The Presidency has said there is nothing wrong in having ‘cabals’ around the President, Muhammadu Buhari, which help him to run government.
It said every government around the world had such people. It also re-emphasised the need to regulate the social media, saying its abuse had wrecked many homes and lives.
The Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mallam Garba Shehu, stated this while addressing a cross-section of journalists in Abuja.
Shehu said many of the people that were wrongly referred to as members of cabals were successful people, who were making extreme sacrifices to serve in government.
He said, “Some of them have no need to be around government. In fact, to some of our elite, the President is a bad man because you cannot go to him and say give me oil well and he will sign the paper and give you.
“So, we understand the game that is playing out and there is always a price, in any case, to pay for that kind of exposure. Even the kind of things that are being said of the President himself, if he did not offer himself to serve, people would not even have the chance to say them against him. So, we will live with it, we will accept it because it goes with the territory.”
Highlighting the need for regulation, Shehu lamented that social media had become a problem for many families because the rights of women and children were being abused.
The former NUJ President stated that the move to regulate social media was not political.