Buhari not power drunk, Presidency tells Atiku
The Presidency yesterday dismissed comments by former Vice President Atiku Abubakar that President Muhammadu Buhari was “very uncompromising, also power drunk; (and) who will not be ready to leave power without a fight.”
The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said rather than use the name of President Buhari to buoy his bid to get the presidential ticket of a party, whose flag has been flying at half-mast since it got roundly trounced at the polls in 2015.
He said President Buhari is uncompromising in the quest to restore probity and accountability to public office.
“He is uncompromising in cleaning the rot Nigeria was consigned into pre-2015, thus the war against corruption is being fought without fear or favour. The President is equally resolute in the determination to ensure that Nigeria is no longer a monoeconomy, depending only on oil.
“Yes, President Buhari is singleminded in effecting change in every area of Nigerian life. So, Alhaji Abubakar is right, if that was what he meant by the President being “uncompromising.
“But power drunk? No! And being a man “who will not be ready to leave power without a fight?” Never! Not President Buhari, who has demonstrated in many ways that he is a committed democrat, though also a retired military general. He has no apologies about that. Through a sterling military career, he served Nigeria with his heart and might, before venturing into partisan politics,” he said.
He said in many ways, President Buhari has wielded power with decency, and as a means of serving the people, rather than for personal ends.
“If there’s one person not intoxicated by power, it is President Buhari, and scores of millions of Nigerians know this. That is why they will invest him with power again next year, knowing that he won’t misuse or misapply what has been entrusted to him.
“Former Vice President Abubakar may want to borrow a leaf from the decorous language employed by Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, in answering his recent press statement on the restructuring debate. That is the hallmark of statesmen, and not crying wolf where none exists, which is what the allegation of being uncompromising and power drunk truly is,” he said.