Senator representing Kaduna Central, Shehu Sani has said foreign trips
embarked upon by President Muhammadu Buhari since he assumed office is
not as frivolous as those of former President Goodluck Jonathan.
Sani was reacting to criticism from different quarters, especially the
opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that President Buhari was
busy traveling all over the world in the face of persistent fuel
scarcity in the country.
But Sani, who is deputy Chairman of the Senate committee on Foreign
Affairs, said “President Buhari is the most prudent President in terms
of travels. His travels have not gulped the kind of resources, his
predecessors’ travels gulped.”
He described the various foreign trips by the President as necessary
and made “to secure a deal for Nigeria”.
Sani said: “These travels are very necessary for him to work out a
programme for the economy. All the countries that he has been to, he
has secured a good deal for Nigeria. He was in Iran for the 3rd Gas
Exporting Countries Forum (GEFC), because as you already know, Nigeria
is a major gas exporter. He travelled to Malta for security and
Agricultural development, and as you also know, Nigeria is a major
agricultural country. He also travelled to France on the issue of
environment and climate change.
“So you cannot have a President that would simply sit at home and not
travel. It doesn’t work that way. The travels are an opportunity for
the President to project Nigeria and also bring the attention of the
world to Nigeria. So his journeys are not as frivolous as those of
President Jonathan. We are living in an inter-dependent world, so it’s
not possible for a president not to travel, so those who are
complaining that he is travelling are ignorant”.