September 12, (THEWILL) – The Presidency said it has observed that President Muhammadu Buhari’s concluding remarks at the meeting with South East Leaders during his one day visit to Imo State on Thursday, 9th September, 2021, is being deliberately twisted out of context.
Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, in a statement titled ‘What President Buhari Said (Didn’t Say) in Imo State’, said the purveyors of disinformation want Nigerians to believe that the President bluntly told Governor Uzodinma, ‘‘I’ll be careful with your future invitations.’’
According to Adesina, “purveyors of misinformation” deliberately contorted the president’s speech out of context.
The statement reads, “We have observed that President Buhari’s concluding remarks at the meeting with South-East Leaders during his one-day visit to Imo State is being deliberately contorted and twisted out of context.
“The purveyors of disinformation want Nigerians to believe that the President bluntly told Governor Uzodinma, ‘’I’ll be careful with your future invitations.’
“They have adduced different meanings to the phrase, contrary to the context wherein the President spoke during his successful dialogue with leaders of thought from Igbo land.
“When he arrived at the banquet hall of Imo State Government House for his last assignment in Owerri, the President was welcomed by over 50 leaders from the South East who had waited patiently for him for a Town Hall engagement, after commissioning strategic projects in the State.”
Adesina said that an elated Buhari made it clear that he was expressly overwhelmed by the reception and galaxy of personalities that travelled from the five SouthEastern States to have a heart-to-heart discussion with him in Owerri, the Imo State capital.
He quoted the President as saying, ‘‘I am overwhelmed by this reception, overwhelmed in the sense that when I accepted the invitation by the Imo State Governor, who wants to justify investments the government has done to the people of Imo State, I thought I would see the bridges, the roads, and a few renovations.
“He didn’t tell me he was going to get the whole Igbo leadership here. So in the future when he invites me, I’ll know what to do. But I think he has done what the military didn’t like. He has achieved surprise. He has surprised me beyond description.’’
He said the President in his concluding statement at the same event, made reference to his earlier remarks on the ‘‘surprise’’ action pulled by the Governor. On a lighter note, he quipped: “Governor of Imo State, I cannot thank you enough, but I will be careful with your future invitations.’’
This, the Presidency says, has no other meaning other than the light nature with which Buhari made the statement.
It said, “The President’s historic visit to Imo State was very successful and the Igbo leaders who met him shared the same enthusiasm that his coming to the Eastern heartland would bring peace, foster unity, encourage good and better understanding among the citizenry.
“Archbishop David Onuoha, who is the Anglican Archbishop of Owerri Ecclesiastical Province, must have summed up the mood in the words of the prayer offered at the event:
‘‘Thank You dear Lord for our nation Nigeria and her people with diverse backgrounds, nationalities and cultures. Surely You did not make any mistakes in bringing us together.
‘‘Your purpose is for us to harness our potentials/strength to build a strong and virile nation. May this purpose never be defeated.
‘‘Glory be unto You for bringing Your servant and our dear President, His Excellency Muhammadu Buhari, safely to this State. Blessed be Your name for his life and the giant strides he is taking for the wellbeing of our nation.
‘‘Thank you for the huge infrastructural development that is taking place in various parts of the country.
‘‘Lord, Nigeria is a great nation with numerous challenges. We pray that you endue our President with heavenly wisdom, grace and strength. In his resolve to serve this nation, he will not fail, fall or falter. He will end his tenure strong and well to the glory and honour of your name and the good of our people.
‘‘May his visit today bring peace, foster unity, encourage good and better understanding among the citizens of this great nation; may it bring prosperity and restoration.’’
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