We’re still focused on delivering mandate for change – President Buhari; Receives Gov. Tambuwal over insecurity in Sokoto

President Buhari receives in audience Sokoto State Governor H.E. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal.
With him is the Chief of Staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.

On the first year anniversary of his second term in office, President Muhammadu Buhari has assured all Nigerians that the mandate for change remains relevant and will be steadily followed to improve livelihoods.
A statement by Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant to the President (Media & Publicity), said “the campaign had been hard fought; yet the mandate the people of this country gave him was decisive. He won that election with a distance of nearly four million votes or 15 per cent of the total votes cast over his closest opponent.
“It was then – and is today – a mandate for change.
“For many years Nigerians have yearned for something different: less of the corruption and immoral greed of those who once governed; more decency in public life and fairness, and a chance to succeed. Nigerians yearned for improved security and end to terrorist bombings and for long-delayed infrastructure.
“Day by day, step by step, the President and his team are making the change that Nigerians have demanded.
“And it is a demand. Elected officials are servants, not masters. They govern at your discretion. The authority is yours to grant – and it is yours to take away.
“Since last year, President Buhari strived to implement the plan you endorsed with your votes. He has overseen an increase in foreign investment; construction of new roads, bridges and rails, and put structures in place to improve employment, and accomplished the diversification of the national economy through a massive growth in agriculture. The President secured the long-overdue return of taxpayers’ monies from overseas, stolen in the 1990s, and put this to use in supporting citizens in dire need.
“Because of the coronavirus pandemic and lockdown measures implemented to stem and halt its spread, much of what the administration strives for and delivered may seem at risk. President Buhari realizes the burden so many citizens carry just to make ends meet, and the suffering they endure.
“The President assures Nigerians that this too shall come to pass.
“As he said in a recent speech: “we are bolstering our capacity to contain the virus. Soon, when we overcome our present troubles, the work to build Nigeria will start anew. And as we do, we find ourselves before the gates to a new, post-Covid world.
“Thanks to reforms in governance, our war on corruption and the hard work and trust of the Nigerian people, we are better positioned as a nation than ever before to seize new opportunities that await us to trade, build, make and export with the world.
“I thank you, the people of Nigeria, for your wisdom and your determination for change. We go forward, together”.

President Buhari, Friday, May 29, 2020, also received in audience Sokoto State Governor H.E. Aminu Waziri Tambuwal over recent security challenges in the State in State House.

New Chief of Staff to the President, Prof Ibrahim Gambari, was in attendance.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was at the instance of the governor.

Speaking to State House correspondents at the end of the meeting, Tambuwal said he was in the presidential villa to update the president on the security situation in Sokoto state.

He said that he also demanded from the President more military intervention to check the activities of bandits in the state.

The governor disclosed that he solicited logistics and support for the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) in the state.

“I requested to see the president yesterday (Thursday) and he granted me audience today (Friday).

“I have seen him, briefed him on the security situation in Sokoto state in particular; the security situation in Sokoto Eastern Senatorial District and of very special concern, Sabon Birni Local Government Area of the state.

“Apart from the previous attacks, only two days ago through banditry attacks we lost about 74 people in a very heinous and dastardly act of aggression from the bandits.

“I have briefed Mr President on the general situation and the need for support that we require.

“When I said `we’ in this case I meant the security personnel that are there in Sokoto working day and night in synergy with each other to ensure that they maintain peace and order in the state.’’

Tambuwal expressed satisfaction with the president’s response so far in addressing the menace of bandits in the state.

He revealed that governors of the North western states including Niger state (North Central) had agreed to jointly address the problem of insecurity in the region.

On COVID-19, the governor revealed that Sokoto state had so far recorded 116 cases, 14 deaths, over 90 had recovered from the virus while only eight were remaining at the State’s Isolation Centres.

“We are working hard, the task force is doing very well; the medical team in the state is doing very well and the public response to mobilization and awareness is paying up,’’ he added.