President Muhammadu Buhari has ordered that prompt and appropriate disciplinary action be taken against officials responsible for inserting plagiarised paragraphs in his ‘change begins with me’ campaign speech, Presidential Media Aide, Garba Shehu said on Friday.
Shehu, in a statement released in Abuja, acknowledged that the Presidency had seen the similarities between a paragraph in President Obama’s 2008 Victory Speech and paragraph nine of Buhari’s sixteen-paragraph address at the launch of the campaign.
He added that already a Deputy Director in the Presidency had taken responsibility for the insertion of the paragraph in question .
The campaign which was launched eight days ago sought to re-orientate and change the attitude and mindset of Nigerians in line with the current administration’s fight against corruption.
Indications emerged early Friday that the President had lifted a part of the victory speech read by America’s President, Barack Obama after he won the 2008 elections.
“We must resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship, pettiness, and immaturity that have poisoned our country for so long. Let us summon a new spirit of responsibility, spirit of service, of patriotism and sacrifice, Let us all resolve to pitch in and work hard and look after, not only ourselves but one another.
“What the current problem has taught us is that we cannot have a thriving army of rent seekers and vested interests, while the majority suffers,” Buhari said in his speech.
While the paragraph in contention from Obama’s speech read: “Let’s resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.
“So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other. “Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it’s that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.”
Shehu who said the mistake was made by an overzealous staff added that the President has urged Nigerians to look beyond the incident and focus on the message of change which the country needs in order to restore our cherished value systems.
“While inaugurating the Campaign on Thursday, September 8, 2016, are too close to be passed as coincidence.
“There was a mistake by an overzealous staff and we regret that this has happened. “Already, a Deputy Director in the Presidency has accepted responsibility for the insertion of the contentious paragraph.
“This serious oversight will be investigated thoroughly and appropriate sanction meted. “The Presidency wishes to state in the clearest possible terms that it regrets this unfortunate incident and will ensure that this does not happen again” the statement by Shehu read in part.
