Presidency Reacts To Buhari's Statement That He Will Give Region That Didn't Vote For Him 5 Per Cent

The Presidency on Friday said that President Muhammadu Buhari would not short-change any part of the country on account of the voting pattern in the March 28 presidential election.

The Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said this in an interview with Saturday Punch in Abuja.

He stated that contrary to the news making the rounds on a statement made by the President in the United States, no part of the country would be denied of the dividends of democracy.

But the Yoruba socio-political group, Afenifere, advised the President against neglecting any part of the country, no matter how insignificant the contribution of such area to his victory.

The spokesperson for the group, Mr. Yinka Odumakin, stated this in a telephone interview with Saturday Punch on Friday, when he commented on a statement attributed to Buhari in the US.

Buhari, had during a question and answer session with journalists in the US on July 22, said, “(Going by election results), constituencies that gave me 95 per cent cannot in all honesty be treated, on some issues, with constituencies that gave me five per cent.

I think these are political realities. While, certainly there will be justice for everybody but the people who voted, and made their votes count, they must feel the government has appreciated the effort they put in putting the government in place.”

But the Presidency said those who have been making issues out of the comment had deliberately refused to include the President’s concluding statement on the issue.

He said the balanced perspective of what the President said was that it is natural politically to give more to those who supported him but then those who did not support him would not get anything less, because the constitution already protected them.

The presidential spokesman said, “People should just have been patient to listen to the entire trend.

“The President said it truly that people who gave him 95 per cent may get more attention in terms of reward and all that.

“But he also said that fortunately, the constitution has guaranteed the rights of every part of the country.

“What that means then is that even those who voted five per cent will get their dues and will not get things commensurate with five per cent votes.

“Some people deliberately decided to take part of what he said and refused to balance it.

“The balanced perspective of what the President said is that it is natural politically to give more to those who supported him but then those who did not support him will not be given the shorter end of the stick because the constitution already protected them.”