1.
Under your administration, the State Security Service has continued to
disobey court orders. The court barred the agency from evicting a former
DG of the SSS, Kayode Are, from his Lagos residence. It disobeyed.
Later, the court gave another order that Mr. Are be restored to his
home. Again the SSS disobeyed.
The
agency also failed to release the leader of the Indigenous People of
Biafra, Nnamdi Kanu, despite two court orders to release him immediately
and unconditionally. In fact, in the case of Mr. Kanu a Federal High
Court judge withdrew from his trial after he (Kanu) argued that your
government would not honour any decision reached by the court following
the disregard of two earlier court orders to release him.
The
same SSS ignored a court order and placed former NSA, Sambo Dasuki, on
house arrest for weeks after the court granted him bail for medical
treatment abroad.
Mr.
President, are you not worried that your administration is endangering
the rule of law and bringing the judiciary to disrepute? And if your
government continues to disobey court orders shouldn’t Nigerians doubt
the sincerity of your campaign promise to reform the judiciary to deepen
public confidence in it?
2.
You have rightly distanced yourself from the Frivolous Petitions Bill,
also known as the anti-social media bill, currently being deliberated
upon in the Senate. However, a breakdown of the 2016 appropriation bill
shows that your government, under the National Intelligence Agency,
budgeted N1.3 billion for “Open Source Internet Monitoring System”,
N1.2billion for the procurement of surveillance equipment for the SSS,
N8.7 billion to the office of the NSA for “Develop All Eye Project” and
another N9 billion to the office of the NSA for a certain “Construct
Stravinsky Project”.
All
these are listed as new projects. Mr President, don’t you think these
expensive surveillance projects, even while Nigeria does not have a law
in place regulating Internet Surveillance, will stand in the way of free
speech, something you claim to support?
3.
Mr. President, you maintained a deafening silence in the wake of the
violent assault on members of the Islamic Movement of Nigeria by the
Nigerian Army, in Zaria. Don’t you see that as a tacit support for the
brutal, extrajudicial actions of the army?
Also,
in the light of the Shia killings in Zaria, and the human tragedy aside
for now, are you worried that Nigeria has effectively been drawn into a
proxy war between Iran and Saudi Arabia? Certainly this is not helpful,
even if it does not effectively worsen the security challenges in the
North-East. Where do you stand on this development?
4.
How should Nigerians understand your anti-corruption struggle from a
strategic viewpoint? What is the broad outline, the big picture as it
were, which is the lead agency prosecuting the war, who is coordinating,
and which other agencies are in the team?
Also,
Mr. President, the presidency said a few months ago that full details
of your assets would be available in due course. Details released at
that time were at best vague, with mention of properties without
addresses and their values. Can we have an idea of when you plan to make
public, full and specific details of your assets.
5.
You recently said some functionaries of the immediate past government
had started returning looted funds and that their names would be made
public soon. Nigerians have been waiting to know these people who looted
their country’s commonwealth and how much they took. When are you going
to fulfil this promise? How much has been recovered? Are you under any
form of pressure not to reveal details of this development?
6.
Your party, the APC, promised to construct 4,800kms (an approximate
distance from Abuja to London) of railway across the country. From 1888
(when railway started in Nigeria) to date, Nigeria has a total of
3,500kms of existing railway lines across the country. What is the
possibility of beating this record in the next three and half years
remaining in your
7.
You gave the military up till this month to end the Boko Haram
insurgency. However, as at last weekend, the insurgents were still
unleashing mayhem on Nigerians. Scores were killed in Borno and Adamawa on Sunday.
Yet you and the information minister recently suggested that the war on
terror had been won? Would you in all sincerity say the war has been
won? And why?
A2
8.
You seem to enjoy making important policy statements while abroad. In
fact, you are now known as a President who preferred to unfold your
administration’s policy direction while in foreign capitals. You also
seem to be more comfortable granting interviews to foreign channels than
local media establishments. You recently granted an interview to the
Hausa service of the BBC even when you knew that not all Nigerians
understand Hausa. What are the reasons guiding your choices in this
matter?
9.
The foreign exchange restriction policy by the CBN was, perhaps,
initiated in good faith to strengthen the Naira against other
international currencies, especially the dollar. But it appears some
Nigerians around the world, particularly students and genuine
businessmen, are suffering, as they are unable to pay their school fees
and other bills or transact businesses with payment instruments such as
ATM cards.
Are you aware of their difficulties, and is the government considering a review of this policy?
10.
Nigerians expected the present administration to be different from its
predecessors, particularly in the area of cutting the cost of
governance.
But
we observe that the Presidency and the National Assembly seem to be
carrying on as usual. Next year, government plans to spend several
billions on maintaining Aso Rock, buying exotic official cars,
maintaining a huge presidential air fleet and on foreign trips. Is this
the change you promised Nigerians?
Nigerians
are wondering why you are asking them to tighten their belts while your
administration continues to waste billions on lavish lifestyle
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