A special assistant to former President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Malam Garba Shehu, has stated how the former president turned down 10% cut practice by a construction giant working in Nigeria.
Garba Shehu, in his book titled “According to the President: Lessons from a Presidential Spokesperson’s Experience” launched Tuesday in Abuja, also revealed how the president ordered him to return a wristwatch with diamonds sent to him as a gift.
The book said a delegation of the board of directors of a giant construction company handling government contracts such as roads, railways, bridges and facilities management (name withed) visited Buhari at the State House.
He told the delegation: “We have been informed that percentage cuts – 10 per cent or more – are built into your contracts, to be shared among government leaders and civil servants. This must stop. We will not accept kickbacks.
“We have equally been informed that you, as handlers of major contracts, build homes for government leaders, you buy expensive cars and maintain them for the beneficiaries, when they, or close relations fall ill, you take them to hospitals abroad, including the use of air ambulances when that is warranted at no cost to them.
“Our finding is that nothing you give is free. All such costs are built into government contracts. We don’t want that to continue.
“You have built a strong reputation over the years for doing good jobs, delivering them on time. The roads you built all over this city (Abuja) are still in good shape. You built the State House, Aso Rock Villa. So, we will continue to patronise your services. But the high costs will be checked.
“From now on, the added costs and all this padding must end. If we ask for quotations from you, tell us the actual cost that the project entails. No 10 per cent, no added costs,” Buhari declared.
The author also revealed how the president ordered him to return a gift he had received for him.
It reads:”On another occasion, a Nigerian American Icon in the global luxury watch and jewellery industry gave me a wristwatch studded with diamonds, with the picture of the president embossed on its face.”
Shehu stated that when he presented the timepiece to the president, he commended the success of the brand overseas, adding that he should keep the flag of Nigeria flying “but directed that the gift be politely returned. I dutifully did so,” he stated.