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Buhari: Lai Mohammed Disobeyed Me… I Told Him Not To Reply Obasanjo

“We were constrained to explain our position when the former Head of State wrote a letter; Adesina was agitated and wanted to immediately reply but I didn’t allow him,” he said. “When Lai Mohammed came, I said he shouldn’t and he insisted. He disobeyed me. He said I must allow him to talk."

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President Muhammadu Buhari has revealed that Lai Mohammed, Minister of Information, disobeyed him by issuing a press statement against former President, Olusegun Obasanjo.

On Friday, Obasanjo alleged that the Buhari administration was plotting to detain him after hanging a crime on him.

Mohammed replied him, saying only the guilty should be afraid to the extent of raising the alarm.

However, when he played host to some of his followers who were on a courtesy visit to the Presidential villa, Abuja, Buhari disclosed that Mohammed issued the statement against his will.

“We were constrained to explain our position when the former Head of State wrote a letter; Adesina was agitated and wanted to immediately reply but I didn’t allow him,” he said.

“When Lai Mohammed came, I said he shouldn’t and he insisted. He disobeyed me. He said I must allow him to talk; then, of course, being a professional information person, I listened to him and asked him, ‘what are going to say?’

“He said he was going to remind Nigerians where we found ourselves when we came in as a government, where we are now, what we have done in between with the resources available to us… he did a good job because a number of people rang me and said Lai Mohammed has done a good job…”

The President also explained why he did not replace Godwin Emefiele as Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) when he became President in 2015.

Emefiele was appointed CBN Governor by former President Goodluck Jonathan but was retained by Buhari, who said he saw an opportunity for Emiefele to take the country out of its “terrible condition”.

The President reiterated that the 16-year administration of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) did not only destroy the country’s structure but also left it in ruins. He challenged anyone with any contrary evidence to come forward with it.

“I said it is on record and I challenge anybody to check from Europe, United States and Asia that between 1999 and 2014, the 16 years of previous administration there was an average of 2.1 million per day of crude oil at the average cost of $100 per barrel," he said.

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