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Buhari has strong bond with Nigerians –VON DG

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Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita Okechukwu, has said President Muhammadu Buhari still has an uncommon bond with Nigerians.

Okechukwu rose in defence of president Buhari, who received some bashing from some Nigerians, after his October 1, 2017 broadcast.

The VON helmsman, in a statement issued in Enugu, insisted that Buhari still loves the masses.

“The uncommon bond between president Buhari and the Nigerian masses was once more on the front burner on October 1.

“The bond was renewed in the early morning independence anniversary speech, where Mr. President took time to explain how he expended funds on on salary and pension arrears  of civil servants and retirees… The bond remains intact, no matter whatever anybody says.”

The VON DG berated the leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo for taking a swipe at  the president after his broadcast.

“Ask my big brother, Chief Nnia Nwodo, president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, whether he replied the profound congratulatory letter president Buhari wrote to him, immediately he was elected before he joined Nnamdi Kanu?

“The same Buhari wrote a letter on November 7, 2014, to the then president general of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, calling for dialogue, before the election. It was never replied,” he disclosed.

Okechukwu recalled that on assumption of office on May 29, 2015, Buhari was confronted with the crisis of hunger in some states controlled by the All Progressives Congress (APC), the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other parties  that owed salaries ranging from six to 18 months, as well as pension arrears.

“One remembers vividly how opinion was divided in the Presidency.

“One school of thought cautioned Mr. President to leave the states and their burden, that Nigeria is a Federation and each federating unit should use its allocation and internally-generated revenue to solve routine items, like salary and pension arrears.

“Capping it up with the fact that it is better to utilise the money in physical infrastructure such as construction of federal highways, which they reasoned is politically more correct.

“They even said the totality of the civil servants Mr. President will be addressing is less than 20 per cent of the population of the country.

“Mr. President sharply differed from the aforementioned school of thought, and said ‘yes, the civil servants at states and local government council units may not be up to 20 per cent, but, what of the provision stores traders, electricians, carpenters, doctors and teachers being owed by unpaid civil servants and pensioners over some months, if not years?’

“He said collectively, they may be over 50 per cent of our population and brushed aside the issue of whether it was politically correct or not, to dole out such humongous amount, and maintained that his primary concern is alleviation of poverty,” said Okechukwu.

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