Lai Mohammed questions authenticity of Trump's remarks in which he called Buhari lifeless

GOVERNMENT ministers have questioned the authenticity of a statement reportedly made by US President Donald Trump describing President Muhammadu Buhari as a lifeless leader who he found boring when they met earlier this year.

On Aril 30, President Trump hosted President Buhari at the White House and yesterday, it was reported by UK newspaper the Financial Times that a close aide of the US leader said that he did not enjoy the meeting. According to the newspaper, President Trump said he never wanted to meet someone as lifeless as President Buhari again.

However, Nigeria's information minister Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said that if President Trump said so, it would be of no significance since he had earlier publicly endorsed President Buhari. He also questioned the veracity of the story.

Alhaji Mohammed said: “I doubt the authenticity of the claim that the President of the USA said that but if truly he said so, then it is of no significance to us. This is because the same Trump publicly endorsed and applauded the president for a job well done.”

Also, the Buhari Media Organisation (BMO) has rubbished the report, insisting that President Buhari was fit and capable of running for the 2019 elections. In a statement by the group’s chairman and secretary, Niyi Akinsiju and Cassidy Maduekwe, BMO noted that this was not the first time President Trump was heard to make such derogatory remarks of world leaders, so President Buhari would not be distracted by it.

They said: “President Muhammadu Buhari is fit and capable to run for the 2019 elections and oversee the affairs of the country for four more years, President Donald Trump’s hate speech notwithstanding. We are aware that President Trump’s disrespect for world leaders is not new.

"His comments on Canada’s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau calling him meek and mild, his reference to Germany’s leader Angela Merkel’s actions as insane, or his outlandish Tweet of the UK’s Theresa May and more recently, the alleged remarks he made after meeting President Buhari. It is indeed not the first time President Trump would be heard to lower the standards of respect for his colleagues on the world stage, so we are not surprised."

"We know that this age-long character of the US president would not change anytime soon but it is important that we put it on record that President Buhari remains fit and sprightly, even for the next decade. We recall that during President Buhari’s visit to Trump in the White House, the US president commended the successes that the Buhari administration had recorded especially in the fight against insurgency and the war on corruption.

“The US president was full of admiration for Nigeria’s president during the visit, thus such outlandish remarks as reported by the Financial Times are not just to be taken with a pinch of salt but are untrue in themselves.”