Buhari won’t succumb to threats from unpatriotic citizens, Presidency tells “professional” critics

The Presidency says President Muhammadu Buhari will not succumb to threats or undue pressure from “professional critics” just to satisfy the selfish needs of few individuals in the country.

The president’s Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, made this position known in a series of tweets on his personal handle in Abuja on Friday.

Referring specifically to those he said were using languages such as “the nation will break up”, Shehu assured Nigerians that the president would not take decisions that would run against the interest of Nigerians.

He tweeted: “The Presidency responds to the recurring threats to the corporate existence of the country with factions giving specific timelines for the President to do one thing or another or else, in their language, “the nation will break up.”

“This is to warn that such unpatriotic outbursts are both unhelpful and unwarranted as this government will not succumb to threats and take any decision out of pressure at a time when the nation’s full attention is needed to deal with the security challenges facing it at a time of the COVID-19 health crisis.

“Repeat: this administration will not take any decision against the interests of 200 million Nigerians, who are the President’s first responsibility under the constitution, out of fear or threats, especially in this hour of health crisis.

“The President, as an elected leader under the constitution, will continue to work with patriotic Nigerians, through and in line with the established democratic processes, to find solutions to structural and other impediments to the growth and wellbeing of the nation and its people.”

According to him, the president has no time for such threats as national attention is needed now to deal with insecurity amid the COVID-19 pandemic.