History ‘Ll Be Kind To Buhari Over Bail-out To States – Saliu Mustapha

One of the frontrunners for the National Chairmanship of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Mallam Saliu Mustapha is convinced that history will be kind to President Muhammadu Buhari.

He said this against the backdrop of the President’s recent approval of a N656bn bailout for all 36 states of the federation as budget support facility.

A statement from his media office Wednesday in Abuja, signed by Dapo Okubanjo quoted the former Deputy Chairman of the defunct Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) as saying that a President that approved 4 bailouts for states in 6 years deserves accolades.

“The latest approval of N18.2bn for each of the states is a testimony to the love President Buhari has for the masses especially since the fund to be disbursed in 6 tranches will amongst others be used to clear the backlog of salaries and pension in some of the states.

“This is the same mentality that was behind the introduction of some of Sub-Saharan Africa’s largest welfare initiatives under the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP) in a country that never had a proper social welfare programme.

“It should be noted that all the bailouts are coming at a time the administration is also embarking on infrastructure development at a scale that has never been seen before in the country.”

Mustapha who was recently turbaned as the Turaki of Ilorin Emirate added that President Buhari has laid a solid foundation for the next administration.

“So much has been said about the infrastructure being put in place especially the ongoing rail projects,but some of us believe that his efforts at diversifing the economy will be his major legacy.

“We are gradually seeing that Nigeria’s over reliance on crude oil is reducing with the performance of the non-oil sector which has in recent times being constantly contributing over 90% to GDP figures.

“And there is the ongoing agriculture revolution through massive infusion of funds through the Central Bank which has now seen the country overtake Egypt as Africa’s largest producers of rice.

“The impact should be felt long after the President would have left office so we at APC have to ensure that we put a national leadership in place that will be committed to cementing the Buhari legacy.

“On the insecurity in some parts of the country I believe security should and must be everybody’s concern for us to have a conducive environment for growth and stability rather than looking at it from political affiliations or ethnic cleavages,” he said.

Mallam Mustapha argued that the administration is doing its best and added that President Buhari would be better appreciated after he leaves office.