Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Social Media, Mrs. Lauretta Onochie, has said that about 60 per cent of officials appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan are still in government.
Onochie argued that President Buhari had been fair in making his appointments, contrary to the belief in some quarters.
She said that Buhari had appointed people from all the nooks and crannies of the country.
Onochie, who spoke to our correspondent at Ozoro in Isoko South Local Government Area of Delta State during the official inauguration of a political pressure group, Consolidated Dynamic APC, at the weekend, noted that unlike the past administrations, President Buhari had refrained from the tradition of appointing only members of his political party into government.
“It has always been the norm that whenever a different political party takes over the reins of power, he (the President) gives political power to his party members. But I can tell you that Buhari is not like that. As we speak, about 60 per cent of the people appointed by former President Goodluck Jonathan are still in government because the President said they are Nigerians and since they are doing good jobs, there is no need to remove them. Buhari has been fair in his appointments. So, his appointments have not been lopsided like what many people would believe. There are political appointees spread across the country,” she said.
Speaking on the 2019 elections, Onochie advised politicians in the country to work harder, stressing that it would not be business as usual because electronic voting might be used to conduct the polls.
The presidential aide said, “You can see that in the 2015 election, the rigging that took place across the country was not as it used to be in the past. It was minimal. President Buhari has gone ahead to introduce a lot of measures to ensure that there are free, fair and credible elections in the country and one of these measures has to do with electronic voting. Thank God that the National Assembly has also toed that line.
“In this 2019, I would counsel every politician that wants to contest to hit the roads and streets and do whatever they want to do to appease the people, because if they do not do that, they are going to lose elections because everybody’s votes must count in 2019.”
On the country’s recent emergence from recession, Onochie said that the problem was not over as Nigerians had yet to feel the impact, adding that it would take time before people would reap the fruits of the efforts being made by the Buhari administration.
“I think we are mixing up inflation with coming out of recession. Coming out of recession means that we were right inside a pit and nobody could see us. The economy was in the negative. But suddenly our head and body are coming out of the pit and it will take time for us to stand firm on our feet and also for the common man to begin to enjoy the dividends of our coming out of that pit,” she said.
She commended Nigerians for their support, resilience and commitment to the administration of President Buhari, saying that without them, the government would not have been able to come out of the recession.
Onochie also appealed to Nigerian youths to embrace agriculture and stop relying on oil that could soon be exhausted.
“If you go around the nation now, a lot of our youths, who have graduated from 10 years and below, are now involved in agriculture. A lot of them who did not have N10,000 to their name became millionaires last year through agriculture. More are joining agriculture this year. So, we are expecting more food this year,” she said.
