VIDEO: Buhari’s interview with France 24, speaks on Chibok girls, negotiating with Boko Haram, his yet to be named ministers

President Buhari who is currently in France had an interview with France 24 today  where he spoke on issues bordering on Boko Haram, missing Chibok girls, his yet to be released Ministerial list and the benefits of Democracy. On the rescue of the Chibok girls, he said;

“Our main concern now is how can we recover the Chibok girls. In what condition are they in? We are occupied with that decision and at this stage it has to be kept confidential because we are not sure of the genuine leadership of Boko Haram that we can negotiate with to get those girls released.
Negotiation is becoming quite difficult because we have to first identify those who claim to be leaders of Boko Haram are actually leaders and are influential and they know where the girls are and in what condition they are in. We are being very caeful about it”he said

On his yet to be released ministerial list, President Buhari said he will stick with his promise to name his cabinet by the end of September. He added that he will forward their names to the National Assembly as it is constitutionally required
“I said we will have a cabinet by the end of the month. Time flies. End of the month is coming too quickly for my liking. I will stick with the September deadline. I will send the names to the National Assembly.”he said
He ruled out the idea of running a government without ministers
“When you introduced me, you said I was around in 1983 to 1985. Even then we had ministers. So under this system we have to have ministers. We are going to have Ministers”he said
Asked if the delay in naming ministers might already be having its effect on the Nigerian economy, Buhari said

“No. It is what we know and what we learn from Western system. The civil service provides the continuity, the technocrats and in any case they are the ones that do most of the work. The ministers are there just to make a lot of noise just like politicians who make a lot of noise. but the work is being done by technocrats. They are there and they provide the continuity. As you can see my team, there are perm secs of Finance, trade and industries and others. They help to provide the continuity, dig into the records for as long as possible and guide us because we are just coming into government. but they have been there some of them for 15 years, 20 years. So I think this questions are just being political. People from different constituency want to see their people directly in government and see what they can get out of it”he said

On whether the Naira will be devalued again, he said

“The Naira has already been devalued. It used to be around N160 now it is hovering around N200 and above and I don’t think it is healthy for us to get the Naira devalued further. That is why we are getting the Central bank to make some modifications in terms of making foreign exchange available to essential services such as industries, spare parts, essential raw materials and so on”he said

He also stated his firm belief  in democratic system of government

“Multiparty democracy system is the best form of government with a big caveat that elections must be free, fair and credible otherwise it will be the same old problem”he said.

Watch the full interview below: