President Muhammadu Buhari at the weekend wrote a personal letter to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (SGF), Mr. Boss Mustapha, acknowledging him as a competent administrator.
The letter and acknowledgment were the fallout of a successful ministerial retreat organized by Mustapha and held last week.
A statement by the presidential spokesman, Malam Garba Shehu, said the president in the letter personally signed by him, stated that he was ‘’very impressed’’ about the SGF’s performance at the retreat.
The statement quoted excerpts from the letter thus: ‘’I am writing to personally recognize your competence and commend the way you organized and led the ministers’ retreat.
‘’I am happy to write this short letter of appreciation to you because I am very impressed with your performance at the retreat.’’
Recall that Nigeria’s main opposition party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had described the retreat as a jamboree.
‘’Our party berates President Buhari’s ministers for insulting the sensibilities of Nigerians by organizing a feasting retreat in the luxury of an air-conditioned room, where they engaged in deceptive self-praise for non-existent achievements while the government they serve has turned our nation to the capital poverty of the world and foisted the worst form of hardship on our citizens.
‘’The deceptive intention and outlook of this retreat by President Buhari and his illusory ministers is a painful enactment of the allegory in the Orwellian Animal Farm in our country under the All Progressives Congress-led federal government,’’ PDP spokesman, Kola Ologbodiyan said in a statement sent to journalists on Thursday, September 10.
Meanwhile, many Nigerians have expressed frustration over the recent fuel price increase by the federal government.
While 47.6% of the respondents say they are frustrated over the price hike, 35.9% say they are angry over the development, 11.2% say they will adjust to the new realities while 5.3% of the respondents are of the opinion that the hike was caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The opposition party in a statement sent to journalists on Wednesday, September 2, described the decision of the government as “callous, cruel and punishing.”
The party demanded an immediate reversal of the prices to avert a national crisis, stressing that the increase will result in an upsurge in the costs of goods and services.
