SPECIAL Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on media and publicity, Femi Adesina, has said the president sold his property to access foreign exchange (forex) for his child’s education.

According to The Cable report, Adesina, who could not confirm if the president got forex from official sources or the parallel market, said one would have to ask the president himself.

The Cable quoted Adesina speaking in an interview with Osasu Igbinedion, on The Osasu Show, as saying that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) was experiencing paucity of forex.

Corroborating Adesina’s stance, the president himself had earlier said in an interview with Al Jazeera that it would, henceforth, be “tough luck” for those who are (or wish to school abroad) to access forex.

“Those who can afford foreign education for their children can go ahead, but Nigeria cannot afford to allocate foreign exchange to those who decided to train their children outside the country,” he said in March.

Asked if the president could afford the education of his children abroad, Adesina said: “You will need to ask him.

“Don’t forget it was in the public domain even before he became president that when one of his children needed to go abroad, he had to sell his property; maybe it was his house in Lagos or somewhere.”

“Anybody who wants to train a child abroad must be sure that he or she can afford it. If you can afford it, no problem.

“At a time like this, when there is paucity of foreign exchange, what the president is simply saying is that the CBN may not be able to provide forex, but you can always buy your forex at the parallel market if that is what you want,” Adesina said.

Though the CBN had not officially banned the access to forex for education and medical bills, the president had said explicitly that the country could not afford it.

Source: Tribune