{"id":18135,"date":"2019-05-22T19:56:15","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T19:56:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=18135"},"modified":"2019-05-22T19:56:15","modified_gmt":"2019-05-22T19:56:15","slug":"buhari-why-i-didnt-sack-my-ministers-keeps-ministers-for-six-more-days","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/?p=18135","title":{"rendered":"Buhari: Why I didn\u2019t sack my ministers; keeps ministers for six more days"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Ismaila Chafe (<strong>NAN<\/strong>)<br \/>\nPresident Muhammadu Buhari has said that his decision to retain cabinet ministers in the last three and half years in spite of pressures from some quarters was because of their unique skills, strengths and leadership qualities.<br \/>\nThe president made this known during a valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) held at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, on Wednesday.<br \/>\nHe observed that the ministers, who exhibited spirit of team work, were more rational in taking decisions aimed at tackling the numerous challenges facing the country.<br \/>\nPresident Buhari described the cabinet members as \u201ca reflection of the Nigeria we aspire to achieve.\u2019\u2019<br \/>\n\u201cYou will recall that when we started this journey, our country was facing numerous challenges.<br \/>\n\u201cWe inherited a broken economy which eventually went into recession in the second quarter of Fiscal Year 2016. The situation was further compounded by insecurity and massive corruption.<br \/>\n\u201cMany would have given up. Indeed, many outside commentators said our situation was well nigh hopeless. However, we all came together and pushed forward to deliver our campaign promise to rescue our country from its parlous state.<br \/>\n\u201cAlthough we all had a common vision, we frequently had heated debates in this room on the best way to achieve our goals. These differing views are what made the decisions we took all the more rational.<br \/>\n\u201cIt is this quality that made me retain my cabinet for the full term. Each of you in this room has a unique skill and strength.<br \/>\n\u201cWe are a reflection of the Nigeria we aspire to achieve \u2013 A diverse but tolerant nation where no one is silenced and where every opinion should be heard and considered.\u2019\u2019<br \/>\nPresident Buhari, who thanked the ministers for agreeing to serve the nation, urged them to be happy for contributing their quota in various ways to the development of the nation.<br \/>\n`I want you all to leave this meeting proud to have served your nation to the best of your ability.<br \/>\n\u201cYou should be proud to have been part of the government that liberated the local governments previously under Boko Haram rule.<br \/>\n\u201cYou should be proud to have contributed to our food security and economic diversification agenda which led to the revival of our rural agrarian economy<br \/>\n\u201cYou should be proud to have been part of the team that developed the Economic Recovery and Growth Plan which led Nigeria exiting its worst recession in decades.<br \/>\n\u201cYou should be proud to have introduced the social investment programme that enhanced livelihoods of millions of Nigerians.<br \/>\n\u201cYou should be proud to have participated in settling outstanding pensions of many senior citizens abandoned by previous governments while supporting state governments to meet their salary arrears.<br \/>\n\u201cAnd of course, you should all be proud to have overseen the most ambitious road, rail and airport rehabilitation programmes in the history of our country,\u2019\u2019 the president added.<br \/>\nAccording to the president, the ministers\u2019 achievements within the period had guaranteed their position in the history books of the nation.<br \/>\nHe maintained that the ministers had succeeded in building the foundations for an improved economy and a more purposeful government.<br \/>\nThe president, therefore, directed all ministers to remain in office until May 28.<br \/>\n\u201cAlthough today is our last council meeting, I expect all of you to continue working until Tuesday, May 28, 2019 when you will officially hand over your schedules to your respective Permanent Secretaries.<br \/>\n\u201cYour handing over letters should be submitted to the Office of the Secretary to the Government of the Federation,\u2019\u2019 he said.<br \/>\nIn his remarks, Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo thanked President Buhari for trusting him with various responsibilities, especially when he acted as president.<br \/>\nHe said \u201cMy deepest gratitude comes from the great trust that you reposed in me at all times.<br \/>\n\u201cI will never forget when you were going on medical leave in May 2017 and you said to me in the course of conversation that evening that you would not meddle in my discretion as acting President in anyway.<br \/>\n\u201cAnd in keeping with your character and style you kept your words.\u2019\u2019<br \/>\nEarlier, the ministers, who took turns to recount their experiences lauded President Buhari\u2019s humility, integrity and hard work.<br \/>\nThey expressed appreciation for his kind gesture and pledged to do more for the country when called upon to serve the nation.<br \/>\nThe president and the out-going ministers later had a group photograph, as the cabinet members prepare to bow out of office on May 28.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Ismaila Chafe (NAN) President Muhammadu Buhari has said that his decision to retain cabinet ministers in the last three and half years in spite of pressures from some quarters was because of their unique skills, strengths and leadership qualities. The president made this known during a valedictory session of the Federal Executive Council (FEC) [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":18136,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-18135","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18135","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=18135"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/18135\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=18135"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=18135"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/everyday.ng\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=18135"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}