Summon President Buhari now, Ezekwesili urges N/Assembly

A former presidential candidate in the 2019 general election, Dr. Obiageli Ezekwesili, has urged the leadership of the National Assembly to invite President Muhammadu Buhari to address the lawmakers and the Nigerian public on his administration’s strategies and account of efforts at containing the COVID-29 pandemic and the global economic shock.

Ezekwesili, a former minister of education in a statement on Friday by her spokesman, Mr. Ozioma Ubabukoh, said President Buhari was “missing in action” at a time Nigeria was battling with the deadly COVID-19 and other challenges.

The former minister, who is a co-convener of “Bring Back Our Girls” said: “Fellow Citizens, it is grossly irresponsible of Nigeria’s president, Muhammadu Buhari, to hide away from addressing and assuring his citizens at a time like this when leaders of other nations are doing much well.

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“It is grossly incompetent of the President that he moves around majoring in the minors of declaring events open, while his citizens are panicked about the fast accelerating health and economic crises.

“As a citizen of this country, I demand that the National Assembly, the leaderships of the Senate and the House of Representatives, must in exercise of their oversight role, immediately invite President Buhari to render account and plans of his stewardship on the pandemic and economic wars the country is thrown into. Do this NOW.

“NASS must quickly avert any repeat of President Buhari’s lax counter-terrorism war that has cost the country too many lives. A contagion from deadly #CoronaVirus must be avoided immediately. NOW! Nigeria simply cannot afford the implications of an exponential increase in the number of citizens infected by #CoronaVirus. It is insensitive of the President to be mute at a time like this.

“That @followlasg published that it is already contact-tracing 1,300 Nigerians in one way or the other linked to confirm cases of the disease should worry us.

“Let President Buhari come out of his self-isolation and lead his country and people to win these wars. The economic impact of the health crisis will be severe on our majority’s extremely poor of more than 93 million. President Buhari must be reminded that leadership is not about personal comfort,” she added.

The Senate had, last Wednesday, urged President Buhari to address the nation on the situation of coronavirus pandemic in Nigeria.

It said if the president addresses Nigerians, they would be more serious in adhering to the preventive measures.

The Red Chamber also asked the federal government to take more drastic measures to contain the spread of the virus.

Also, the main opposition party, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had, on March 1, asked the president to address the nation on the scourge of coronavirus in the country.

The PDP, in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, said it was worried at Buhari’s “delay in standing up to the responsibilities of his office” to address “heightening national anxieties” since the detection of the deadly COVID-19 in the country.

The presidency is yet to speak on this.

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