Mr Adesina revealed this on Wednesday at a programme titled Media Dialogue with Femi Adesina organised by the Association of Veteran Journalists in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
Mr. Femi Adesina, who was Special Adviser on Media to former President Muhammadu Buhari, has said his principal told him there were things he could have done better during his time as Nigerian President.
Mr Adesina revealed this on Wednesday at a programme titled Media Dialogue with Femi Adesina organised by the Association of Veteran Journalists in Osogbo, the Osun State capital.
He said Buhari told him about his regrets during a two-hour conversation in which he asked all manner of questions, during which he agreed that there were things he could have done better as President.
Adesina was quoted by PUNCH saying: “There is no living human being that will not regret certain things. It is one of the questions I asked the president.
“Before we left office, I sat with him for about two hours and I asked him every question under the sun and when we finished, he asked what I gave to Chief of Protocol that he gave so long a time with him. There was no question I didn’t ask him. There were things he (Buhari) felt could have been done better.”
Adesina defended parts of the administration’s actions, saying the naira redesign strategy, while causing hardship for Nigerians, enabled the country to reduce crime, particularly abduction, and curtailed meddling in the 2023 elections.
According to him, Buhari served the country well, and any shortcomings in his leadership should not be entirely pinned on him.
He continued: “The policy (naira redesign) brought hardship to Nigerians. I had N20,000 which I stretched for almost two weeks. There was a day I had a full house and we wanted to cook breakfast but midway, the gas finished.
“When they came to tell me that the gas has finished, I didn’t know what to do because to fill that big cylinder, I needed N40,000 but I didn’t have it. I was special adviser to the president but I didn’t have the cash. One boy living with me had to bail me out to fill that gas which I refunded.
“So, it was everybody that bore that brunt. You will recall that even during that time, there was no kidnapping. I remember some people went to kidnap an APC chairman or is it secretary in Kano. After holding him for three days and nobody was calling to ask how much they will collect because there was no cash, they just slapped him three times and told him to go.
“Even kidnappers were out of business because there was no naira and do you know that we have a cleaner election because of that policy?”
“Nine serving governors couldn’t go to the Senate. They contested but lost. Have you ever seen a governor who will contest an election and will not win? But because there was no money to spread around, they couldn’t win. The policy was not bad in its entirety. There were issues with it but it was not bad in its entirety,” Adesina said.
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