1 Year In Office: Buhari Speaks In No-Holds-Barred Interview; You'll Be Shocked At Some Revelations

The Interview Excerpted From The Nation Newspaper

The Prelude

Looking at the last one year, how would you assess what has happened in terms of your expectations when you took office, the challenges you met and the progress made or lack of it?

You will recall that during our campaign, we identified three problems of our country. First, was security  the situation especially in the North-East then. Second, was the economy and third was corruption. In the North-East, when we came in Boko Haram occupied 14 local governments and they had hoisted their flags and called the areas their Caliphate. But I can assure you that Boko Haram is not holding any local government presently. They had progressed to using IEDs (improvised explosive devices) and by taking on soft targets  people in mosques, churches, market places, motor parks, killing them in tens, twenties and fifties … that you all know about, and killing school children.  So, I think we have made substantial progress in that area. If you know anybody living in Maiduguri or Yobe, he or she will tell you that people are going back to their homes; those who moved to Kano, Kaduna or even here in Abuja, are now moving back and they are trying to continue with their lives.

On the economy, again, we were unlucky. We are now a mono-culture economy and everybody is dependent on oil revenue. The oil price collapsed and we were exposed. From 1999 to 2014, the average price of Nigerian crude that was sold was $100 per barrel, but when we came in, it plummeted to about $30 per barrel, and now it is between $40 and $50 per barrel.

At some stage, I got the Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria to give me a list of the things we have been spending our foreign exchange on and it showed food items such as tomato puree, grains, rice, wheat and even toothpicks. I didn’t believe it and I still don’t believe it because if he said we were building so many factories, buying essential raw materials and spare parts machineries, I would have believed it.

But to show me that what we were consuming majorly just food items? I believe that Nigerians from the eastern part of this country, from the west and north, about 60 per cent of them eat what they produce because they cannot afford to buy foreign food. So what was happening was that people who had plenty of naira just filled the papers that they were importing food, were given foreign exchange and they go and invest the money outside in whatever form.

My belief was strengthened when we got into trouble about the import of petroleum products. We conducted a survey and found out that one-third of what Nigerian marketers claimed to be bringing in, they were not bringing in. They were just signing the papers and taking the money out. So people were doing the same thing with food products. But I think subsequently when we get to the court with some people, you will hear more about it.

The third one was on corruption, I would speak about that in two days’ time (May 29) and also on subsequent attempts to prosecute where we have found evidence; about where the monies have gone and the different banks either here or outside the country. We would let you know.

We know that your party did not support the idea of a National Conference when it was held, but one year after, it is like the clamour is rising again given some of our challenges such as security and the economy. People say all these issues were addressed by the National Conference report. Would you have a rethink by going back to see what is good in that report?

No, I don’t want to tell different stories. I advised against the issue of National Conference. You would recall that ASUU was on strike then for almost nine months. The teachers in the tertiary institutions were on strike for more than a year, yet that government had about N9 billion to organise that meeting (National Conference) and some (members) were complaining that they hadn’t even been paid.

I never liked the priority of that government on that particular issue, because it meant is that the discussions on what the National Assembly ought to do was more important than keeping our children in schools. That is why I haven’t even bothered to read it or asked for a briefing on it and I want it to go into the so-called archives.

The progress that has been made in the fight against Boko Haram is widely acknowledged not only in Nigeria but outside the country. But as we have made progress with Boko Haram, other serious security challenges have arisen. You have the issue of the herdsmen and the killings; you have the Niger Delta Avengers; the Biafra agitation; and incessant kidnapping. Can Nigeria’s security infrastructure deal with these multiple fronts that are opening up?

To speak in the order the question was asked, on the herdsmen, note that Gaddafi ruled Libya for 43 years. During his 43 years, Libya was a small country in terms of population, but very big in terms of resources. They have oil reserves – light crude like Nigeria’s crude. But he was quite generous to some of the countries in the Sahel. He took their young men and trained them. But unfortunately, he didn’t train them to become electricians or plumbers, bricklayers or mechanics. They were trained to shoot and kill. When that administration was removed, of course, those who removed his administration knew that he stabilised his country by using these people from the Sahel. So they pursued them and they went back home.

You know what happened in Burkina Faso, Mali, and a few of them we believe are around the northeast. I am sure you know that here in Nigeria, our border with our northern neighbour Niger is at least 1,500km long. It is open country and you cannot stop donkeys from crossing, you cannot stop camels, neither can you stop people from crossing the borders. Only God can effectively guard these borders. So, some of them found their way here.

Even on the recent herdsmen (killings), I asked one of the governors if the herdsmen were fighting perennially with the farmers and he said there was a difference. This means that these people were either hired to come and fight and worsen the ethnic relationship in Nigeria or they have no profession other than fighting for a fee. But these are just reports that still have to be confirmed later. So that is what I can answer about the herdsmen and I think the law enforcement agencies are working very hard to identify them.

Now about the militants in the South-South: when we came in, I got one of the senior officers (in the army), a Major-General, and asked him to revisit the agreement the late President Umaru Yar’Adua signed with them. I said he should get a copy of the gazette so that we can see the agreement to know what stage we were in. I haven’t received a comprehensive report on that yet, but I believe the officer is working hard. I saw him responding to some of your colleagues (journalists) a couple of days ago in the papers.

Meanwhile, I have told the military and law enforcement agencies that the promise this government made was that this country has to be secured before it can be effectively managed. So, we can’t wait for that report before the military re-organises itself and secures the Niger Delta area. So, I think very soon they would do some serious operations there.

As for Biafra, those looking for Biafra have a tough job. A lot of them that have participated in the demonstrations (recently) were not born and didn’t know what people like us went through (fighting Biafra) by walking from the northern border to initially Abakaliki, then came back and started from Awka to Abagana and to Onitsha. We lost our friends, our relatives and about two million Nigerians were killed. They thought it was a joke. So I think they have a problem.

Kidnapping is a very serious thing like the operations of the militants where they are destroying installations in the Niger Delta. I was going round the world telling people that we are going to secure Nigeria and by our performance in the North-East, they believe us and people are prepared to come and invest in Nigeria. But nobody would invest in an insecure environment.

Those who had been in Nigeria for so many years can conduct feasibility studies. But why would they put money paying militants or paying for corruption? This means with all the goodwill we are winning, we may not be able to benefit in the long run because of the kidnapping and the actions of the militants. So it is a top priority for this government to address once we settle down to make sure that we deal with militants. We will deal with kidnappers also.

There have been so many pronouncements by your government that once the budget is passed and assented by you, that we would see progress on the economy. But even the budget assumptions today are threatened, that is from where you expect to get your revenue to implement your projects and even the N500 million needed for the palliatives. Oil production has dropped to almost half due to militancy; even revenue coming from taxes is declining. How are you going to assure Nigerians that this budget which the government is hinging its programmes on, is going to be implemented in such a way that it trickles down to the masses?

That is a major challenge for us. It is not going to be easy to complement the revenue as we promised in the budget. I think I mentioned initially that the market plummeted from an average of $100 per barrel for crude oil from 1999 to 2014, and suddenly went down to $30 per barrel and now it is between $40 and $50 per barrel.

I was constrained to approach the Governor of the Central Bank to find out how we spend our foreign exchange. When he went and checked the records, he found out mostly food bills such as wheat, rice, flour, bread and toothpicks. Nigerians are so sophisticated that they use only Chinese toothpicks! I was shocked. I didn’t believe it and I still don’t believe it because I think if we can sit down, reflect and try to be fair to Nigerians, people from the east, west and north…60 per cent of them eat what they grow; be it either garri, yam or grains. I know they also spend money on cooking oil.

So who is taking all the billions of dollars in terms of foreign food imports? What is happening is that people are just buying dollars and taking the money outside the country. My belief was strengthened when the price of oil fell and the marketers were insisting that they want foreign exchange to import fuel. We tried to conduct a survey and we found out that one-third of what they were claiming was fraudulent. They just stamped papers and claimed the money.

Still on the economy, the new song is diversification. But using the 2016 budget as a guide, it is surprising that agriculture which is the new hope of this country has just N75 billion, both recurrent and capital expenditure, allocated to it in the budget. Solid minerals is even less. If agriculture is going to be the saviour of tomorrow, are you convinced that with that budgetary allocation we shall get it right?

Well, you are absolutely right.  You are forcing me to go back to the issue of budget which was difficult to overcome. I am sure you noted the issue of padding… I didn’t know of it until recently, although I started being in government since 1975. The Minister of Budget and Planning earned my respect during the budget sessions because I tried to follow up on what he was doing  taking presentations from each ministry. Having done that, he wrote a comprehensive memo to the council of ministers, which I presided over and some corrections were made by the ministers. So, we thought it was completed and I was ready to go and bow and deliver it to the National Assembly as the constitution has directed.

But what I did not know was that the real thing had been removed and that they (legislature) put their own. For instance, the Minister of Health was sitting before a committee (at his budget defence). I wasn’t even sure of the committee and they were very excited and happy with what they were doing. They then asked the minister to defend his budget. So they handed over to him his supposed budget and he looked at it and said, ‘I can’t defend what I didn’t present. This was not what I presented.’ Instantly I was alerted.

Also a number of the ministers that were asked to defend their budget, it was not what they presented that they were asked to defend. So what happened is that some group somewhere at the National Assembly had done their own budgeting and they called it padding.

Meanwhile, I became governor of the North-East made up of six states in August 1975, later I went on to become the Petroleum Minister and then Head of State, and I never heard of padding until now. So I said whoever is linked to the padding has no room in this administration. Even at that, the minister came back to ask me to sign it so that the government can move on.

But I said I don’t normally sign what I don’t understand or what I don’t agree with. He said the government has to move on and I said okay. Before he left, I said ‘If you insist, I would sign because I trust you. But I would put you in front of me (if anything goes wrong). So whoever wants anything, I would push to you.’

So he went back (to the National Assembly) and not long after, he came and said I shouldn’t sign, and that took us another six weeks before they brought back the paper and I signed. This was because the government decided that we should have at least 30 per cent allocated to capital projects.

We can’t help our country and our state of development year after year with more than 90 per cent on overheads and no capital projects. So we decided to have at least 30 per cent on capital expenditure. So on the observation you made, don’t worry; the Central Bank alone has assisted by giving more than N200 billion to agriculture.

Are we really close to an economic recession and in what ways can all your foreign trips and the foreign investments you are anticipating mitigate this looming recession. Also, what would you do with the loot recovered from former public officials?

With what happened to us so far and what I mentioned to you, I wouldn’t doubt a recession. I have just told you that from 1999 to 2014, Nigeria’s crude was selling on the average of $100 per barrel. These are facts you can cross check. The average production was about two million barrels per day. If you take about half a million for consumption at home, about 445,000 per day, which was what was officially budgeted for local refineries, only to be complemented by marketers.

But suddenly when the oil price plummeted, we looked left, right and centre, and no arrangement was made to support the economy if such a thing happened. That was why when I called to know what we were spending our foreign exchange on and it was on food items.

However, low-income earners cannot afford imported food; people that are not working who are the majority live on what the farmers produce. So, really, it is frightening. I agree with you that the prospect of going into recession is frightening and I believe that the leadership of this country should bear the consequence for not meeting up. I blame the elite for not alerting the other government sufficiently for us to realise that if anything happens to oil, we would be in trouble.

What is my solution? It is to advise the Nigerian elite to, for once, be patriotic. Let them work very hard to support this country. Not only politicians, but for leadership at every level to take responsibility to make sure that the economy of this country is resuscitated.

The anti-corruption fight by the EFCC and the probe of arms funds has shown some of the funds were allocated to the PDP campaign. But your critics have accused you of probing PDP campaign funds while not investigating your own campaign funds. They say you have people in your government that allegedly used state resources to sponsor your campaign. How will you explain this?

I don’t know whether I have some official protection. If I don’t have it, why haven’t you started the investigation?

The constitution gives you immunity.

I see, very good. (General laughter). But then, it doesn’t extend to all the executives and party leaders; the party leaders are there. If anybody has received $100 million to give to the party, I think he should be asked to tell us where he got the $100 million. I know those we would eventually successfully prosecute, they wouldn’t leave it, neither will let their friends leave it.

We do not believe if we were so reckless we any would get away with it. I don’t believe it. Do you remember the three and half years when I was in charge of the petroleum ministry, have you forgotten the $2.8 billion issue? If you have forgotten, I haven’t. Have you forgotten the PTF (Petroleum Trust Fund)? In the PTF, at one stage we had more than N53 billion at a time, we planned and spent it. It was investigated subsequently.

So I assure you that I feel perfectly safe. But nobody is perfect, only God is perfect. But let me tell you, from being governor of the six states (the old North Eastern State) which was only for seven months, to the Petroleum Ministry, to Head of State, and to PTF, I tried not to expose myself, and I hope God will continue to help me.

Nigeria is said to be difficult to govern. Did you find it to be so?

There are a lot of problems in the country. You have insurgency in the North-East. But how did Boko Haram start? If you could recall, it was like a group of political thugs, and along the line a young charismatic leader called Mohammed Yusuf emerged. That young man assumed that reputation in the North East because of the way he preached. One afternoon the group wanted to go and bury one of their own. Most of them were on motorcycles; some wore helmets and some did not. Then, there were the military patrol vehicles. The normal thing was for them to wear helmets, but the group had a way of wearing their headgears, which made it difficult to wear helmets. Instead of arresting them and taking them to court to pay a fine of some N250 the patrol team just shot six of them. Hell was let loose. The situation went out of control for the police, and the military took over. Mohammed Yusuf went into hiding; the military looked for him, arrested and handed him over to the police, and he was murdered. That’s why we now have Boko Haram. I know all these because I was once a governor of North-Eastern State and I follow the political developments there closely.

For unemployment, things became clearer and compounded when we became a mono-culture economy. We abandoned agriculture, left solid minerals, and everybody rushed to the town to get oil money. Now, we’ve found out that that oil money is not available.

Then, corruption is what we are going through now. How can you take $2.1 billion meant to fight insurgency and share among yourselves and think that nothing should happen? Not to talk of when political money is being raised for elections and the Central Bank, NNPC, Customs funds are where the funds are collected from.

We’ve made some progress in recovering this money, which I promised I will tell the nation, just to show Nigerians that we haven’t given up and have no intention of giving up. We’re giving the people the opportunity of fair trial. They take the money and pay into some persons’ accounts, and there are signatures of some persons who admit that they had taken the money.

Somebody comes and calls another, saying ‘you’re a member of this party?’ The other person responds by saying ‘yes’. Then, he’s told ‘take a N100 million to go and keep,’ and the other person doesn’t ask any questions. You take a N100 million and disappear, and subsequently you complain that you have received money for doing nothing?

Considering the hike in the price of fuel and the devaluation of the Nigeria which have led to hardships, what would you tell Nigerians to give them the hope that things will be better?

In 1984, we were advised to devalue the naira and withdraw subsidy – whatever their perception of subsidy was in Nigeria. We even had subsidy on flour. The IMF and World Bank talked about subsidy removal. My argument has been that those who devalue their currencies have developed economies where there is local production and they export the excess. They have good infrastructure. So they devalue their currencies to sell their products outside their shores, and employ their people.

We claim to import food, but this is a lie. People just take the money out of the country. How many factories have we built? So I refused to devalue the Naira. They talk about petroleum subsidy. I say what do they mean by subsidy? They say Nigeria’s petroleum is so cheap that it encourages smuggling into our neighbouring countries: Cameroon, Chad, Nigeria.

But I know the four refineries we built could produce 450,000 barrels. We have 20 depots … we didn’t borrow a kobo. So even if we put something on top and pay the cost of refining and travels to filling stations and small overhead, we’ll still be selling at a good price. But they say there’s a lot of smuggling.

I said these countries where they claim petrol is being smuggled to can’t consume more than what one city in Nigeria consumes. I was asked how I knew, and I said, for three and a half years I was Commissioner for Petroleum under Obasanjo. At the time I was removed naira exchanged for three dollars. Now you need N350 to get a dollar!

I challenge Nigerian economists to tell me what benefits Nigerian has earned from the devaluation so far. How many factories have we built by killing the naira? I have to reluctantly give up because the so-called economists come and talk things to me, and when I raise issues they talk over my head instead of inside my head.

For us to lose over N300 – every year we’re losing the value of the currency by N100)… what for? Let them tell me how many factories they’ve built. I find myself in a very difficult state because the economists cannot tell me why we should continue to devalue our Naira. People say import, and we find out that we are just importing food! We’re now planning to stop importation of rice, wheat, maize in three years’ time.

On the value of the naira I’m still agonising over it; that the naira should be reduced to such a disgraceful level over the last 30 years. I need to be educated on this. But I’m not running this country alone. I’m under pressure and we’ll see how we can accommodate the economists.

What are you thinking about privatisation of refineries?

I believe in privatisation, but I believe before you do it you have to look at your state of development as a nation. The first refinery in Port Harcourt was built to refine 60,000 barrels per day. It was upgraded to refine 100,000 barrels per day. Another one was built in Port Harcourt to refine 150,000 barrels per day. So Port Harcourt alone has the capacity to refine 250,000 per day of Nigerian crude. So you’re not importing anything. As Commissioner for Petroleum I signed the contract for Warri to refine 100,000 barrels per day; Kaduna, 100,000 barrels per day. We laid pipelines up to Maiduguri, Gusau, all over the country… We took tankers off the road, and then some greedy people in this country took over and now all the refineries are not working. Nigeria has to go cap in hand, like a non-oil producing country and buy fuel and bring into Nigeria.

With this background in mind, do you want us to privatize our infrastructure as scrap? So, we’re just starting to get them repaired. We want to make them work so that we don’t sell them as scrap. We can’t spend so much money to put up the refineries, just to sell them as scrap. I think that will be disservice to the country. Let’s repair them and negotiate with them to sell them at good prices. We don’t want them to dictate how much we sell fuel in this country after we’ve sold the refineries to private investors.

There are many initiatives to rebuild the North-East. Why can’t we have one cohesive approach in this regard?

If you could recall, during the week I was sworn in, I was invited to G7 meeting in Germany. I was impressed, but surprised that I was the first item on the agenda. I was told to brief them on the security situation in Nigeria and on the North-East. I spoke, and all of them promised to help Nigeria.

When I returned I told the governors of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa States to make a survey of the entire infrastructure destroyed by Boko Haram: schools, local government headquarters, health centers and broken bridges. They did and put costs to them. I sent it to the headquarters of G7.

Then I learnt of  the T.Y. Danjuma Committee. He contributed $10 million and Aliko Dangote contributed something substantial. So we reinforced the committee and Danjuma is in charge of it. We persuaded him to stay. We drafted the legal instrument that would give them the powers to spend that money. I sent the request to AGF. He sent me a draft to give to Danjuma.

Instead it went into some hands and what I got when it returned was virtually another government, with many governors and important people involved. So, I feared that all that money would finish on overheads. I returned to the original draft from the Ministry of Justice to see if we could put few people from Yobe, Borno, Adamawa, Gombe, Bauchi and Taraba to handle the rebuilding of the North-East.

Each of the governors should send directors or some officials from ministries of works, health, education, governors’ offices, and form committees. So whoever comes to help from Nigeria or outside would work with these people under the control of the Danjuma committee.

If anybody wants to help he would be taken to locations and he would decide what to do. If United Nations identifies a project they will go there and do it. We have plenty of retired but not tired people who could manage things like that. It will take another two weeks or more before the committee members will be announced. But I don’t want a big organization that will just consume the resources but not produce anything.

Are you satisfied with the performance of your team and do we expect changes?

I expect to hear from you. But look at what has been happening: after the election, I went to thank Jonathan for what he did  conceding defeat. A former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar (rtd), told me he had an experience in handover and asked if he should advise me. I said, yes. He said committees in the ministries met and wrote handover notes and Obasanjo set up transition committees to work with each ministry and at the end Obasanjo took whatever he wanted from the reports. I agreed. Jonathan agreed.

When I came to sit down, Jonathan’s ministers complained, saying ‘why would Jonathan allow Buhari to take over government before he is sworn in’. They refused to cooperate. So I took over without knowing what Jonathan’s government contained.

After we were sworn in, I began to debrief the Permanent Secretaries, taking two ministries per day, to just try and find out what they had. They had 42 ministers; the economy had collapsed. We reduced 42 ministries to 24 and we had to ask some permanent secretaries to go on several grounds.

Killer Fulani Herdsmen Are Boko Haram, Army Chief, Buratai Confirms News Punch's Exclusive Report

Chief of Army Staff, Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai said Nigerian Army was investigating the likelihood of the notorious herdsmen having an  affiliation with the dreaded Boko Haram sect, thereby confirming News Punch's EXCLUSIVE Report titled; EXCLUSIVE: Deadly Fulani Herdsmen Are Dislodged Boko Haram Fighters - Investigation, published on the 5th of May 2016

News Punch had reported that an independent investigation by a freelance writer, Terfa Naswem suggests that the recent attacks believed to be carried out by some rampaging Fulani Herdsmen are actually done by the dislodged Boko Haram fighters from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe State,

Lieutenant General Tukur Yusuf Buratai, who was on a courtesy call on Governor Ibikunle Amosun of Ogun State yesterday, said the recent operation of the herdsmen across the country was suggestive of an affiliation with the Boko Haram insurgency, Nigerian Pilot says

Buratai, who advised Nigerians to be security conscious within their communities, assured that troops were working with police to ensure that the fleeing Boko Haram members were curtailed from further operation.

He said, “We want to call on all Nigerians to be security conscious and to report any suspicious persons or group of people that are roaming about in their communities. One may not be too far from the fact that some of these herdsmen that are attacking communities across the country may have some affiliation with the Boko Haram terrorists.

“This we are further investigating and also pursuing them so that we can address the situation. So let’s be security conscious; let’s report quickly movement of suspicious persons carrying arms, especially if you suspect any individual within your community, we should be able to report immediately.

“We have our troops deployed in certain areas and I believe the police are working with them to be able to tackle any challenge that comes in immediately.”

He added: “Some criminal elements now dress like Fulani herdsmen and go around the country committing crimes. In fact, they could be part of the Boko Haram elements that have fanned out and it seems like once they run out of supplies, what they do is to attack vulnerable communities around them, looting and killing.”

Buratai said that pocket of attacks might still continue for some time owing to the sneaking out of some of the members of the dreaded sect from the Sambisa forest, but assured that no community is under the control of the sect again.

“They didn’t capture any village. They went and attack a community, small community in Borno State and our troops responded appropriately, and we will continue to pursue them wherever they are.

“This situation may continue for some time; these are just pockets of them that sneaked out to go and commit such atrocities. Our troops are on top of the situation and we will continue to address such challenges.

“You know generally terrorism has no specific phase; they mix among the people anytime they want to strike; they sneak out and commit such atrocities. So I want to tell you that no community is under Boko Haram as at now. No local government or any ward that we can say is under any Boko Haram siege,” he said.

Governor Amosun commended the military for the recent return of one of the kidnapped Chibok girls while praying for the safe return of the ones still in captivity.

Buhari Reveals Names of Treasury Looters, Goes After Niger Delta Avengers

The Nation - President Muhammadu Buhari said in London yesterday that the names of corrupt Nigerians will be made public in a speech he intends to deliver on May 29.

He also said that such corrupt individuals will be prosecuted.

Besides, all those involved in blowing up oil installations and sabotaging investments in the Niger Delta region will not go unpunished.

He spoke with journalists on the sideline of  the Anti-Corruption Summit.

Buhari said that he has already directed   the Chief of Naval Staff and other service chiefs to fish out the brains  behind the attacks.

He said: “What I know is that I was elected by the whole country and the least I can do is to keep the country together somehow. I assure you we will develop the capacity to do it.

“If you can recall, the militants, I appointed a retired Brigadier General (Boroh). When I give people assignment, I develop terms of reference for them and I allow them to do their work. I understand the problem. I spoke with the Chief of Naval Staff and other service chiefs to work with him and help him to make sure that those who are blowing the installations, sabotaging investments in Nigeria, we will deal with them eventually.”

The President also said  the Federal Government is investigating allegations that it has reneged on the amnesty programme.

“They are saying that the agreement on amnesty, including payment and training and employment were not being met. These are their allegations.

“So we put this officer who is from there to revisit the agreement and get them and see which part of the agreement the Federal Government needs to fulfill.

“The fundamental thing is that we have to secure Nigeria before we can manage it efficiently. I assure you that we are going to do that. Try and develop confidence in our ability to do it eventually.”

On the killer herdsmen, Buhari said they are non-Nigerians who came into Nigeria from Libya.

His words:” because of what happened in Libya, when Ghadaffi, during his 43 year-regime, trained some people from the Sahel militarily. When his regime was overthrown, those people were dispatched to their countries. They found themselves in the Boko Haram and others.

“It is a major regional and virtually African problem now. There is one called Al Qaeda, there is Boko Haram and so on. It is a governmental project now to trace them, disarm them, try them and discipline them.”

He said the Fulani herdsmen  “culturally do not stay in one place; they move with the season.

“Normally, harvest is complete much earlier in the North. They have to go southwards for greener pasture.

“Initially, there was what they call cattle routes and grazing areas. They were marked. Infrastructures were put in terms of dams and veterinary clinics.

“Later, the big ogas that came, took over these places and turned them to farms. If we have like 500 cattle, if they do not eat for 24 hours or they want water, you can’t stop them.

“But what they used to do then, if anybody goes outside, he would be arrested, taken before a court and he is fined. If he can pay, the money is taken and given to the farmer. If he can’t pay, the cattle is sold and the farmer is paid. So, people are behaving well.

“So, when people came and took away the land for the cattle route and grazing area, you find out that from Kaduna to Bayelsa, Nigerians are fighting cattle rearers now.

“When I was in PTF, we made a comprehensive study of cattle routes and grazing areas throughout Nigeria. So, I am referring the Governors’ Forum to it and the Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development. Let them see what they can do and save the situation.”

He said: “So far, what has come out, what has been recovered in whatever currency from each ministries, departments and individuals, I intend on the 29th to speak on this because all Nigerians are getting from the mass media because of the number of people arrested either by the EFCC, DSS. But we want to make a comprehensive report on the 29th.

On whether the names of those indicted will be published, he said: “Yes, eventually, it has to be done because we want to successfully prosecute them. But you know you cannot go to the courts unless you have documents for prosecution.

“People signed for these monies into their personal accounts, their banks gave statements that the money is there, when it came, how much and so on.”

Also speaking on allegation of selective prosecution, Buhari said: “That is an accusation against the law enforcement agencies. But I assure you that we do not interfere. Try and get those who are now under arrest, you will find out it is across the board.”

On 2016 Budget implementation, he said: “It depends on the efficiency of the technocrats. Yes, we have six months to implement the budget. You know why there was a delay. There is something called padding. I have been in government since 1975. I was governor of what is now six states: Borno, Yobe, Bauchi, Gombe, Adamawa, Taraba, that used to be North East. Then I was in Obasanjo’s cabinet, Petroleum for three and a quarter years. I was Head of State for 20 months.

“I had never heard about that one padding until this year. And what does it mean? It means that the technocrats just allowed the government to make its noise, to go and make the presentation to the National Assembly. They will remove it and put in their own.

“When we uncovered this, we just had to go back to the basics again. Ministers had to go again and appear before the Minister of Budget and National Planning and make presentations again. This was clearly brought out by the Minister of Health.

“I saw with my own eyes, nobody told me. I was watching NTA and he appeared before a committee that said the minister should come and defend his budget. He looked at what was presented to him as his budget and he said he had nothing to defend, that that was not what he presented.

“Subsequently, we discovered that it was not only the ministry of health. So they allowed us to talk rubbish as government and they do what they like.”

Why My People Massacre Ukpabi-Nimbo People In Enugu - Fulani Herdsmen Leader Reveals Top Secrets

The motive behind the gruesome and ruthless attack on Ukpabi-Nimbo, an Enugu community Southeast Nigeria has been revealed by Fulani leader in the region, Alhaji Ardo Saidu Baso, New Telegraph reports this morning. massacre 

Alhaji Ardo Saidu Baso, is the leader of the Fulani community in the South- East and deputy leader of Miyetti Allah Cattle Breeders’ Association, South East chapter. 

In his revelation yesterday to New Telegraph said the reasons suspected Fulani herdsmen attacked and massacred scores of Ukpabi- Nimbo people of Enugu State last week was a reprisal attack on some herders earlier killed by this community.

The herders leader in an exclusive interview with New Telegraph in Enugu, Ardo stated that four Fulani people were killed around Ukpabi-Nimbo in December last year and less than a week later, two boys from one Fulani parents based in Nasarawa State were equally killed.

According to the Fulani leader, the father of the boys, distraught by the news of their death, visited Uzo-Uwani to find out what happened, only for him to also be killed. Ardo stated that he got intelligence about the impending attack on Nimbo and that he informed the local government chairman, the governor, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, the state commissioner of police and the Area Commander of police at Nsukka about it.

The Fulani leader said that he even embarked on a journey to Nasarawa at the prompting of Uzo- Uwani Local Government Area Chairman, Cornel Onwubuya, to stave off the attack and possibly invite the families of the deceased for a dialogue.

He stated that on reaching Otukpo in Benue State, he learnt that the Fulani people from Nasarawa State had already camped at the bush in Amaeke Nsukka preparatory for the attack and that he aborted his journey and rushed back to inform the council boss. He expressed surprise that despite all his efforts to forestall the disaster, nothing was done to prevent it by the relevant authorities.

His words: “What happened at Uzo-Uwani is that before Christmas last year, I heard that about four Fulani people were killed; four Fulani boys. But later, they killed two boys again; I heard they are from Nasarawa State. So, the father of the two boys got the sad news and decided to come to find out what happened that resulted to the killing of his two sons. “That was his first visit to this part of the country.

So, when he arrived that place, the same people that killed his sons killed the man also. The two boys that were killed, the name of one of them is Hassan; I can’t remember the name of the other boy. I don’t know the name of their father. “The two boys that were killed, it was the Uzo-Uwani police station that came and carried their corpse.

But their father was killed across the border with Kogi State, at a place called Odolo. So, it was the Odolo Divisional Police Officer (DPO) that came and carried the corpse. But I don’t know whether it was the Fulani people at Nasarawa that came to attack Ukpabi- Nimbo people,” he said. He added: “Before it happened, the governor (Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi) had called us and asked whether we heard about the rumour that there would be attack on Nimbo people. I said yes, that I heard it. And the chairman of the local government (Cornel Onwubuya) also asked whether I heard the rumour, I said yes that I heard it. He asked what I could do to forestall the attack.

So, I tried to reach one man from Nasarawa State, who had earlier informed me that Fulani people were killed. I tried his number again, but it was not going, and I don’t know him in person. Even if I see him now, only his phone number that I have. “But I continued to get information that people from Nasarawa are gathering in preparation for attack. I rushed to the chairman of the local government area again to inform him. I told the Special Adviser (can’t remember his name) to the governor also about the rumour.

But the local government chairman was asking me what would he do now; that he told the governor about it. So, he begged me to go to Nasarawa to find out whether I will see those people; he gave me transport money to enable me go and see if I could invite them so that we will resolve the matter. I embarked on the trip, but on reaching Otukpo in Benue State, I heard that the people had already gathered at Amaeke in Nsukka. They gathered in the bush.”

Ardo, who hails from Katsina State, noted that he has lived in Enugu State for 34 years, noting that if he is sent away by force, he had no other place to go. He stressed that the people that engage in killing and other disturbances are not Fulanis living in Enugu State. “My own is that if you say they are accusing Fulani, I’m not denying that it is Fulani because of those two boys and their father (Fulanis) killed in that place. I heard that it could be them that came for the attack. If I see the people, I don’t know them.

But truly that Nimbo area, I heard they have killed many Fulani people, because since the last 10 years till now, about 30 Fulani people have been killed around Uzo-Uwani generally. “I’m telling you the truth. But the Fulani living in Enugu State were not among those that killed people. And we don’t like the attack. That is why we are not running away, only the Fulanis around Uzo- Uwani that are running away because of reprisal. No Fulani living in Enugu is part of that problem.

When our correspondent called Cornel Onwubuya, the council boss of Uzo-Uwani LGA for his reactions, he could not answer his call as he continued to press busy. He did not equally respond to text message to his phone.

No Fulani herdsmen, No Nigeria - Northern senators say

Ripples Nigeria - Senators from the Northern part of the country say that if herdsmen are told to leave a part of the country, then there would not be no country called Nigeria.

The senators under the aegis of Northern Senators stated that for some time now, a number of crimes like armed invasion of communities, killings and kidnappings have been attributed to such herdsmen, when in fact they were not responsible for them.

Rising from a meeting in Abuja on Wednesday, the northern senators in a communiqué, said that “This thing has been going on in virtually all parts of the country today. If we now say that everybody should rise and say herdsmen should leave, we will not have a country.”

Senator Abdullahi Adamu (APC, Nasarawa West), who read out the communiqué to newsmen, also warned governors, leaders and community heads in the country to desist from making what they said were inflammatory statements that could further overheat the polity.

He said, “In recent times, it started with the West when elder statesman, Chief Olu Falae, had some very nasty experience. It was attributed at the time to Fulani herdsmen. At the end, those people were apprehended and they were not Fulanis.”

According to him, they would work assiduously with President Muhammadu Buhari, to enact laws and amend existing ones to bring about even development to all sections of the country.

EXCLUSIVE: Deadly Fulani Herdsmen Are Dislodged Boko Haram Fighters - Investigation

An independent investigation by a freelance writer, Terfa Naswem suggests that the recent attacks believed to be carried out by some rampaging Fulani Herdsmen are actually done by the dislodged Boko Haram fighters from Borno, Adamawa and Yobe State, News Punch told.

The Nigerian troops have in recent time since President Muhammadu Buhari took over succeeded in dislodging the sects from their various hideouts, especially, Sambisa forest 

Terfa Naswem in a post on his facebook this afternoon, titled, Boko Haram Are Now Fulani Herdsmen: A Call For Surveillance And Self-Defense,  reiterated his earlier findings, published by News Punch on April 6th 2016 that the real Fulani herders are not responsible for the deadly attacks in Agatu area of Benue State. 

He said an investigation he carried out revealed that the attackers are actually Boko Haram fighters who are capitalising on recent brawl between the herders and some farmers across the nation.

"When I wrote an article which I posted on facebook on 6th April, 2016 titled: “Benue Attacks Carried out by Boko Haram not Fulani Herdsmen”, most readers took the article for granted. I made it clear after a long investigation complimented by a series of interviews with sources whose identity cannot be disclosed on condition of anonymity, that the current Fulani Herdsmen killing people innocently are populated by Boko Haram," he said

"I also made it clear that Boko Haram who have now become Fulani Herdsmen are planning to extend the attack in Benue to Enugu, Cross River and other parts of Nigeria. Few days after that article was posted, it was reported that Fulani Herdsmen attack some communities in Enugu and Delta State including other areas."

"For those who read that article will agree with me that my findings were not wrong and I am still saying it again that those attacking and killing people claiming to be Fulani Herdsmen are Boko Haram and they have a very long plan to attack many communities even if those people are peace loving and hospital people."

"We should not allow issues get out of control before we will begin to look for solutions. Boko Haram are now Fulani Herdsmen. The Fulani Herdsmen we used to know are no more the Fulani Herdsmen that we see today."

"Boko Haram are now using cows as a way of studying the communities they want to attack. By the time they take those cows round the village or community, they will know which direction to come from for attack, how many attackers they need to carry, the kind of weapon and the numbers to carry, they also study the number of houses in the area, the strength and weakness of the people. That is why when they attack, survivors are rarely seen because they gather their information and hit very hard."

"I am calling on all communities, individuals and youths to be more surveillance and prepare for self-defense as these killers prefer attacking at night when people are asleep since that is the easiest way they can kill a large number of people."

"I am also calling on security agencies to take this information very seriously as the worse is yet to happen but can be prevented if we all work together to protect our communities."

President Muhammadu Buhari few days ago ordered the Nigerian Police and other armed security agents to go after the so-called deadly Fulani herdsmen.

Boko Haram Are Now Fulani Herdsmen: A Call For Surveillance And Self-Defense, By Terfa Naswem

When I wrote an article which I posted on facebook on 9th April, 2016 titled: “Benue Attacks Carried out by Boko Haram not Fulani Herdsmen”, most readers took the article for granted. I made it clear after a long investigation complimented by a series of interviews with sources whose identity cannot be disclosed on condition of anonymity, that the current Fulani Herdsmen killing people innocently are populated by Boko Haram.

I also made it clear that Boko Haram who have now become Fulani Herdsmen are planning to extend the attack in Benue to Enugu, Cross River and other parts of Nigeria. Few days after that article was posted, it was reported that Fulani Herdsmen attack some communities in Enugu and Delta State including other areas.

For those who read that article will agree with me that my findings were not wrong and I am still saying it again that those attacking and killing people claiming to be Fulani Herdsmen are Boko Haram and they have a very long plan to attack many communities even if those people are peace loving and hospital people.

We should not allow issues get out of control before we will begin to look for solutions. Boko Haram are now Fulani Herdsmen. The Fulani Herdsmen we used to know are no more the Fulani Herdsmen that we see today.

Boko Haram are now using cows as a way of studying the communities they want to attack. By the time they take those cows round the village or community, they will know which direction to come from for attack, how many attackers they need to carry, the kind of weapon and the numbers to carry, they also study the number of houses in the area, the strength and weakness of the people. That is why when they attack, survivors are rarely seen because they gather their information and hit very hard.

I am calling on all communities, individuals and youths to be more surveillance and prepare for self-defense as these killers prefer attacking at night when people are asleep since that is the easiest way they can kill a large number of people.

I am also calling on security agencies to take this information very seriously as the worse is yet to happen but can be prevented if we all work together to protect our communities.

Fulani Herdsmen NOT Responsible For Enugu Killings, Razed Church - Police

The Nigerian Police Force, NPF has debunked claims and media reports that the Fulani herdsmen invaded Umuchigbo, Abakpa Nike, Enugu State and killed several. 

The Enugu State Police Command in a statement issued today said the Enugu mayhem was carried out by some hoodlums.

The statement reads; the attention of Enugu State Police Command has been drawn to various publications in some sections of the media regarding the incident at Nimbo Community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State and hereby present the facts as follows for the guidance of members of the public and to avoid being misinformed,”

"On the 25th of April 2016, at about 0630 hours (6.30am), some hoodlums invaded the fringes of Nimbo community in Uzo-Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, killing six persons and injuring 11, and one person subsequently died.

That the police and army team in the area, noticing what was going on, responded whereby the hoodlums fled after also burning the house of Rev. Pastor Samuel Chukwuemeka, two vehicles and one other vehicle damaged. “It has become necessary to give information/update of earlier information by the Commissioner of Police, Enugu State Command and state the actual figures as so many figures are bandied about by various sections of the media," the statement read.

Earlier reports had it that About 40 persons have so far been reportedly killed by some Fulani herdsmen at Nimbo in Uzo- Uwani Local Government Area of Enugu State, News Punch understands

The incident took place barely 24 hours after stories filtered out that no fewer than 500 heavily-armed Fulani herdsmen sneaked into the community preparatory to launch an attack. 

About seven villages in Nimbo (Nimbo Ngwoko, Ugwuijoro, Ekwuru, Ebor, Enugu Nimbo, Umuome and Ugwuachara) were among the areas attacked. 

Ten residential houses and a church, Christ Holy Church International, aka Odozi Obodo, were also said to have been burnt by the herdsmen just as vehicles and motorcycles were destroed and domestic animals killed.