DAMAGE CONTROL : GARBA SHEHU DEFENDS BUHARI’S DICTATORIAL SPEECH, CLAIMS IT’S PERSONAL



The presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari will not interfere with the trials of Sambo Dasuki, former national security adviser (NSA), and Nnamdi Kanu, leader of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), dismissing insinuations that the president is bent on influencing



the court to jail the duo. According, Garba Shehu, presidential spokesman, Buhari has the right to hold an opinion on the matter, but he would not interfere with the process of the court. During his maiden chat with select journalists on Wednesday in Abuja, Buhari showed a predisposition to keeping Dasuki and Kanu in detention. “Technically, if you see the type of atrocities those people committed against the country, if they jump bail…..,” he had said. “The former president just wrote to the governor of central bank and said give N40 billion – 40 billion to so so so, and you give him bail to go and see a doctor in London, when you have 2 million people in IDP camps. Half of them don’t even know their parents. What kind of country do you want us to run? “And the one you’re calling Kanu, do you know he has two passports. One Nigeria, one British and he came to this country without using any passport. “Do you know that he brought equipment into this country, sophisticated equipment, and was broadcasting for Radio Biafra. What kind of government do you want to have? He has been charged with treasonable felony, and I hope the court will listen to the case.” On Saturday, Shehu, while clarifying the stance of the president in an opinion piece, described the presidential media chat as a “win win”. “On the other hand, many understand his comments regarding the bail for Col Dasuki and Nnamdi Kanu to mean that government would use all avenues in the legal system to ensure that they are made to face trials. Under the constitution, no one can stop the courts from doing their jobs and it is matter the president keeps going back to given his much-cherished, newly-acquired democratic beliefs,” he said. “On any given day in court, lawyers argue the pros and cons of given issues. As writers and commentators in the media, this is what we do always. The one who argues for bail and the one who argues against it are both entitled to their views. “It is harsh of anyone to deny the president an opinion on these matters when all of us are freely commenting upon them. Muhammadu Buhari is first a citizen before becoming a president. He is entitled to hold views as you and I are under the constitution. “What will be wrong is when he tries to impose those views on the courts or on anyone, and this not anything he has done, and is will not do as the elected president of Nigeria. “Talking about candour, it is very rare that when asked a question, the leader of a country will say I don’t have the answer, I will seek explanation from so, so or that I will instruct the Central Bank to issue a statement on that. This is why when he speaks, the public believes him because he does so with an aura sincerity. This is something that helps public perception. “A leader who knows it all by himself is not what a country needs. Since assuming power in May 2015, the president has sent very clear signals to the media of his non-interference with their freedom. As the leader of this large and diverse country, he had an important message for them he kept for the last: he wants the media to rise above speculations, do a lot of research and investigation to produce credible articles. In his view, they need to do this to ramp up their credibility. Should they fail to do this, they will risk dragging down their reputable institution from the high pedestal it occupies. The self-regulating arms of the industry will be doing a disservice to both the media and the nation if they ignore this freely-offered advice. “From my own partisan, but certainly not jaundiced view, the first of the quarterly media chats was a win-win move. It served both sides well, with the media carrying out their constitutional duty of auditing the administration and the president having a useful platform to reach millions of citizens who harbour a love for him and a shared expectation of change.”

This is coming shortly after some media attack asking the president to resign and #TYRANTBUHARI ongoing twitter trends.

cckris:
#TRYANTBUHARI
THE CAT CAN NEVER STOP MOUSING

Whats "tryant"? No wonder you are a wailer

@topic. Buhari should ignore them.

I hereby, for the final time, challenge the wailers to go and help dasuki and namdi kanu escape from prison if them mama born them well.

Even Scorpion of Prison Break cannot help them

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Garba Shehu should be relieved of his job, he is very poor at managing the already battered image of the serial dictator Buhari who has penchant for raping democracy and rule of law.

Buhari seems to be more clueless than I thought with this statement. Smh

“And the one you’re calling Kanu, do you know he has two passports. One Nigeria, one British and he came to this country without using any passport. “Do you know that he brought equipment into this country, sophisticated equipment, and was broadcasting for Radio Biafra. - Muhammadu Buhari Dec 2015

PMB is the right man for nigeria whether anyone likes it or not. PMB is the type of man needed to clean the mess caused by PDP. I'll even suggest that the constitution of Nigeria be bent a little to allow PMB to rule again for another 4yrs I'd his tenure expires in 2023.

Descartes:
Garba Shehu should be relieved of his job, he is very poor at managing the already battered image of the serial dictator Buhari who have penchant for raping democracy and rule of law.

Who battered his image? Cowardly wailers who cant stage a mere protest on the street?

#IStandWithBuhari

Someone is busy raping democracy and the sycophants are hailing him. KWONTINU....

On that night, on most economic issues raised Buhari seems really cleuless. Now how do you solve a problem you don't (and may never be able) to understand?
Who be Driver who be Conductor?

#IStandWithBuhari

Its oh kay

anonimi:
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Very apt my man . . . . lolz

I firmly believe that the President goofed wrt his comments regarding flouting court orders. A simple explanation that they were held on other charges would have been a lot better than the president's explanation.
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For those hailing the president because of "the end justifies the means" mentality, there is a terrible danger of precedence. PMB's intentions might be genuine and patriotic, what if a dubious president comes in and uses this precedence to outrightly flout laws and the Constitution?
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For those comparing this with Guantanamo Bay, what you need to realize is that the American Presidency did not flout court orders or the Constitution, they simply acted smartly and figured a way to workaround the Constitution. They went to have a terrorist detention facility (gitmo bay) in Cuba where the human rights laws of US is not binding. The Nigerian govt needs to start thinking and acting intelligently rather than resort to brute force due to lazy thinking.
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I strongly believe that the presidency should do everything within its powers to jail NK, Dasuki, et al, but outrightly flouting court orders is - in my book - way out of line. It is important not to weaken democratic values in the process of doing the right thing.
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"Power corrupts! Absolute power corrupts absolutely"

abeq leave trash for lawma