US trip brought in 2.7 trillion naira of investment - Presidency

An estimated N2.7 trillion ($13.6 billion) worth of direct investment is part of the immediate benefits accruing from President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent state visit to the United States, the Presidency claimed yesterday.

The presidency also affirmed that the visit cost the Nigerian treasury less than N220 million contrary to assertions in some sections of the media. It further explained that President Buhari’s son, Yusuf, did not receive any estacode

for the trip even as it contended that great savings were made by members of the delegation against previous visits. The five governors who were in the delegation, the

presidency said, paid their way while permanent secretaries and other senior government officials only received their entitlements. The presidency’s explanations followed news reports in some sections of the media that the visit was wasteful, cost N2.2 billion and was not in anyway beneficial.

In a statement, yesterday, Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, said besides the economic benefits, plans were already in motion

to lift hindrances to the flow of military support for Nigerians war against insurgents in the North-East. Some immediate benefits According to him, “some of the more immediate benefits of

the President’s trip to the US include: the proposed $2.1 billion fund from the World Bank for the re-development of the northeast battered by Boko Haram; $5 billion from US investors in Nigeria’s agriculture sector; $1.5 billion investment in the Nigerian’s health sector; and another $5 billion investment from the US in our country’s power sector.

“Also, as things stand, the embargo on weapons sales to Nigeria is in the process of being removed. The trip to the US by President Buhari was definitely very successful and beneficial to Nigeria. Only those rabidly determined to find

faults unnecessarily will cook up falsehood in a futile effort to rake up murk where none exists.

“It is very sad that in this age of free-flowing information and in this era of change, a media organisation would make itself available as a vehicle to peddle a lie of such low and ignominious quality. “Contrary to the newspaper’s assertions, the total cost of

the trip to the Nigerian taxpayer was at the most minimal, in line with the policy of this administration to cut waste and extravagance.