari says he’s being “judged harshly” by the perception of him, as a military dictator

“Well all those things you mentioned, with a degree of accuracy of actually what happened, was then under a military administration, and when that military adminstration came under my leadership, we — the military — suspended the part of the constitution that we felt would be difficult for us to operate under those circumstances. So I think I’m being judged harshly as an individual that what happened during the military administration can be extended under a multiparty democracy system.”

 

4. Buhari told Amanpour that his party, the All Progressives Congress, has the capability to wipe out Boko Haram

“Well, Boko Haram, we know how it started. Certainly the Nigerian military that built our reputation internationally for effectiveness, it’s a great embarrassment to them and to the country that they haven’t been able to secure [Nigeria’s] territory of an area of 14 local governments out of 774 local governments. I believed this problem will not be too difficult for [our] APC government because we know the Nigerian military is competent. It’s a question of making sure the money voted for equipment and training [is] properly utilised.”

 

5. The APC presidential candidate says corruption must be killed by Nigeria

There are serious citizens of this country that say unless Nigeria kills corruption, corruption will kill Nigeria. And that’s best illustrated by another hearing conducted by the National Assembly on pension fund, electricity and then the corruption in the petroleum industry from where the country derives over 90% in external revenue. The National Assembly conducted a hearing here in Abuja and in the six geopolitical zones of the country, then they took the recommendation to the executive. And it’s been collecting dust for the past 18 months.

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