Nigeria’s economic problems are not beyond the control of President Muhammadu Buhari or his administration, the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, has said. He was responding to a newspaper publication which quoted him as having said the contrary.

In a statement issued this morning by his Special Assistant Segun Adeyemi, the minister said: “On Saturday morning, I appeared on a Radio show here in Abuja at which I spoke extensively on the issues affecting our country, especially the economy.

“To my surprise, my views were twisted and I was reported to have said that the economy of our country is beyond the control of the President.

“This is a gross misrepresentation of what I said. I could not have said our economy is out of the control of our President or the administration he heads. As a matter of fact, this Administration has decided to turn the economic disaster‎ that we inherited to a blessing by diversifying our economy.

“I don’t know the reason behind the gross distortion of my comments on the radio today, but whatever the motive is, Nigerians should disregard such distortion and continue to support our President and his Administration to take our country out of the woods.”

•Photo shows Lai Mohammed.