- As Inflation rate rises to 17.9% – NBS
First Lady Aisha Buhari drew an instant response from President Muhammadu Buhari yesterday after threatening on air that she might not support his re-election bid in 2019.
Speaking in an interview she granted the Hausa Service of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), the wife of the President said the President needed to reshuffle his cabinet for her to back him for re-election.
“I have decided as his wife that if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again,” she said.
She claimed that the President “does not know” most of the top officials he has appointed so far.
She said: “The president does not know 45 out of 50, for example, of the people he appointed, and I don’t know them either despite being his wife of 27 years.
“Some people are sitting down in their homes folding their arms only for them to be called to come and head an agency or a ministerial position.”
Aisha said some of such appointees are not on the same page with the President on the vision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), adding that they were appointed only on account of the influence of a ‘few people.’
She mentioned no names, and when pressed to identify those she was referring to, she said: “You will know them if you watch television.
“Some of them don’t even have voter cards, and those who made sacrifice have been reduced to nothing and certainly not happy with the way things are going.”
The APC, she said, must wake up to remedy the situation.
She said people who did not share the vision of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) were now appointed to top posts because of the influence a “few people” wield.
“What I am afraid of is the rebellion of 15 million people. Many people have started creating division among the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
“This worries us a lot because they believe they are the ones who suffered but are nowhere today.
“Those who didn’t do anything, who don’t even have voters’ cards, are the ones in position doing everything.
On whether the President was aware of the challenges caused by the cabal, she added: “Whether he knows or he doesn’t know, those who voted for him know.
“There is nothing I will tell him. He can see. Among all the people he selected, if he is asked among 50 people, he doesn’t know 45.
“I don’t know them despite staying with him for 27 years.”
Responding to a question on if the president was in charge, she said: “That is left for the people to decide.”
Pressed to comment on a major achievement of Buhari, she pointed to the enhanced security in the North-East as a result of a total war against Boko Haram.
She added: “No-one is complaining about being attacked in their own homes. Thankfully everyone can walk around freely, go to places of worship, etc. Even kids in Maiduguri have returned to schools.”
But Mrs. Buhari admitted that the President had not told her yet about 2019.
Her words: “He is yet to tell me (if he’ll seek re-election) but I have decided as his wife that if things continue like this up to 2019, I will not go out and campaign again and ask any woman to vote like I did before. I will never do it again.”
She was also asked whether the President was in charge of his administration, to which she responded thus: “That is left for the people to decide.”
In the meantime, in September, the Consumer Price Index, which measures inflation across the country, increased by 17.9 per cent year-on-year, up from the 17.6 per cent recorded the previous month.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), energy and energy-related prices continue to be the largest increases reflected in the core sub-index.
It stated that in September, the core sub-index increased by 17.7 per cent, up by 0.5 per cent points from rates recorded in August (17.2 per cent). “During the month, the highest increases were seen in the electricity, liquid fuel (kerosene), solid fuels, and fuels and lubricants for personal transport equipment groups.
Communication and restaurants and hotels recorded the lowest rates of increase of the 12 divisions, growing by 5.6 per cent and 9.6 per cent, respectively,” the NBS stated.
The bureau noted that the food sub index increased by 16.6 per cent year-on-year in September, up by 0.19 per cent points from rate recorded in August (16.4 per cent). It stated that a number of groups within the food index recorded falls in the rate of price increases, including fish, which had previously been a key driver, as well as oils and fats, and fruits.
The NBS said price movements recorded by the all items less farm produce or core sub-index increased by 17.7 per cent year-on-year in September, up by 0.5 per cent points from rates recorded in August (17.2 per cent).
“During the month, the highest increases were seen in clothing materials, other articles of clothing and clothing accessories, garments, shoes and other footwear, books and stationeries, jewellery, clocks and watches, and motorcycles,” it added.
The bureau further noted that the percentage change in the average composite CPI for the 12-month period ending in September 2016 over the average of the CPI for the previous 12-month period was 13.5 per cent, higher from 12.7 per cent recorded in August.
“The corresponding 12-month year-on-year average percentage change for the urban index increased from 13.6 per cent in August to 14.4 per cent in September, while the corresponding rural index also increased from 12 per cent in August to 12.6 per cent in September,” the NBS added.
Nation with additional report from The Citizen
