OPINION VOICES

President Muhammadu Buhari, has charged the new-elected members of the National Assembly to focus on bringing positive change to the lives of Nigerians.

Reacting to the outcome of the just-concluded election of leaders of the National Assembly, the President said he would have preferred the new leaders to have emerged through the process established by the party, All Progressives Congress (APC).

He reiterated his earlier stance that he was willing to work with whoever the lawmakers elected, adding that he had no preferred candidate for the Senate and the House of Representatives leadership.

In a statement issued by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, the President said he would have preferred that the process of electing the leaders as initiated and concluded by the APC had been followed. Nonetheless, the President took the view that a constitutional process has somewhat occurred.

“President Buhari had said in an earlier statement that he did not have any preferred candidate for the Senate and the House of Representatives, and that he was willing to work with whoever the lawmakers elected.

“That sentiment still stands. Though he would have preferred the new leaders to have emerged through the process established by the party.”

Adesina stressed that the stability of constitutional order and overall interest of the common man were uppermost on the President’s mind, as far as the National Assembly elections were concerned.

The President called on the elected representatives of the people to focus on the enormous task of bringing enduring positive change to the lives of Nigerians,” the statement added.

President Muhammadu Buhari is presenting a 9-point demands to The Group of Seven (G7), an informal bloc of industrialized democracies comprising the United States, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United Kingdom. The group meets annually to discuss issues such as global economic governance, international security, and energy policy. He arrived Munich, Germany, Sunday, to honour the invitation of the G7.

Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, in a statement from Germany, said President Buhari conveyed with him the ‘wish list’ of Nigeria in line with the demand of the Group of Seven (G7) industrialized countries. It will be recollected that the G7 requested the then President-elect to prepare a wish list and come with it for their consideration in what is seen as an excellent goodwill gesture towards the new leader and the country.

Malam Garba Shehu in the statement said top on the list of the requests President Buhari will tender before the G7 leaders is the problem of security. Quoting the president he said, ‘we have a problem which they know.’ He quoted the President as saying that he had used every opportunity at his disposal ahead of this meeting to discuss the country’s needs with specific reference to terrorism and development needs at person-to-person meetings and phone conversations with some of the G7 leaders.

According to him, apart from terrorism, the president will also need the support of the industrialized nations in the area of economy, infrastructure, power and energy, and corruption. Other areas the president is asking for G7 meeting’s assistance include increased Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), enhanced transparency in elections, environment and good governance.

President Buhari will hold meetings on the sidelines with the host, German Chancellor Angela Merkel; the French President, Francois Hollande; Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper; the Japanese Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe and the World Bank President, Dr. Jim Yong Kim.