The Presidency has explained why the President, Major General Muhammadu Buhari (retd.), is making last-minute appointments and seeking approval for funds from the legislature.
Recall that, on Wednesday Buhari asked the senate to approve a request to pay various sums as judgment debts.
The amounts — $566,754,584, £98,526,012 and N226 billion — are said to be owed by the federal government.
Earlier on Wednesday, the president swore in seven federal commissioners of the Revenue Mobilisation Allocation and Fiscal Commission.
Buhari’s last-minute decisions have elicited varied reactions, given the proximity to the handover to the incoming administration of Bola Tinubu.
During an interview on Channels Television on Wednesday, the President’s spokesperson, Femi Adesina, said Buhari has a four-year mandate which will end on May 29, adding that the federal government is obligated to pay any form of debt incurred during the eight-year tenure.
He said, “A wicked man borrows and pays not, that is what the good book says.
“When you owe and you refuse to pay, the Bible says you are a wicked man.
“If the government is owing all those judgement debts, why shouldn’t it pay? It should pay.
“The government has a mandate from a time to a certain time, that mandate was from 2019 to 2023, so the government is working.”
Adesina also spoke on the president’s refusal to dissolve his cabinet after his final federal executive council meeting on Wednesday.
“It depends on the president. Style is typical to each person, that is the style of the president.
“He wants them to work till the very last day. We know some presidents who would dissolve after the last FEC meeting, that is their own style,” he added.