We are lucky to have Buhari as President at this time — Adesina tells Nigerians

Presidential spokesman, Femi Adesina 

Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina has said that Nigerians are lucky to have Buhari as president at a time like this.

He stated this while debunking a report making the rounds on social media over his relationship with the new chief of staff, Prof Ibrahim Gambari.


Dust was raised last weekend over Sahara Reporter's publication which titled: "President Buhari’s Spokesperson, Femi Adesina, Makes Desperate Moves To Mend Relationship With New Chief Of Staff To President, Gambari, 12 Years After Damning Newspaper Article On Him".

The report revealed that Adesina, knowing the importance of the office Gambari now occupies in the Buhari's administration, has been writing persuasive articles but using the names of other persons to push them out to the public in a desperate move to ‘soften’ the heart of the new Chief of State and make him forgive and forget the incident of the past.




Recall that Adesina had in his column on Saturday, July 12, 2008 in the SUN Newspaper said Gambari enslaved himself to please his paymasters by defending the hanging of Ken Saro-Wiwa and others by the late General Sani Abacha military regime.

He wrote, “Gambari enslaved himself to please his paymasters. Now, 13 years after, the shackles are still tied around his neck, threatening to asphyxiate him. What an eternal lesson for fawning bootlicking grovellers to learn. Old sins indeed have long shadows.”

However, in an attempt to do damage-control, Adesina, but hiding under another identity, while justifying the 2008 missile to Gambari, wished both presidency officials a good working relationship in the service of President Buhari and Nigeria.



The article expressed optimism that Adesina would find it easy to get along with the new Chief of Staff, whom was encouraged to allow the past slip away forever.

The article reads partly, “President Buhari and Adesina are great friends who deeply respect each other. For Buhari, Adesina is a bosom friend united in their quest for a new Nigeria. When Adesina's mum passed on in the days of our struggle for his enthronement, General Buhari attended her burial. You can count the times he had honoured anyone in that manner on your fingertips. To underscore their bond, it may interest you to recall that Adesina was the very first person given appointment by President Buhari after he assumed office in 2015. I was notified as soon as Adesina arrived at Transcorp Hilton Hotel, Abuja.

“I am certain Adesina would find it very easy to get along with Prof Ibrahim Gambari as Chief of Staff because they are united in their resolve to give the President the best of themselves.


“Adesina, being a cultured Yoruba man and a good Christian, will respect and support Prof Gambari not only as a matter of duty but in conformity with cultural etiquettes of according elders respect due our parents and, Biblically, as though serving God. Nothing will obstruct that. Not any mischievous reference to an old article.

“I am quite certain the article would have no impact on Prof Gambari's attitude to Adesina as a thoroughbred academic for whom criticism is a norm, and as a cosmopolitan world citizen who has waded through many troubled waters, seeking peace across the world during his stint as super- diplomat/ Under-Secretary General with the United Nations.



“I wish both Prof Gambari, our father, our teacher, and my brother, Adesina, a good working relationship in the service of President Buhari and Nigeria.”

But reacting in a tweet on Tuesday, Adesina debunked the report, saying that he remains a staunch supporter of President Buhari and that he owed no one any apology for that.

A quote from mischief makers is making the rounds, ascribed to me. I just dey laugh. I am a Buharist any day, no apologies, and I believe the President is leading the country well. In fact, we are lucky to have him at a time like this. All attempts to demonize me will fail.

— Femi Adesina (@FemAdesina) May 26, 2020

He tweeted, "A quote from mischief makers is making the rounds, ascribed to me. I just dey laugh. I am a Buharist any day, no apologies, and I believe the President is leading the country well. In fact, we are lucky to have him at a time like this. All attempts to demonize me will fail.