– Lai Mohammed has hit back at US congressman, Tom Marino for attacking President Buhari

Federal government has hit back at US congressman, Tom Marino who attacked President Muhammadu Buhari in a letter to the US secretary of state, John Kerry. Leadership quoted the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed as saying in a statement on Sunday, September 4 that the congressman was poorly informed and his statements were “sadly out of tune with reality” and “propaganda of his own imagination”. 

Mohammed noted that Buhari has done well with making Nigeria safe contrary to what the Congressman wrote. “Insecurity anywhere is insecurity everywhere. 

Had Congressman Marino understood this, he would not have made the kind of call he made concerning the US security assistance to Nigeria. 

The Boko Haram insurgency that Nigeria has decisively dealt with under President Buhari is not just a Nigerian problem but a regional and international crisis,” Mohammed said. The statement read in part: ‘’An Administration that operates purely on the basis of respect for the rule of law and a strict adherence to constitutional order is not one to deny the citizens of their constitutionally-guaranteed rights. 

This administration therefore does not need the goading of Congressman Marino or anyone for that matter to do what is right. ‘’Concerning running an inclusive government, had Congressman Marino done his home work before dispatching his letter, he would have realised that no part of the country is left out in the distribution of political appointments, for example, or in the appointment of Ministers, which was done in accordance with the Constitution that mandates that the President must appoint at least one minister from each of the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. 

‘’Had the Congressman sought information from credible sources before engaging in a flight of fancy, he would have been presented with a comprehensive information on the appointment of CEOs for federal governments parastatals, agencies and commissions that shows that the appoints were almost evenly matched along the line of the six geo-political zones in the country: With the North West having 51, North Central 46, North East 45, South East 41, South West 45 and South South 45,’’ he said. 

‘’The Congressman may wish to note that each geo-political zone comprises 6 states, with the exception of North West (7) and South East (5).’’ It emerged on Sunday, September 4 that Tom Marino who is a member of the US congress wrote a letter to the secretary of state, John Kerry asking the US to stop providing security assistance to Nigeria. 

This Day reports that Marino accused President Muhammadu Buhari of autocratic tendency and therefore doesn’t deserve the help of the US until he displays a “commitment to inclusive government and the most basic tenets of democracy: freedom to assemble and freedom of speech”.