We didn’t say our campaign promises would be fully achieved in 5yrs – Garba Shehu The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, in his response to questions via e-mail, punctures the assertion that a

What is your assessment of Buhari’s performance in office?

We are grateful to the Almighty that we are marking the president’s fifth year in office. I can see that a lot of analysts are out with long knives; some coming to join us in cutting the cake, others totally determined to make a mincemeat of our achievements. This is to be expected given the phenomenal role and place of President Muhammadu Buhari as a mass leader who has achieved the trust of the common men and women in our vast country.

The man who has vowed to secure the country from terrorism, rid the country of corruption and diversify its economy has achieved so much of that agenda, making it possible for him to win and keep the trust of the people.

While we are not yet where we would like to be, we are also definitely not where we used to be; we have seen significant progress in many sectors across the three priorities of the president: security, economy and the fight against corruption. Keep in mind that true progress takes time.

We must be realistic, the challenging circumstances that took us decades to get into, and that previous administrations with access to more resources failed to make a dent on, will not be rolled back overnight.

Any assessment of the president has to take into account the situation he inherited when he took office. Lasting change will take time. The most important thing is to show that we are headed in the right direction, and we definitely are.

What are the key achievements and hallenges of the administration?

We have completed several projects that were abandoned or not taken seriously by previous administrations, and have also commenced and progressed on many others that were either still in the drawing board or not being taken seriously.

The Presidential Infrastructure Development Fund (PIDF): the largest public infrastructure fund in Nigeria since 1999. There hasn’t been anything on this scale in the last two decades. The administration has:

Completed Abuja Metro Light Rail project linking the city centre to the airport and the Idu National Rail Station.

Completed the 327km ItakpeAjaokuta-Warri Rail Line, which was started by the Babangida Administration in 1987; more than 30 years ago.

Started the Lagos-Ibadan Standard Gauge Rail Line, and in three years we completed the tracklaying for the main contract. The outstanding components now are the train stations, the signaling and communications, and track-laying between the Main Station in Ebute Metta and the Apapa Port Complex. The project will be completed in 2020.

We have finally been able to break the curse of inadequate funding for the Second Niger Bridge and the Lagos Ibadan Expressway, and both are now on course for completion in 2022. These two projects, and the Abuja-Kaduna-Zaria-Kano Highway all have dedicated funding from the PIDF established by President Buhari in 2018.

The Executive Order 7 signed by the president in January, 2019, is now delivering important projects like the Apapa-Oshodi-Oworonshoki Expressway in Lagos and the BonnyBodo Bridges and Road in Rivers State. Altogether, this order will mobilise nothing less than N200bn of private sector funding for infrastructure in Nigeria.

In the area of agriculture, unprecedented support has been given to the sector. Programmes like the Anchor Borrower Programme (ABP), the Presidential Fertiliser Initiative (PFI) and FarmerMoni have resulted in massive gains towards our goal of self-sufficiency in key staples.

Rice production has doubled since 2015. In 2019, Nigeria produced 9.6 metric tonnes (MT) of paddy, up from 4.8MT in 2015. We have seen a similar increase in milled rice production; with more than $1bn in investments in new rice mills across the country.

We are seeing a lot of private sector investments, and also investments by state governments; taking advantage of the administration’s focus on agriculture.

Let me remind you that Daily Trust published a story in November, 2019, with the headline: “As borders remain closed, rice mills open everywhere”. The story goes on to say that: “Following the closure of Nigerian land borders in August this year, hundreds of rice mills have sprung up, while those that were moribund are now being activated in many riceproducing states of the federation.”

Through the PFI, more than a million metric tonnes of fertiliser has been produced since 2017. This translated to distribution of more than 18 million 50kg bags of NPK in the first three years of the PFI.

Twenty two blending plants resuscitated (combined installed capacity of more than 2.5MT).

FX savings of $150m annually through the substitution of imported components with locally manufactured ones. Subsidy savings of N50bn annually.

The ABP of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) launched by President Muhammadu Buhari on November 17, 2015, has made available more than N200bn in funding to more than 1.5 million smallholder farmers of 16 different commodities: rice, wheat, maize, cotton, cassava, poultry, soy beans, groundnut and fish, cultivating over 1.4 million hectares of farmland.

The ABP has substantially raised

“I don’t know what analysts you have been talking to, and how you selected them, and what their political inclinations and motivations might be. So many so-called analysts refuse to duly educate themselves about the issues they are commenting on.”

local production of rice, doubling the production of paddy, as well as milled rice, between 2015 and 2019.

This administration has created the largest Social Investment Programme (SIP) in Africa, comprising a School Feeding Programme, Conditional Cash Transfer, Micro-Credit Programme, and the N-Power youth empowerment scheme. Among them all, these programmes have more than 13 million beneficiaries nationwide.

Also, the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund aided by the implementation of the National Health Act that was signed by the previous administration in 2014 has been created.

Some of the landmark reforms of this administration include the completion, in 2019, of the first fundamental reform of the Nigeria Prisons Act in almost 50 years, resulting in the establishment of the Nigerian Correctional Service (NCS) to replace the Nigeria Prison Service (NPS).

Establishment in 2019 of the Police Trust Fund to improve funding for the Nigeria Police Force (NPF).

Passage of enabling legislation for the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) for the first time since it was founded in 2011.

Reform of budget submission process from manual submission to online submission, which is more efficient and transparent.

The Finance Act, 2019, which is the first time Nigeria is accompanying the passage of a budget with such an act. The 2020 budget is also the first time in 12 years that a federal budget has been restored to the January to December cycle.

Launch of the National Micro Pension Scheme in 2019, demonstrating President Buhari’s propoor commitment.

Assent to the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) Bill, the first legislation in Nigeria’s history focused on curbing anti-competition practices; and the establishment of the FCCPC.

Introduction of the Willing Buyer, Willing Seller Policy for the power sector which has opened up opportunities for increased delivery of electricity to homes and industries. Also in power, NERC recently issued an order capping estimated billing by DisCos.