What Buhari discussed with the US Secretary of State, John Kerry, in Lagos

The All Progressives Congress presidential candidate, Maj.Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), has listed the strategies that he would adopt to end insecurity in the country if elected President.

A source, who was one of the APC members that also attended the meeting,   said on Monday that the strategies included the elimination of corruption, transparency in the management of defence budgets and an overhaul of the nation’s security apparatuses.

He said that Buhari highlighted the plans when Kerry expressed concern about the spate of insecurity in the North-East.

The source added, “Kerry said the US was interested in someone that could curb the Boko Haram menace. He said the concern of President Barack Obama was that terrorism should not spread beyond the North-East as it seemed to be doing so gradually."

“Kerry asked what the strategy of the APC would be in fighting insecurity.”

Buhari was said to have told Kerry that the Goodluck Jonathan administration had spent billions of dollars on defence and that a large portion of the money was diverted by those in power. It was also learnt that the APC candidate informed the Secretary of State that the President had turned a blind eye to this.

Buhari was said to have also stated that there was something wrong with the intelligence-gathering mechanism of the military. He therefore promised that he would revamp the security apparatuses of the government.

According to the source, the APC candidate said “that Boko Haram members were not ghosts but that they were gaining ground because the security agencies had been compromised.” He said that the former Head of State also promised that transparency would be his watchword in the disbursement of defence budgets.

He was also said to have told Kerry that the Jonathan government once scuttled a hearing by the National Assembly on defence spending, an act that clearly showed that it was not ready to promote transparency in the management of the nation’s affairs.

Kerry was said to have expressed worry at the pre-election violence in the country but the APC leaders told him   that they had nothing to do with it.

...Punch