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Presidency says Buhari’s comment on future invitations to Imo was misquoted

Adesina says the president’s speech was twisted out of context by “purveyors of misinformation.”

President Muhammadu Buhari visits Imo state. (Channels)

The Presidency has cleared the air on President Muhammadu Buhari’s comment regarding his future invitations to Imo state.

The President’s concluding comment during his recent visit to the state had said ''I will be careful with your future invitations''.

The remark has since been subjected to varying interpretations.

But in a statement on Sunday, September 12, 2021, Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, said the president’s speech was twisted out of context by “purveyors of misinformation.”

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The statement reads, “We have observed that President Buhari’s concluding remarks at the meeting with South-East Leaders during his one-day visit to Imo State is being deliberately contorted and twisted out of context.

“The purveyors of disinformation want Nigerians to believe that the President bluntly told Governor Uzodinma, ‘’I’ll be careful with your future invitations.’

“They have adduced different meanings to the phrase, contrary to the context wherein the President spoke during his successful dialogue with leaders of thought from Igbo land.

“When he arrived at the banquet hall of Imo State Government House for his last assignment in Owerri, the President was welcomed by over 50 leaders from the South East who had waited patiently for him for a Town Hall engagement, after commissioning strategic projects in the State.”

Adesina said an elated Buhari during his meeting with southeast leaders made it clear that he was overwhelmed by the reception and galaxy of personalities that came to have a heart-to-heart discussion with him in Owerri.

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He quoted the president as saying, ‘‘I am overwhelmed by this reception, overwhelmed in the sense that when I accepted the invitation by the Imo State Governor, who wants to justify investments the government has done to the people of Imo State, I thought I would see the bridges, the roads, and a few renovations.

“He didn’t tell me he was going to get the whole Igbo leadership here. So in the future when he invites me, I’ll know what to do. But I think he has done what the military didn’t like. He has achieved surprise. He has surprised me beyond description.’’

Concluding, the president referenced his earlier remarks on the ‘‘surprise’’ the governor pulled and said; “Governor of Imo State, I cannot thank you enough, but I will be careful with your future invitations.’’

The Presidency said the remark has no other meaning than the light nature with which the president made the statement.

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