Former Ghanaian President, Jerry Rawlings distances himself from Buhari's controversial comments on Nigerian youths

Former Ghanaian President, Jerry John Rawlings has distanced himself from comments made by President Buhari, on Nigerian youths.

Recall that Buhari described Nigerian youths as 'lazy people who are always desperate for freebies' while speaking at the 25th Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting on Wednesday, April 18 in London.

“About the economy. We have a very young population, our population is estimated conservatively to be 180 million," Buhari said. "This is a very conservative one. More than 60 percent of the population is below 30, a lot of them haven’t been to school and they are claiming that Nigeria is an oil-producing country, therefore, they should sit and do nothing, and get housing, health care, education free.”

A statement issued on Sunday, April 22, by the office of Mr Rawlings, noted that in recent days several Nigerian news portals and social media pages reportedly claimed that he has declared his support for Buhari's comments.

The former President said that any comment purportedly coming from him on the issue is false.

“The office wishes to state that former President Rawlings has made no comment whatsoever nor issued a statement on the comments by President Buhari,” a statement issued by Mr Rawlings office said. "Any comments purportedly coming from Mr. Rawlings are false and a creation of individuals who wish to use the former President of Ghana’s name for their own political interests".

Read the entire statement below;

April 22, 2018
FORMER PRESIDENT RAWLINGS HAS MADE NO COMMENTS ON PRESIDENT BUHARI STATEMENTS ON NIGERIAN YOUTH

The attention of the office of Flt. Lt. Jerry John Rawlings, former President of Ghana, has been drawn to a post on various media, especially in Nigeria, professing his support for comments made by President Muhammadu Buhari on Nigerian youth.

The office wishes to state that former President Rawlings has made no comment whatsoever nor issued a statement on the comments by President Buhari.

Any comments purportedly coming from Mr. Rawlings are false and a creation of individuals who wish to use the former President of Ghana’s name for their own political interests.