By Omololu Ogunmade in Abuja
President
Muhammadu Buhari yesterday in Abuja cried out against alleged forces
being mustered by the opposition, saying the power of incumbency at his
disposal could not match the volume of alleged mischief from the
opposition.
Buhari
who made this remark while addressing members of the Buhari Media
Organisation in the State House, said members of the opposition were
firing from different angles and the volume of resources at their
disposal made him afraid.
According
to him, the consistency of the group had been helpful in defending his
government from the barrage of such mischief from the opposition,
pointing out that such a degree of consistency and steadfastness from
the group gave him confidence.
Buhari
who again restated how those he jailed as the military head of state on
account of corruption in the 80s had their loot returned to them when
he himself was jailed for 18 months, recalled how he was only released
upon his mother’s death so that he could bury her.
He
thanked members of the group whom he said had made huge sacrifices in
support of him, saying having been in power for three years, they had
proven that they were not following him in search of material things.
He
also commended them for their courage to remain firm in their belief in
him, arguing that irrespective of their feelings, citizens of the
country would remain grateful to them for the degree of courage they had
deployed in carrying out research which he said had equipped them to
appropriately respond to the “mischief” from the opposition.
“I
don’t think I can thank you enough for your steadfastness under very
difficult circumstances. It is not easy to defend this administration
and more in particular, to defend me. But your consistency has given me a
lot of confidence. And I know you are doing it as a sacrifice –
physical, mental and material.
“As
I keep on saying, the opposition now is sitting on incredible resources
which I am afraid we might not match it at all. For that reason, the
opposition is sponsoring mischief from different angles which in spite
of the incumbency of government, we cannot absolutely stop.
“It
is you that are fighting it and I cannot thank you enough for that.
Most of the people I jailed have been given back all what they have
taken before I was jailed. Most of those people that were being judged
by various tribunals have been given back what they have taken.
“I
spent 18 months in detention and luckily, they did not find anything
against me and I was released. But my problem was that there was a
journalist from Edo State. He wrote an article against me. He wrote that
my mother had to die to save me because I was only released when my
mother died to go and bury her. Of course, you know as a Muslim
tradition, you are buried where you die.
“So,
I can remember what most of you here sitting, the sacrifices you have
made in terms of materialism even losing friends to continue to support
me. I have been here for three years. You have proven to people that you
are not here for material things. Your opinion is out of sacrifice and
the strength of the moral courage you have is the strength of the
physical. It is the strength of losing the friends you have.
“I
am sure you are being asked this support you are busy giving Buhari
what the hell do you get out of it? And that is why I commend your
steadfastness and I am very grateful for it. And in this country,
whether people like it or not, they will remain grateful for your
courage because you have the courage to do the research, take your time
to reply mischievous representation and we are very grateful,” he said.
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