The authors of “The Fight and Strides of Muhammadu Buhari against Corruption,” are calling out the President. Tony Osauzo and Nowinta Igbotako, authored the text that is supposed to be a biography of President Buhari. The book was publicly presented on February 12, 2019, during a grand occasion at the Bolingo Hotel and Tower, Abuja.
According to the authors, Buhari was represented at the event by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Mr Femi Adesina. It was also chaired by former Minister of State for Works Chris Ogiewonyi. They now urge the President to uphold his reputation as a man of integrity. They are asking him to keep his promise and fulfil the pledge he made nearly four years ago.
Osauzo and Igbotako also released a statement they both signed. In it, the authors claim that Adesina promised the President’s financial assistance for the book. This was in light of the honour the authors had shown the President. Particularly at a time when few had good things to say about him. It is quite unfortunate indeed that they are repaid this way. Adesina had also promised that his office, which serves as the Special Adviser, would also provide financial support for the book project.
“One year after the book presentation, we didn’t get feedback from Mr Adesina. We then contacted him and he told us to write a letter of request through him to Mr President as the first one he asked us to write was no longer tenable.
“We complied and after a period of time, he informed us that President Muhammadu Buhari had given a ‘generous financial approval’ for us and we were happy and appreciated him because he (Adesina) also wrote the foreword to our book on Mr President.
“From that moment on, each time we made enquiry about payment of the money, Mr Adesina repeatedly assured us that he would get the money paid to us before the end of President Buhari’s administration.
“Subsequently, he stopped responding to our communications to him. We are therefore, appealing to President Muhammadu Buhari to fulfill his pledge to us as a man known for integrity before he leaves office,” he added.
When contacted for his reaction, the President’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, neither responded to calls nor text messages sent to him by one of our correspondents. We wish the authors the best.
cc: Punch Ng
