President Muhammadu Buhari, on Saturday, said his administration had degraded the Boko Haram sect to the point that even “the opposition party” recognised that there was a considerable improvement of security in the North-East under his leadership.
Punch reports that though did not name the political party he was referring to but the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is believed to be the major opposition party in the country.
According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke during a bilateral meeting with Prime Minister Shahid Khakan Abbasi of Pakistan, on the margins of the ninth D-8 summit in Istanbul, Turkey.
Buhari was said to have told the Pakistani Prime Minister that Boko Haram terrorist group remained degraded.
He said, “We have moved them out from their strongholds in the North East, we have denied them space and even their attacks on soft targets are becoming less often.
“Even the opposition (party) recognises that there is a considerable improvement of security in the North-East.”
The President said the Nigeria-Pakistan Joint Commission would be revamped as a veritable platform to strengthen economic and trade relations between both countries.
Buhari, who expressed satisfaction at the level of defence and military cooperation between both countries, however, agreed with the Prime Minister that there was still room to do more.
He regretted that same could not be said on the economic and trade fronts, which he said had fallen far short of what could be achieved by both countries.
“Nigeria-Pakistan cooperation is very historical. Military training has been very consistent and I am impressed with the efficiency of officers trained in Pakistan.
“But the performance of our countries in relation to trade and industrial cooperation had been very disappointing,” Buhari said.
__________
Follow us on Twitter at @thesignalng
Copyright 2017 SIGNAL. Permission to use portions of this article is granted provided appropriate credits are given to www.signalng.com and other relevant sources.
