- Fayose’s letter reasonable act, says ex-lawmaker
By Olakiitan Victor in Ado Ekiti
The presidency yesterday said President Muhammadu Buhari did not discuss the issue of loan during his week-long trip to China.
There had been reports that Nigeria would borrow at least $2 billion from China to finance the 2016 budget.
But speaking when he appeared as a guest on O and M Sunday Show on the Africa Independent Television (AIT), the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said nothing of such happened, adding that g the trip ended up attracting investment worth $6 billion to the country.
“The issue of loan didn’t arise during the president’s trip to China, not even an emergency loan was discussed.
“The president went there and signed agreements that were in the interest of Nigeria. We should know that this president knows what is good for the country,” he said.
On the letter which Governor Ayodele Fayose of Ekiti State wrote to the Chinese Government to stop the purported loan, Adesina said: “Every nation has a room for comic relief. If someone chooses to be so idle and be entertaining others, so be it.
“I am sure so many people laughed when they saw the letter.”
When asked if the president also reacted to Fayose’s letter with laughter, Adesina said: “The president is a serious-minded person who chooses not to be distracted.”
Responding to a question on whether Buhari will spend up to two weeks in the country “before taking off again,” Adesina said if the need arises to travel, the president will do so.
“The president is embarking on these trips in the interest of the country, so if what will prosper Nigeria abroad requires him to travel, he will.
“Let me share this with you. During the last Sallah celebration in September, the president travelled to Katsina in the morning, he took part in the activities and by 2p.m, he was on his way to the United States to represent Nigeria at the United Nations General Assembly.
“Now, if not for the love for his country, will the president not have stayed back to celebrate with his family?” He asked.
Sequel to a letter written to Chinese Government by Governor Fayose seeking to stop the $2 billion loan being sought by President Buhari to finance some projects in the 2016 budget, a member of the seventh House of Representatives, Hon Bamidele Faparusi , has described the action as a serious act of treason against the nation.
Faparusi said it marvels every Nigerian that Fayose could take his opposition against Buhari to that ridiculous extent all in the name of politics, urging all well-meaning Ekiti State to advise the governor against dragging the name of Ekiti State in the mud to advance his alleged vice-presidential ambition in 2019.
The former federal lawmaker added that “how would the governor had felt, if the All Progressives Congress (APC)had written similar letter to the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) seeking the stoppage of N9.2 billion bailout given to Fayose’s government to pay workers’ salaries?.”
Faparusi, who said this in a statement in Ado Ekiti yesterday in reaction to a letter written by Fayose and submitted at the Chinese Embassy in Abuja last Thursday, stated that Fayose’s action is gradually becoming more of personal animosity against President Buhari, than partisan politics.
The APC chieftain said for Fayose to have traveled to China at a time
President Buhari was on a business trip that would benefit the nation to constitute a cog in the nation’s wheel of progress, further amplified how allegedly determined and desperate the governor had become about his rumoured vice-presidential ambition.
“Aside from the fact that Fayose expended over N50 million of his state money on his misadventure to China, he also committed another N10 million to send his Chief of Staff, Dipo Anisulowo, and other 10 government officials, including some lawmakers to Abuja to submit the letter at the Chinese Embassy .
“What does Fayose tend to lose if the Chinese Government accedes to President Buhari’s request? President Buhari had revealed his intention to construct Calabar-Lagos and Lagos –Kano rail lines to boost the economy of the country. Does our governor think these projects have no relevance to our existence as a nation?
“Though, I won’t like to blame him, because Fayose did not see governance as a serious business , but just a means of political survival and patronage . That was why he has been promoting commercial motorcycle (Okada) business in Ekiti State rather than institutionalizing concrete youth empowerment programmes because that was how far his brain could carry him.
“If Fayose has been a political tactician as he normally claimed to be, he should have been able to discern that he has been rejected even by the PDP, because the party had zoned vice-presidential position to the South-east for 2019 despite his noise all over the place.
“Fayose must come to a realisation that vice-presidential position is not for all comers, but for those who have the intellectual acumen and integrity that can influence the country positively in the comity of nations and the PDP upon realising this quickly turned the table against him.
“As much as I believe in individual’s rights to free association and freedom of expression, Fayose should not also be oblivious of the fact that the presidency is the symbol of our nation and any attempt to desecrate it would mean a commission of treason offence, which has a dire consequences under the law.”
