WE WILL DO EVERYTHING TO SUSTAIN NIGERIA’S UNITY – OSINBAJO

Acting President Yemi Osinbajo has assured that the Buhari administration will do everything to sustain unity of the country and peaceful co-existence among the citizens.

According to him, doing so will give room for more development and enhance welfare of the people.

The Acting President made the remark at his official residence, also known as Aguda House, where he received the Muslim community in Abuja and who paid him Sallah homage to mark the 2017 Eid-el-Fitr.

Receiving the delegation on behalf of President Muhammadu Buhari, the acting president said, “Your ethnicity doesn’t matter and that is why for us unity is so important that we must work together to make sure that our country is able to take care of the millions of people we govern. God expects us to take care of the poor and those suffering, to ensure that we use government resources only in such a way that will be of good to the majority of our people”.

While re-echoing President Buhari’s sallah message to citizens, saying that the country must remain united, Osinbajo enumerated the gains of unity to include love towards one another, integrity, enjoying the endowments of the nation, gaining respect globally and diversity among others.

“Our unity is not negotiable. We should make sure that we remain united in order to enjoy the resources God has blessed Nigeria with. So many nations envy what we have as a nation,” he said.

The Acting President used the opportunity to pray for President Buhari’s quick recovery and return to Nigeria, adding that the president still has a lot to do for Nigeria.

His words: “We are praying everyday and we know that the Lord God Almighty who we serve will bring our president back in good health and that he will serve this nation with the same determination and the same spirit of oneness, the same spirit that he has always served this nation from when he was a young man.

“He will serve this nation and complete the period of his service in good health, in good shape and our country will be the better for it”.

Speaking earlier, leader of the delegation and Minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mohammed Bello, said paying Sallah homage was customary as a mark of respect for the president.

He thanked security agencies, religious and traditional rulers in the FCT for playing a great role in sustaining the peace being enjoyed in Nigeria’s capital city.

He said the kind of harmonious relationship they have exhibited needs to be replicated in the 36 states of the federation.

There were goodwill messages from the acting Imam of Abuja National Mosque, Mohammad Kabir Adamu and the Chairman of the Christian Association off Nigeria, FCT Chapter, Reverend Samson Jonah, who both prayed for the quick recovery of President Buhari.

The clerics commended the acting president for guiding the country so well in the absence of his principal.

The delegation that paid Osinbajo the annual traditional Sallah homage also included Imams from the National Mosque, Abuja; representatives of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN); the Aso Villa Chapel and Traditional Rulers from the FCT.

Also present were senior government officials, including the Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Walter Onnoghen; Deputy Chief of Staff to the president, Mr Ade Ipaye; members of the National Assembly; Security Chiefs, including the National Security Adviser, Chief of Defence Staff, Inspector-General of Police, Director General of the Department of State Services and acting chairman of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission; FCT Area Council Chairmen and senior officials of the Federal Capital Territory Administration (FCTA).