Buhari’s inauguration will not be flamboyant – APC

The All Progressives Congress, APC, has said the inauguration of President-elect, General Muhammadu Buhari, would not be a showpiece because of the dwindling economic fortune of the country.
This was disclosed yesterday by the chairman of the APC inauguration committee, Chief Timipre Sylva, who added that a number of foreign Heads of State are expected to grace the occasion.
He said: “There are no challenges, we are planning very well and I think we are going to give Nigerians a compact inauguration. We are not going to be flamboyant. We think that this country cannot afford a flamboyant ceremony this time because the economy is not in good shape right now. So we are actually planning to give Nigerians a sanitized and compact event which will be a source of pride to Nigerians.
“We have not gotten all the confirmations but we have already gotten from some countries.


Sylva also denied the existence of any form rift between his committee and that of the outgoing government.
“There is no problem, it is just politics. What happened is that they were on the wrong side and they lost. We are on the right side and we won. And so, the government will have to continue and just like we were there when they were governing, they also have to be there when we are governing the country”, he said.
Commenting on the allegation that he has corruption charges on him and as such should not be in Buhari’s cabinet, Sylva wondered why his detractors would crucify him before the court pass its judgment, adding that he was innocent of the charges brought against him.
“I will be shocked to hear that. Maybe, those peddling the allegation are the courts and they have already convicted me. We have courts in the land and you know that PDP is the party of impunity. Today if I pick you up and I charge you to court on charges of corruption, does that convict you? It is only the court that can convict you and that is why we have rule of law.
“A situation where people just pick you up and say you’re corrupt just to persecute you, does not augur well for our democracy. I have been vindicated politically and I will be vindicated by the court also because I ran the best government in Bayelsa State, a better government than what the outgoing President ran in Bayelsa State. I can assure you that I am going to come out clean at the end of the day from the charges against me.
“You can ask them why they are charging me for an offence while they have discharged my accountant general and my commissioner of finance, what does that tell you? It means that, this is just mere persecution because no governor can access fund unless through his accountant general or commissioner of finance. Both of them have been exonerated which means there is actually no crime at all.”