President Muhammadu Buhari on Monday declared that he would not go to jail as he had not stolen a dime from the nation’s treasury.
He said he was satisfied with himself and had kept himself and his people away from government contracts in the name of protecting his integrity.
The president made the declaration when a delegation of the Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria visited him at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
His words: “I am satisfied with what I am. I am happy I have kept myself and people close to me from benefiting from government contracts…
“I have been in many places including (Ministry of) Petroleum. I would have gone to jail if I had taken an oil well. For integrity and honesty, I have no regrets. By this, I have contributed to my social safety. I won’t go to jail.”
The president, in a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said although he had been accused of many things, he could not be accused of stealing.
“You cannot accuse me of stealing.
“I have appointed ministers and they are in charge. I appeal to their integrity. When they come here (Federal Executive Council Chambers), we ensure they follow the due process. If I owned an oil well, I would have gone to jail.”
Shehu said Buhari also responded to a number of issues raised by the delegation, including complaints that Muslims had been marginalised in appointments to government institutions such as the military and the civil service.
He said the complaint illustrated how difficult his job was as, according to him, he faced the same criticism from adherents of other faiths.
On the burning issue of violent conflicts in some parts of the country, Buhari said he was putting in his best.
He said that following his dissatisfaction with the performance of the Police in Zamfara State, he ordered a massive transfer of officers and men who had stayed three years and above in the troubled state.
He appealed to the religious leaders to instruct their followers on the importance of possessing their own voters’ cards which he described as a “national entitlement,” and to preach justice to all which is an instituted pillar of Islam.
The president, who revealed that he had received a “stiff bill” from the Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, for the restoration of the dilapidated infrastructure and facilities of federal government-owned radio stations in all states of the federation, promised that something would be done.
Speaking on behalf of the delegation, Sheikh Hadiyyatullahi Abdulrashid, commended President Buhari for accomplishing much of what he promised before his election.
He likened him to the captain of a capsizing ship and the messiah needed by the country.
Sheikh Abdulrashid also spoke about the alleged marginalisation of Muslims, violent conflicts between farmers and herders, the problems of drug abuse among youths and the fate of Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria (FRCN) Kaduna, among other issues.
