UK Meeting with Buhari a drain on public fund – HURIWA

*Condemns Senate’s rejection of restructuring 

By   www.eaunde.blogspot.com.ng

A pro-democracy and non-governmental organisation, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria (HURIWA), has condemned as wasteful and unwise the series of lunch meetings between governors and the ailing President Muhammadu Buhari in London, United Kingdom. In a related development, the rights group lambasted the senate for wasting the historic opportunity of introducing reform minded provisions into the constitution such as devolution of powers to the federating units, restructuring and resource control by voting against these amendments. HURIWA said the action of the senators will further aggravate the various agitations for self-determination in the country. 

“What has happened today (on Wednesday) in the Senate is like hitting the death nail on corporate Nigeria because as it is now the nation isn’t working for the millions of Nigerians but is only beneficial to the less than a percentage of the citizens who have constituted themselves into the class of oppressors. We are afraid that soon the sleeping millions of Nigerians will awake from their slumber and take back the Country from the tiny political class holding the rest of the population as hostages,” the group said. 

Speaking specifically on the series of meetings in the UK at the behest of the medically vacationing President, the rights group lamented that the federal government under the current administration is actively encouraging medical tourism of top officials to the United Kingdom at grave costs to the public treasury by these stylish dinner/lunch meetings at the behest of the Presidency. On the decision of the ailing Nigerian President to invite governors in batches to visit him in London over dinner/lunch at huge public costs, HURIWA dismissed the bonanza as unwise and a disservice to the mantra of good governance and prudence in the handling of public fund. 

The Rights group said it would have been cheaper for the ailing/vacationing President in London to address the media in the United Kingdom and pass his message to Nigerians since two or three major Nigerian publicly funded media houses like the Nigerian Television Authority, News Agency of Nigeria and the Voice of Nigeria maintain offices in the United Kingdom and these media houses are watched by significant percentage of the people of Nigeria.