On the 16th October 16, President Muhammadu Buhari took part in “UpFront”, a programme on Aljazeera English.
President Buhari is fielding questions from the host of the programme, Mehdi Hasan.
The main topic of the interview: Can Nigeria’s leader deliver on his promise to stamp out Boko Haram by the end of the year? President Buhari was fielding questions from an award-winning journalist and the host of the programme, Mehdi Hasan.
In the interview, Buhari has spoken about his promise to defeat the Boko Haram sect by December, the negotiations with the insurgents and the abducted Chibok girls. He also commented on the Amnesty International report and his notorious ‘war against indiscipline’.
Info World brings you live coverage of the interview:
When asked if it is achievable to defeat the Boko Haram sect by the end of the December, Buhari said:
“On the ground, physically, things are getting better…We are gaining ground and Boko Haram is virtually now confined to Sambisa forest.”
“Boko Haram are reduced now to using IEDs,” he added.
When the host noted that thousands of people have been killed by terrorists since Buhari’s inauguration and Nigerians don’t feel safer, the president said:
“We are always honest about it. Whenever there is an attack, we mention it. We do not hide it.”
However, the president assured Nigerians that he would defeat Boko Haram by the end of 2015 and “as soon as the rainy season comes, which is by the end of the year… Boko Haram will virtually be out of their main stronghold and that will be the end of it …. Attacks by Boko Haram on townships, on military installations, will certainly stop.
Buhari has stated that he will not resign if he does not fulfill his promise of defeating Boko Haram by December 2015.
Buhari stressed that he would not resign if he does not fulfill his promise of defeating Boko Haram by December 2015.
Speaking about more than 200 Chibok girls that were taken captives by Boko Haram 18 months ago, Buhari said:
“We have an idea where the girls are. Our main problem is and what we promised to the constituencies where these girls were abducted that we want to rescue them alive. There are Boko Haram leaderships that wanted us to discuss. We want to make sure, they have to prove us that they [Chibok girls] are alive, they are well, and then we can promise them and negotiate with them.”
Buhari added that the Nigerian government is ready to negotiate with Boko Haram for the Chibok girls. When asked what he would offer for the lives of the girls: money or prisoners, he said: “It depends on the negotiations with the leadership of Boko Haram”.
When asked about the Amnesty International report from June 2015, ‘Nigeria: Stars on their shoulders: Blood on their hands’, Buhari claimed not to have seen it.
“I haven’t received that report personally,” he said. “If I get those documents… I assure you that I will take action as Commander in Chief.”
“I can’t act on newspaper publications,” he added.
Speaking about the Shari’a law that is supported by Boko Haram militants, the president said:
“Nigerians have the right to worship any religion, but no religion advocates hunting the innocent. You cannot kill innocent people and shout ‘Allahu Akbar’… Boko Haram is anything but Islamic,” he concluded.
When asked if he supports such kinds of punishment as stoning or cutting off hands, Buhari stressed that the Nigerian law does not allow that.
Speaking about his record as a military dictator in the mid-1980s, and the alleged human-rights abuses, which occurred under his watch, he said: “If there is any injustice that can be proved against me when I was there, I will gladly apologize.”
When asked if he could guarantee that he would not become a dictator again, the president noted: “under this system, I cannot be a dictator. The system we are following now: the people I want to see in my cabinet, I have to send them to the Senate and it is up the Senate to find them suitable or unsuitable to be in the Nigerian cabinet.”
See the full video interview below the:
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