Following his return from London, Governor Nasir El-Rufai, has advised President Muhammadu Buhari to cut down his work hours so as to re-evaluate his campaign promises to Nigerians.
El-Rufai, who gave the advice while featuring on Channels television, also urged the president to reduce the number of visitors he receives daily.
He said the president needed to refocus on his anti-corruption war which he claims had not been succeeding as expected in recent times.
The former Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, also urged the president to focus on the diversification of the economy and the war against Boko Haram insurgency and insecurity.
According to El-Rufai, “Personally, I am very excited and very relieved that Mr President is back. Politically, of course, it raises Nigeria’s stability significantly and I’m sure (that) from Monday, you will see even how the markets will respond.
“For us in the APC and for many of us that are beneficiaries of Buhari’s political ascendance, this is a time of great happiness and gratitude to almighty God for bringing him back safely and well as well.
“I still believe that the President needs to be measured in his work hours. I would not want him to work between 12-18 hours a day as he used to. I think the traffic into his office and residence needs to be curtailed so that he would have more time to reflect.
“We have less than two years to deliver on most of our promises so I expect the President to refocus, make some administrative adjustments, (and) prioritise the three areas that he has always promised Nigerians.
“We’ve been losing lots of cases in the courts. I think there is need to refocus work on that and bring back the anti-corruption war on track fully.”
Commenting on the diversification of the economy, El-Rufai said, “The efforts to diversify the economy should continue in earnest – and, here, I believe the 36 state governments have a major role to play because Nigeria consists of 36 states and any improvement in the business environment must begin from the 36 states, not just Abuja.”
On the issue of Boko Haram insurgeny, the governor said, “Boko Haram has resurged in the absence of the President. Now that he is back, I expect more focus on the war against Boko Haram – to finish them off, whatever is left of them and to make Nigeria safer.
“We are very optimistic that these issues will be the ones Mr President will look at among other things, and bring back our country on track towards progress and as we prepare towards 2019 beginning from next year.”