(FRANKS..)
President Muhammadu Buhari on Friday
warned political forces or anyone who thought he would be answerable to
him in the next four years, saying he belonged to nobody.
He spoke soon after he was formally
inaugurated as the successor to Dr. Goodluck Jonathan at the Eagle
Square, Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Amid intermittent applause and shouts of
“Sai Baba” and “Sai Buhari” from the audience, the Chief Justice of
Nigeria, Justice Mahmud Muhammed, administered the oaths on Buhari at
exactly 10.47am
In his inaugural speech, Buhari dressed
in a cream-coloured kaftan with a brown cap to match stated that while
he was prepared to serve Nigerians, who voted him into power on March
28, he would not be under the control of anybody.
“Having just a few minutes ago sworn on
the Holy Book, I intend to keep my oath and serve as President to all
Nigerians. I belong to everybody and I belong to nobody,” Buhari said.
He allayed the fears by some suspected past corrupt leaders who might view Buhari’s presidency as coming to victimise them.
He reassured such persons that their fears were unfounded, adding that he had opted to put the past behind him.
“A few people have privately voiced their
fears that on coming back to office, I shall go after them. These fears
are groundless. There will be no paying off old scores. The past is
prologue,” Buhari said.
Rather than going after such persons, the
President said the immediate task before him was to address the major
concerns of Nigerians, mainly insecurity, “intolerable corruption” and
epileptic power supply.
Although his speech did not clearly
indicate the drastic steps he would take to solve the problem of the
power sector, he recalled that the $20bn spent on the sector since 1999
had only left Nigeria in “darkness and misery” which must be
“addressed.”
The President said, “No single cause can
be identified to explain Nigeria’s poor economic performance over the
years than the power situation. It is a national shame that an economy
of 180 million generates only 4,000MW and distributes even less.
“Continuous tinkering with the structures
of power supply and distribution and close on $20bn expended since 1999
have only brought darkness, frustration, misery and resignation among
Nigerians. We will not allow this to go on. Careful studies are under
way during this transition to identify the quickest, safest and most
cost-effective way to bring light and relief to Nigerians.”
On insecurity, he admitted that the Boko
Haram sect remained the major threat to Nigeria, saying that the Federal
Government under him “must” do everything within its powers to bring
insurgency to an end.
He arrived at the Eagle Square, Abuja,
view of the inauguration at exactly 9.40 am, the time slated for him to
arrive the venue in the programme of events.
Buhari promised to relocate the command
headquarters of the fighting forces of the military to Maiduguri, Borno
State, until Boko Haram was defeated.
The President added that his government
would work tirelessly to ensure that the Chibok schoolgirls and other
captives held by the terrorist group were released alive.
He said, “Progress has been made in
recent weeks by our security forces but victory cannot be achieved by
basing the command and control centre in Abuja.
“The command centre will be relocated to
Maiduguri and remain until Boko Haram is completely subdued. But we
cannot claim to have defeated Boko Haram without rescuing the Chibok
girls and all other innocent persons held hostage by insurgents. This
government will do all it can to rescue them alive.”
On corruption, the President asked other
tiers of government to support him in the arduous task of cleaning the
country of sleaze, particularly in the public service.
He said, “Elsewhere relations between
Abuja and the states have to be clarified if we are to serve the country
better. Constitutionally, there are limits to powers of each of the
three tiers of government but that should not mean the Federal
Government should fold its arms and close its eyes to what is going on
in the states and local governments. Not least the operations of the
Local Government Joint Account.
“While the Federal Government cannot
interfere in the details of its operations, it will ensure that the
gross corruption at the local level is checked.
“As far as the constitution allows me I
will try to ensure that there is responsible and accountable governance
at all levels of government in the country. For I will not have kept my
own trust with the Nigerian people if I allow others abuse theirs under
my watch.”
The President also gave an insight into how he would relate with the National Assembly and the Judiciary.
He noted that while he would not
interfere in the activities of the legislature, Buhari advised the
National Assembly to stick to its “brief of making laws.”
Buhari called on the judiciary to free
itself from the mistakes of the past where some judicial officers were
perceived to be corrupt. He also sought the cooperation of labour
unions, organised private sector, the press and civil society
organisations.
According to him, employers and workers
must unite in raising productivity so that everybody will have the
opportunity to share in increased prosperity.
“The Nigerian press is the most vibrant
in Africa. My appeal to the media today – and this includes the social
media – is to exercise its considerable powers with responsibility and
patriotism,” he said.
Acknowledging the task before him, Buhari
said, “With depleted foreign reserves, falling oil prices, leakages and
debts the Nigerian economy is in deep trouble and will require careful
management to bring it round and to tackle the immediate challenges
confronting us.”
The challenges, he said, included Boko
Haram, the Niger Delta situation, the power shortages and unemployment,
especially among youths.
Buhari said, “For the longer term, we
have to improve the standards of our education. We have to look at the
whole field of medicare. We have to upgrade our dilapidated physical
infrastructure.”
Before the inauguration, Vice-President
Yemi Osinbajo, former Vice-President, Namadi Sambo and other top
officials of government had arrived the Eagle Square amid cheers.
Buhari and Jonathan too had arrived in succession, acknowledging cheers from the surging crowds.
It was Osinbajo, in company with his
wife, Dolapo, who first took the oath of office and oath of allegiance
at 10:30 am as dignitaries and supporters of the All Progressives
Congress cheered.
When Buhari took his turn, the surging crowd nearly enveloped the podium, giving security operatives very tough time to control.
A 21-gun salute soon followed amid a colourful parade by a combined party of the military and the Nigeria Police Force.
Jonathan, who did not come with his wife, Patience, soon took his leave after handing over the symbol of authority to Buhari.
The former President waved his final goodbye, but without uttering a word as the brief ceremony lasted.