Buhari, stop playing megaphones outside the country – Tinubu

Ahead of President Muhammadu  Buhari’s South African trip, de facto leader of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, Bola Tinubu has broken silence over the President’s style of leadership and the way he is secretly handling looted funds.

In a statement, Monday November 30, 2015 through the Chairman, Editorial Board of the Nation Newspaper, Sam Omatseye, cautioned Buhari to stop the “habit of playing megaphone outside the country.”

This statement came on the heels of Buhari’s scheduled visit to Johannesburg, South Africa, this week to attend the forum on China-Africa Co-operation after returning from Malta en route Paris.

Other countries he has travelled to within six months in power are Chad, Niger, Germany, France, Ghana, India, South Africa, Cameroon, Iran, and twice to the United States of America.

Nigerians are wearied of the President’s frequent trips, saying that there is so much work to do inside the country, comprising a crushing fuel scarcity, continuous attacks by Boko Haram insurgents, and blackouts that demand immediate and focused attention.


Fayose, Thursday, November 26, first blew the whistle by slamming Buhari to “stop junketing round the world” and lying about faceless people returning stolen funds to the government.

Buhari in Tehran, Iran on Tuesday, November 24, had disclosed that many of those who looted the public treasuries under former President, Goodluck Jonathan had started returning stolen funds to the coffers.

Fayose in reaction advised Buhari to tackle the collapsed economy of the country headlong instead of going from one country to another, casting aspersion on Nigerians with his sing-song of fighting corruption.

Tired of Buhari seemingly undiplomatic attitude, Tinubu insist that it is wrong for the President to maintain “sealed lips at home and become announcer in chief abroad.”

“President Muhammadu Buhari said in Teheran that some of the stolen loot has returned to our treasury.
“Two things were wrong with this. One, he is in the habit of playing megaphone outside the country. His lips are sealed at home. Abroad, he becomes announcer in chief.

“He is president of Nigeria, not diaspora. Does he love the outside world more than where he has legitimacy? We learnt abroad of ministers as noise makers, that he would give priority to those who voted for him, that we are broke. What shall we learn at home?” Tinubu said.

“Second, I thought we ought to know through what process the looters are returning the loot. This is a democracy, and we have the right to know the looters.

“Is it not the courts that should bargain with these people? How much have they paid? We have a right to know because it is our patrimony. This is not a monarchy. The rule of law is the best way to handle corruption.’’

Earlier, Tinubu through an editorial titled “Mr. President, some inspiring words please,” published by NATION warned that the President needed to change his communication style and choose his words with caution.