President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s foreign trips are not for \u2018sightseeing\u2019,
\nbut justified by outcomes. This was the position of his Senior Special
\nAssistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu.<\/p>\n
Mr. Shehu who was a guest on Channels Television\u2019s Sunday Politics
\nexplained that Nigeria\u2019s economy needs the trips owing to President
\nBuhari\u2019s personality globally and the desire of other presidents and key
\nbusiness investors to show a willingness to do business with him.<\/p>\n
President Buhari since May 30, has embarked on eight different trips
\nwhich include; Saudi Arabia, Japan, Burkina Faso, New York, South
\nAfrica, Russia, Saudi Arabi, and the United Kingdom.<\/p>\n
His most recent trip, a private one to the United Kingdom, according to
\nMr. Shehu, is partly for vacation and also for work.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe President\u2019s trips are not sightseeing trips, they are justified by
\noutcomes. In each of the trips, we try to let Nigerians know what the
\nthings the president has achieved; and so, we are making progress, the
\neconomy needs the trips because much of it actually comes on account of
\nwho the president is.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey (investors) are looking at a serious man and are ready to do
\nbusiness with him; I think Nigerians should comfort themselves in the
\nfact that they have a President who is respected around the globe and
\nthe name of whom can fetch a lot of good things for Nigerians.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe is on a private trip outside the country, partly on vacation, partly
\nat work. The constitution of Nigeria is very clear that 21 days is the
\nperiod of absence which cannot be justified,\u201d he clarified.<\/p>\n
Mr. Shehu added that President Buhari\u2019s trip is only for 17 days, from
\nwhich he will be doing government work by signing an important bill for
\nthe country from where he is.<\/p>\n
On the Nigeria-Saudi Arabia, Strategic Council Mr. Shehu revealed that
\nthe Federal Government will be appointing representatives made up of
\nbusinessmen and government officials who will sit down and agree on
\ninvestments based on priorities.<\/p>\n
He stated that priority will be given to gas pipeline the Federal
\nGovernment has ensured that the construction of the Ajaokuta-Kaduna-Kano
\n(AKK) pipeline, which is a 614km-long natural gas pipeline be developed
\nby the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC).<\/p>\n
\u201cThis council will start sitting in 2 months which in effect means that
\nwe will be making the appointments in the coming days and they will
\ndecide when this works will begin.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could be about refineries or some others, but the big thing we are
\neyeing is the gas pipeline that will bring the enormous gas access in
\nthe country; the government has approved the construction of the AKK
\npipeline, that is; Ajaokuta, Abuja, Kaduna, Kano and we will be looking
\nfor money for that and all these would be high investments in oil and
\ngas and also non-oil sectors and the opportunities are enormous and it\u2019s
\nfor us to see which way to go.\u201d<\/p>\n
He explained further that the meeting with the leadership of the Saudi
\nOil and Gas group, the country\u2019s Sovereign Wealth Fund, and the Public
\nInvestment Fund, does not mean the deal will be done for free, despite
\nthe massive wealth linked the Arab group.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is certainly not going to be free money when you are talking to
\nthe Sovereign wealth fund of Saudi Arabia with enormous powers. The
\nchairman can decide to put $5bn in a country in a month and they will be
\ninvesting, partnering, again, it\u2019s a matter of time, the discussions we
\nwill undertake will determine how we will go.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
President Muhammadu Buhari\u2019s foreign trips are not for \u2018sightseeing\u2019, but justified by outcomes. This was the position of his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu. Mr. Shehu…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":52812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-70251","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-exclusive"],"yoast_head":"\n