President Buhari: The Election Campaign Lies Nigerians Can Never Forget

Nigerians have dug out a throwback international speech given by President Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress during the keenly contested 2015 presidential election that ousted former President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan of the People's Democratic Party.

President Muhammadu Buhari

 

This is part of the campaign speeches made by Mr. Buhari in February, 2015 on foreign soil - London, United Kingdom while campagning for votes and appealing for support of other countries.

 

The current economic recession as well as a continuation of the past trend by the President against the campaign promises has forced Nigerians to painfully look back at the past in regret.

 

Read a part of the speech below:

 

"One of the major killers of our economy, apart from corruption, is waste,” Buhari said. “Let me give an instance: Presently, there are more than 6 aircraft in the presidential fleet. What do you call that? Billions of naira is budgeted every year for the maintenance of these aircraft, not to talk of operational costs and other expenses.

“You may want to ask what a Nigerian President is doing with so many aircraft when the Prime Minister of Britain flies around using the same public aircraft like an ordinary Briton. Go and check and compare with that of any developed country in the world: the office of the Nigerian President is a very expensive one in spite of our high level of poverty, lack, and joblessness. Despite all this, you still find a Nigerian minister spending about N10 billion to charter an aircraft for just one year.

“Now, for me, when we come into office, all this waste will be blocked and properly channelled into our economy. We intend, for instance, to bring back our national carrier, the Nigerian Airways. We shall do this by bringing all the aircraft in the presidential fleet into the Nigerian Airways and within a year increase the fleet to about 20.

“What is the difference between me and those who elected us to represent them? Absolutely nothing! Why should Nigerian president not fly with other Nigerian public? Why do I need to embark on a foreign trip as a president with a huge crowd with public fund? Why do I need to go for foreign medical trip if we cannot make our hospital functional? 

Why do we need to send our children to school abroad if we cannot develop our universities to compete with the foreign ones? ... This is not my struggle. It is our collective efforts to save Nigeria from those who have failed us for 16 years."

Muhammadu Buhari, APC Presidential Candidate, February 2015, London.