Buhari Breaks Silence, Vows To Deal “Decisively” With Sponsors Of Violence In Rivers

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Clik here to view.President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday in Malabo, Equatorial Guinea, condemned recent politically-motivated killings in Rivers State, saying the killing of people over political differences was “primitive, barbaric and unacceptable”.
“We will deal decisively with all sponsors of violence. I have given the security services clear directives in this regard”, the president said.
Rivers has recently become a killing field with the All Progressives Congress, APC, accusing the Peoples Democratic Party-led state government of sponsoring and stoking violence against its members ahead of the March 19 National and State Assembly rerun elections.
The government, however, blames the killings on rival cult groups.
In his first public pronouncements about the resurgence of violence in the oil-rich state, Mr. Buhari said “We will show that violence in any form will no longer be tolerated before, during or after elections”.
He spoke at an interactive meeting with Nigerians resident in Equatorial Guinea.
Meanwhile, President Buhari said the Independent National Electoral Commission will be encouraged to explore the possibility of allowing Nigerians abroad vote in the 2019 general elections.
Noting that some African countries have started allowing their citizens resident abroad to vote in national elections, the president said he fully empathised with the desire of Nigerians in the diaspora to vote in national elections.
He, therefore, pledged to do all within his powers to fulfil that desire.
“I want all Nigerians to know that I respect them and their right to choose their leaders”, he said
Mr. Buhari also foreclosed the possibility of his administration establishing a new national airline, despite the report of a committee set up in that respect, already submitted to government.
The president declared that his administration’s main area of focus now was reducing the level of poverty in the country, saying a new national carrier was the least priority of his government.
Buhari said that developing the infrastructure needed to boost production in all sectors of the economy and create more jobs for young Nigerians, as well as other actions that will directly improve the living conditions of ordinary Nigerians will continue to be prioritized by his administration.
President Buhari was responding to complaints by members of the Nigerian community about the absence of direct flights between Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea.
Speaking on his administration’s war against corruption, the president assured them that the campaign will remain “fearless, relentless and merciless”.
“We will be merciless and relentless in pursuing all those who abused public trust. Nigerians will see how some of the elite conspired to run the nation down”, he said.