Full text of Lai Mohammed’s speech on release of 21 Chibok girls

Gentlemen of the press, good afternoon. We have called this press conference at a very short notice to brief you on the latest development in the saga of the abducted Chibok Girls.

We can confirm that 21 of the girls were released, safely, to us by 5.30 this Thursday morning and they were flown to Kaduna from the location of their release. This is the most glaring manifestation to date of the unwavering commitment of Mr. President to secure the safe release of the girls and reunite them with their families. It is also a result of the round-the-clock efforts by the Administration to put a closure to the sad issue of the kidnap of the girls.

We expect the released girls to land in Abuja shortly. Ahead of their arrival, we have assembled a team of medical doctors, psychologists, social workers, trauma experts, etc to properly examine the girls, especially because they have been in captivity for so long. They will also be adequately debriefed. We have the list of the 21 girls but we are now contacting their parents as part of the necessary verification exercise. As soon as that is concluded, we will release the names to the public.

Gentlemen, as we have always said, we have been working on the safe release of the girls and following all the leads available. In this instance, the moment we had a credible lead, Mr President gave the green-light to the DSS to pursue it. We can confirm that the DSS pursued the lead in collaboration with a friendly European country and a renowned international humanitarian organization. The DSS was supported by the military.

As soon as the necessary confidence was built on both sides, the parties agreed on the date and the location of the release of the 21 girls. Please note that this is not a swap. It is a release, the product of painstaking negotiations and trust on both sides.

We see this as a credible first step in the eventual release of all the Chibok Girls in captivity. It is also a major step in confidence-building between us as a government and the Boko Haram leadership on the issue of the Chibok Girls.

We want to thank all Nigerians for their support and for never losing confidence in the ability of Mr. President to secure the safe release of our Chibok Girls.

Gentlemen of the press, I thank you all for your kind attention.‎

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Recovered loot not enough to revive economy – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has explained that the looted fund recovered so far by government is far cry from what the country needs to revive the economy. The minister said this on Friday when he appeared on a News Agency of Nigeria Forum in Abuja.

According to him, the amount of money recovered is always being made public. He said, “What we have recovered and if my record is right is about N78 billion, and 3 million dollars.

“We have been able to block various accounts in which about 9 billion dollar is found but those are not money available to us because we are still in court over them.

“The government spends N165 billion every month to pay federal civil servants, even what has been so far recovered will not even pay 50 per cent of the salaries in a month.’’

Mohammed assured Nigerians that every penny recovered will be judiciously spent and nobody could re-loot what had been recovered under the administration.

The minister further explained that Nigerians should understand that what had been recovered was so little compared to what the people needed on a continuous basis.

On budget release, he recalled that the Federal Ministry of Finance released N400 billion for capital projects, mostly on roads, railway, and power.

“N400 billion seems a lot, but you must also understand that for three or four years contractors were not paid.

“So, when we paid this money to contractors, they also use part of it to settle their own debt, they use part of it to recall laid off staff.

“But the truth of the matter is that many of them have been paid, they are yet to mobilise to site and they cannot do so until the rains are over.

Mohammed said that what the government owed the contractors was about N2 trillion.

-Punch

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I’m paying the price for talking too much before 2015 elections – Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information, Lai Mohammed has said that the only sin he committed against Nigerians was that he talked too much during the All Progressives Congress, APC, campaigns before the 2015 general elections.

This was part of his speech on Thursday at the ongoing inaugural town hall meeting of the holding in Abuja . He said, “I believe that my only sin is talking too much before the elections and I now have to pay the price.”

“The first one was held in Lagos. Any meaningful assessment must be situated within the right context.

“We campaigned on three broad areas, corruption, revamp the economy and security. Have we met our targets? If you ask me, I will say we are on track.

“When we came in, many local governments in the north-east were under the control of Boko Haram. They hoisted their flags, they were even collecting taxes, but today not even a single local government is under the control of Boko Haram.

“We have been able to liberate 16,000 captors from the enclave of Boko Haram.”

The event, termed “Buharimeter” was organized by Centre for Democracy and Development and aimed at assessing the one year in office of President Buhari and his administration.

Other ministers at the event included Ministers of Power, Works and Housing, Babatunde Fashola, Agriculture and Rural Development, Audu Ogbeh, Environment, Amina Mohammed and Budget and National Planning, Udo Udoma .

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Nigeria is broke - Lai Mohammed

Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, says the removal of oil subsidy is as a result of Nigeria's poor economic state. According to Mr. Mohammed, Nigeria is broke. Mohammed said this while speaking with State House correspondents after the Federal Executive Council meeting in Abuja yesterday May 18th.

“The current problem is not really about subsidy removal. It is about that Nigeria is broke. Pure and simple! It is like somebody who has been earning N100,000 a month and he is faced with a situation where his employer says henceforth you will be earning N10,000 a month. 

He would need to make some very painful decisions and some very painful adjustments. That is the situation with Nigeria today. A few months ago, we were earning as much as $100 for every barrel of crude. We no longer have the resources, the foreign exchange to bring in refined fuel products. And our economy is shrinking. 

We appreciate the fact that the decision is going to affect everybody. We appreciate what we are going through, but Nigerians should also know that the government has the responsibility at times to take very difficult decisions. So, it is not always about popularity.”‎ he said

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No other alternative to fuel subsidy removal – Lai Mohammed

The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed on Monday said there is no alternative to the removal of fuel subsidy.

Speaking with reporters in Abuja, the Minister appealed for understanding from leadership of labour unions and all Nigerians, stressing that the hardship being faced as a result of government’s decision would not last long.

Mohammed said the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, NNPC, cannot continue to import fuel alone due to paucity of foreign exchange.

“Many have been asking why this would happen at this time and what triggered the decision concerning the new framework for petrol products supply, distribution and pricing.

“Gentlemen, we have no choice than to liberalize the price of petrol, if we are to end the crippling fuel scarcity that has enveloped the country, ensure the availability of the products and end the suffering of our people over the lingering scarcity,” he said.

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