TheCable

Lai Mohammed, minister of information and culture, says President Muhammadu Buhari is neither critically ill nor in a life threatening situation.

Speaking at a  town hall meeting in Umuahia, Abia state capital, on Monday, Mohammed said there was no need for Nigerians to worry about the president’s health.

He said he spoke with Buhari on Saturday afternoon, and he can declare that there is “no cause for alarm”.

Mohammed also said there was no need for a regular briefing on his health, but said he would give daily update if the president is critically ill or in a hospital.

“I can say here very boldly and confidently that there is absolutely no cause for alarm,” he said.

“Mr President called me at 2:43 p.m. on Saturday and we spoke.

“If Mr President is in the hospital or is critically ill, as minister of information, I will give daily bulletin on his health.

“Mr. President is neither critically ill nor in the hospital and there is nothing life threatening about the checks he is going through.”

Buhari has been out of the country, in the UK, for medical reasons for 39 days.

Speaking on the state of the economy, the minister said that it was corruption that made the prices of commodities to go up.

He added that no economy in the world could survive the blind and reckless looting perpetrated by the previous administration.

“If one person was found with almost $10 million in an uncompleted house and another with $136 million in fake account and other with N7 billion, how can the economy survive the kind of looting?” he asked.

“Naturally the price of commodities will go up. These are funds meant for development of infrastructure and for provision of services.

“That is why you cannot do anything with the economy without first facing corruption squarely.

“But the good news is that the government is doing both together. As we are fighting corruption, we are also making sure that we are ensuring we are out of recession by investing heavily on infrastructure.”

Mohammed also pacified the audience who lamented the spate of attacks on farmers by herdsmen.

He said contrary to the position of some elements who want to destroy the unity of the country, the government was not supporting any section of the country against the other.

He said it was a purely security issue and it was being handled from both the federal and the state levels.

“I want to make the appeal that the strength of Nigeria is in its diversity and unity,” he said.

“We have been living together peacefully before and we shall continue to live together peacefully.”