Having read a counter thread from a Nairalander who tried so hard to defend President Buhari's statement that made it to Front page today, sighting what the President really meant. I am going to break the President's statement to bits for a clear understanding.

Here's the link to the initial thread:

https://www.nairaland.com/3137052/saying-rubbish-during-campaign-president

Here's the link to the counter thread:

https://www.nairaland.com/3137880/president-buhari-did-not-say

Here's President Buhari's statement in full:

“When we came there were 42 ministries we cut it to 24. We had to do it on our own because we found out that government could not continue with 42 ministers and the paraphernalia of office so we cut it down to 24,” he said.

“I underrated the influence of the PDP for 16 years watching from outside. The experience of the staff, their commitment and zeal is different from what it is now compared to when I was in government. Sixteen years of development in the life of a developing nation is a long time.

“Most of the permanent secretaries were sent out because it was time for some of them to go and for others for one thing or the other. Because were not part of those 16 years this is where we found ourselves and this is no joke.

“We had to cut down half the number of permanent secretaries and then do some cross postings. The permanent secretaries that were there for the past five, seven, 15 years the only thing that they know is how things were done in the previous years. Whatever we did in the campaign, in fact we were saying rubbish and that made it very difficult for us.

“Things were even more difficult during the budget which you all know about. For somebody like me, for the first time I heard what is called padding.

“I think we will recover by the fourth quarter of the year, what padding means especially for ministers who had implement what padding contains. There were very serious developments which I never knew about.”

Now let me break it down:

1. "Whatever we did in the campaign" - President Buhari talks about what the APC did during the campaign period before the election, he wasn't referring to the permanent secretaries who have been in government for 15 years.

2. "in fact we were saying rubbish" - The word "We" in simple English is used as the subject of a verb to refer to a group including the speaker and at least one other person. So, President Buhari admitted that they (APC) were saying rubbish.

3. "and that made it very difficult for us" - President Buhari expressed regrets over what was said during the campaign.

We don't need anyone to tell us what "they think" the President said...we understood every bit of what he said.

There is a reason Buhari is not allowed by his party to talk with Nigerian press
He can be very relax and start saying the truth

wow you are a great disappointment to educated people who can comprehend without the extreme difficulty you seem to be facing.

vedaxcool:
wow you are a great disappointment to educated people who can comprehend without the extreme difficulty you seem to be facing.

If you still don't understand what I posted then I am sorry I can't help your very delicate situation. You can as well tell us Buhari was referring to Jonathan when he used the word "We" or should I interpret what was said in your local dialect?

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KingOfAmebo:


If you still don't understand what I posted then I am sorry I can't help your very delicate situation.

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I don't see how pre-nusery candidate can ever be of help to a college professor then again doesn't that explain why you pathetically started a thread to celebrate your complete lack of comprehension skills?

vedaxcool:
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I don't see how pre-nusery candidate can ever be of help to a college professor then again doesn't that explain why you pathetically started a thread to celebrate your complete lack of comprehension skills?

All I see is a monumental grammatic blunder from all you just typed...you sent English to an early grave, it is evident you were on your teacher's list of students that will never understand English no matter what. I treasure my time and I don't intend spending a kobo on you. learn to use punctuation, you can still be forgiven even if you type trash Mr College Professor.