President Muhammadu Buhari on Wednesday insisted that he inherited security challenge and ailing economy at the inception of his administration in 2015.

According to a statement by his Senior Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, the President spoke while receiving the new President of Sierra Leone, Mr. Julius Bio, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.

The statement read, “President Buhari noted that he shared a lot in common with the Sierra Leonean President, which includes ruling the country as a military general, contesting several elections as opposition and winning to face the challenges of security and an ailing economy,” the statement.

Buhari assured Bio that Nigeria would give his country the necessary support.

“We will continually stand by you to ensure stability in your country. We believe security in the West Coast region, Africa and the world should be a collective concern,” he said.

In his remarks, the President of Sierra Leone said his country remained grateful to Nigeria.

He said, “Nigeria and Sierra Leone are two sister countries that have enjoyed a great relationship spanning over several years and this relationship has been tested severally.

Bio added, “I came today to express our country’s gratitude to the Federal Republic of Nigeria for standing by us during our time of need, when we had the civil war.”

Meanwhile, the Peoples Democratic Party has faulted the claim by President Buhari that he inherited a bad economy when he took power in 2015.

The National Publicity Secretary of the PDP, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, who made the rebuttal in a telephone interview with one of our correspondents in Abuja, on Wednesday, said, “With all due respect, President Buhari inherited the fastest growing economy in Africa when he took over from the PDP administration in 2015.

“He came to power without a clear cut economic policy; his administration mismanaged the economy and threw up the recession we suffered.

“At the earliest turn of his administration, he embarked on the de-marketing of our nation; he embarked on a foreign exchange policy which pursued a multiplicity of exchange rates which led to foreign investors leaving in their numbers.”

(PUNCHNG)