After weeks of suspense, President Muhammadu
Buhari, yesterday moved into his official residence in Aso Rock, Abuja.
Buhari, who returned back to Abuja from
Katsina State where he had gone to inspect his farm on Saturday started moving
his belongings to the presidential villa on Sunday evening.
The president’s wife, Aisha Buhari, had
last Thursday moved her properties into their official residence.
With his formal relocation to Aso Rock,
Buhari is expected to start operating from his office for the first time today.
LEADERSHIP also gathered that the president
may forward the names of ministerial nominees to the senate this week.
A top presidency official who did not want
his name in print told our correspondent that Buhari is also set to make key
appointments including his chief of staff and the secretary to the government
of the federation this week.
He said, “You are aware that when the
president assumed office, his first engagement was on how to tackle Boko Haram,
a deadly sect that has been terrorizing the country for the past five years
now.
His trips to some neighboring African countries and the G7 summit in
Germany as well as the AU summit in South Africa were basically to confer with
other world leaders on how to end insurgency in the northern part of the
country.
“This went a long way in delaying key
appointments in the new administration. But with the president officially
moving into the villa today (Sunday), all is now set for him to appoint his key
officials to enable him hit the ground running.”
When our correspondent arrived the villa
yesterday, the president’s aides were still moving his things into his official
residence, while some were busy arranging his office.
The mood in Aso Rock was that of excitement
as workers, particularly security operatives who had been manning strategic areas
in the place said it was a kind of relief for them because the place had been
quite lonely like a ghost town.
The senior special assistant to the
president on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, had told our
correspondent that the ongoing renovation work was hindering Buhari from moving
into the presidential villa.
He had said, “As far as the president is
concerned, the place (his official residence) is not ready yet, workers are
cleaning and refurbishing the place. Once the exercise is completed, the
president will move in.”
As at the time of filing this report, vice
president Osinbajo and his wife were yet to move into their own official
residence.
But a source told LEADERSHIP that since his
boss had already moved in on Sunday, the vice president is expected to follow
suite may be this night or today (Monday).
The president and his deputy had been
operating outside the seat of power, using the Defence House as their offices,
while Buhari lived in his personal residence in Aso Drive, Abuja.
Their continued use of the Defence House, a
place officially meant for a president-elect even after they were inaugurated
had created a lot of anxiety among staff of the State House who were left with
no choice than to shuttle between the villa and the president’s temporary
office located in Maitama district.
The development had also raised
speculations with some persons suggesting that the place was undergoing
“spiritual cleansing.”
0 comments:
Post a Comment