Owie hails Buhari’s apology over dissolution of varsity governing councils

BENIN—FORMER Chief Whip of the Senate, Senator Rowland Owie, has said that President Muhammadu Buhari’s recent apology for dissolving the governing councils of universities and later retracing his steps when he discovered it was illegal, was an indication of the quality of a good leader. President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the opening of a 2-day National Economic Council Retreat at the Statehouse Conference Centre on 21st March 2016. President Muhammadu Buhari and Vice President Yemi Osinbajo at the opening of a 2-day National Economic Council Retreat at the Statehouse Conference Centre on 21st March 2016. He, however, urged the President to be wary of people he described as palace jesters, saying that Buhari’s recent endorsement for a second term by the leadership of the All Progressives Congress, APC, was a bad omen for the President. His words: “I thank President Buhari for having the humility to apologize for dissolving the governing councils earlier on and retracing his steps when he discovered it was against existing laws. That is a good leadership quality. However, I want to advise him against palace jesters that are always available in Aso Villa and in Government Houses in the states. “I laughed when I read that your party leaders told you that there is no vacancy in the villa in 2019. Mr President, don’t be deceived, there is full vacancy from within and outside. There will be many contenders. Not too long ago, I saw posters of APC candidates for FCT Council election 2016 carrying your photographs and those of the various candidates.”