Femi Adesina: Buhari likely to dissolve cabinet before May 29

Femi Adesina, presidential spokesman, says President Muhammadu
Buhari will likely dissolve his cabinet before May 29.

After assuming office in 2015, it took Buhari six months to
unveil his cabinet and this attracted widespread criticisms.

But speaking on Arise Television on Thursday, Adesina said the
president will not spend a long time before choosing his cabinet
members.

He said the president had already promised to do so as soon as
possible.

When asked if the president would reshuffle his cabinet, Adesina
said: “One thing about governance is that the first mandate was for
four years.

“That mandate lapses on May 29, and shortly before May 29, the
president is likely going to officially dissolve his government.
That is the way it is usually done.

“He says thank you to everybody that he has called to work with
him and then he dissolves that government officially.

“Then when he is inaugurated for a second time, he now
reconstitute a government; he appoints his personal aides, he forms
his cabinet, he appoints other people to fill other positions.”

Buhari was declared winner of the presidential election by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (EFCC) on Wednesday.

The president, candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC),
won a second term bid after polling over 15 million votes to defeat
Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic
Party (PDP), who secured over 12 million votes in the election.

Armed Bandits Kill 5, Abduct 35 in Niger
State

Thirty-five persons have been declared missing in 17 communities
in the Rafi and Shiroro Local Government Areas of Niger State,
which were sacked by bandits.

It was learnt that five persons were killed during the
attack.

The Punch reports that a victim of the attack in Shiroro, Aliyu
Shuaibu that the bandits were cattle rustlers, who were in the
habit of raiding communities in the affected areas, “but this time,
they kidnapped our people in large numbers.”

“The armed men stormed our village in broad daylight and shot
repeatedly in the air; we had no choice but to flee into the
forest. Some of the families of my community members kidnapped by
the bandits have paid ransom to secure their freedom. At times, we
go the extra mile to source for money to free some of the villagers
held hostage by the bandits,” Shuaibu stated.

Another victim, Hafsat Ibrahim, said the attackers abducted
women, children and men, and took away their valuables.

Hassan Garba, who was abducted alongside his siblings, said he
was asked to provide N11m as ransom for their release.

“They released me to go and look for N11m ransom for the release
of my siblings, but I got only N1m and they released all of us. I
sold all our belongings to raise the N1m to secure the freedom of
my siblings, otherwise, they would have been killed by now,” he
said.

Governor Abubakar Bello has vowed to tackle the menace of the
hoodlums, promising that his administration would provide adequate
security for the people.

Bello made the vow when he visited the over 4,600 persons, who
were displaced by the attackers and camped in the Kagara and
Pandogari primary schools.

He stated that machinery was being put in place to ensure the
quick return of the victims to their communities.

“We are here to assess the situation and to do whatever we can
so that our people can return to their homes. We are taking actions
that will further improve peace and security in the affected
communities,” the governor said.

Source: https://punchng.com/35-missing-after-bandits-attack-niger-communities/^[1]