Full Transcript of President Buhari's Latest CNN Interview

On Tuesday, President Muhammadu Buhari was interviewed by CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. Read full transcript of the interview below:


AMANPOUR: President Buhari, welcome back to the program.
BUHARI: Thank you.

AMANPOUR: Mr. President, you have asked the United States to help you in the fight against Boko Haram. What exactly did you ask in this regard? What do you need? And what answer did the president, Obama, give you?
BUHARI: United States, leader of the G7, promised to do what they can to help Nigeria. So we have brought our requirements in terms of training, equipping and intelligence gathering for Nigeria to be able to fight Boko Haram.

AMANPOUR: And you mentioned the economy and the falling in oil prices over the last many months. How are you going to deal with that? Because that is really what your people want.
BUHARI: My people firstly, I believe, they want the security (ph) in the country to be stabilized so that normal life, both in the southern part of the country, where the militants are still sabotaging oil installations and kidnapping people and demanding ransom, and in the northeast of the country, where Boko Haram is still active. This is the military occupation of Nigeria now and is the reality of (INAUDIBLE). Nothing will work until the country is secure.

AMANPOUR: But despite your vows to tackle Boko Haram, there are reports in your own country that there have been at least 400 deaths by that group since you became president. Added to that, Amnesty International reports that your military has totally lost the credibility and trust of the people because of the systematic human rights abuses, the killing of some 8,000 people. How do you expect your military to be able to go against Boko Haram, to get the trust of the people instead of being a platform for Boko Haram’s grievances?
BUHARI: Well, I have just mentioned that, under Lake Chad Basin Commission, we have agreed to form a multinational joint task force. So whatever happened before that decision was taken, we have to allow further investigation to verify the question of human rights abuse. And with that, I’m sure you must have known the decision taken by this government, the federal government of Nigeria, in changing the military command.

AMANPOUR: What about the girls, the famous Chibok girls, the 200 or so who were abducted so long ago? Yet again there’s been a suggestion that the Boko Haram captors may trade them, may seek to trade them for incarcerated inmates, who they want to get out. Is your government willing to trade those girls in that regard?
BUHARI: We have to be very careful about the credibility of various Boko Haram leaderships coming up and declaring that they can deliver. We have to be very careful indeed. And we are taking our time because we want to bring them safe back to their parents and to their school.

AMANPOUR: So are you in principle against or would you consider negotiating with Boko Haram if you can verify the credibility of those who approach you?
BUHARI: I cannot be (INAUDIBLE). I told you our main objective as a government is to secure those girls safe and sound back to their schools and rehabilitated them to go back to normal life. So if we are convinced that the leadership has presented itself can deliver those girls, (INAUDIBLE) who will be (INAUDIBLE) negotiate what they want.