The Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari
on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu has said his principal is not eager to
exchange words with the suspended Secretary to the Government of the
Federation, Babachir Lawal.
Shehu was reacting to Lawal’s claims on Thursday, that he
was not aware of his suspension.
Speaking in an interview with Television Continental, Shehu
explained the processes by which Buhari removes some of his appointees and
insisted that nobody is fired on the radio or television.
“Our idea is not to engage in back and forth on this matter.
Again, let me just give you this account, the tradition of President Muhammadu
Buhari in dealing with all of the removals, including those of the military and
so in, he has instituted a practice by which nobody hears of their own removal
from office on the radio or television.
“He insists that each individual must be informed
beforehand, so that they will let members of their family and staff know, and I
am aware that the statement did not go out as early as it was issued because
all of the parties needed to be contacted before it was issued, and it didn’t
go out until exactly 1pm.
“What has happened has happened, we will not engage the SGF
in any exchanges except to say that the president has set a very strong and a
strict record since he came to office. Nobody will be fired on radio or changed
from their position via the mass media, they must be informed, and I am aware
that as early as 10 o’clock this statement was ready but it never was issued
until 1pm but the idea was that all of them must be reached, informed that this
had happened.
“On the contrary, it is a testimony to the president’s
strict adherence to the due process of the law, to fairness and equity, because
if the president was in a haste and he felt under pressure, he would have
removed or sent the SGF on suspension on the basis of the interim report.
“But having seen that this report was an interim one, the
Senate, they knew that they owed it to the president to prve it, to put before
him a final report, which as I speak to you hasn’t come in as at now. I’m not
blaming them for the delay in this action, but if the president had received
that final report earlier than now he would have acted on it.
“However, it would seem to me that the president is now
determined to get his own report and on the basis of which he now asked the
Vice President to go and investigate and report back to him,” Shehu said.
By Ifreke Inyang
