“Politicians Who Visited Aso Rock In The Past Were Given $100,000” – Presidency

The Special Adviser to President Muhammadu
Buhari on Political Matters, Senator Babafemi
Ojudu has revealed that under previous administrations, a chief or politician who pays a
visit to the Aso Rock Presidential Villa is handed $
100,000 or $50,000 when leaving.
Speaking in an interview with Leadership
newspapers, the presidency official, however,
pointed out that his principal has put a stop to
the practice as such cash gifts are now diverted
into productive services and the provision of
infrastructure.
In the words of Ojudu, “In the past, somebody
would come to Aso Rock, a chief or a politician.
And they package $100,000, $50,000 for him.
The man gets back to his hotel room, dashes his
driver $500, dashes his PA $1,000, his girl friend
$200. This has stopped. Such money must go
into productive services, medical services,
infrastructure etc.
“Let’s do something that is enduring for our
people. All these stop gap measures, going as
subsidies, we’re going to stop them. Let’s make
our refineries work. Don’t let us make millionaires
of a few and poor people of millions.
“These are the kinds of problems we’re having
now. In the process of change, all these things
are bound to happen. This is one year, but again,
this new government never envisaged things will
be this difficult.
“When we were campaigning, oil was still $112
per barrel. Nobody could have thought it would
just crash and become $33 per barrel. We’re now
on $40 per barrel. Nobody envisaged that our
foreign reserve could go as low as $28 billion. We
were importing food. We were importing
medication, we were paying school fees of millions
of Nigerians abroad. What the government is
doing now is: let’s take subsidy away from these
individuals that are getting it. Let’s take money
off bringing in food, let’s grow what we’re going
to feed on. This is going to take some time; it’s
not something that is going be done overnight.
Nigerians will have to be patient. I can
understand. People call me every day that, they
can’t pay school fees, they can’t pay house rent.
But again, if we want Nigeria to grow, if we want
sustainable development, we cannot but
breakaway from the past. It is this breaking away
from the past, that is causing the pain we’re
going through as a nation.
“What people are saying is just like saying ‘bring
back corruption’. They don’t know what
corruption has done to this country. You vote
about a billion naira for a hospital, and N800
million is taken away by corruption, and you have
only N200 million left. So, there won’t be
medication, there won’t be ambulances etc you
can imagine how many people die due to such
act. They stash such money outside the country.
They buy houses in America, buy private jets etc.
“Do you know the havoc that corruption has done
to this country over the years? That is why we
now have half-baked graduates. Do you know
what corruption has done to our infrastructure
over the years? Look at the Abuja-Lokoja Road.
What you have now is not the original design.
Look at how much has been voted for that road,
and several other roads across the country. How
long are we going to continue with that kind of
situation? We have a president that is
sympathetic, who is not going to build a new
house, who is not going to buy a house in
London, or Dubai; but who has dedicated his life
towards solving our problems. The damage of so
many years is not going to be corrected in just 10
or 11 months