The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed has said President Muhamadu Buhari's frequent trips abroad, especially to the oil producing nations became imperative because of the urgent need to rally support for the stability of the global oil prices and also to attract Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) into the country.

While justifying the need to stabilise the prices of crude oil, which will help prop up the country's currency, he stressed that the president has been spending countless times outside the country lobbying and rallying round to find solution to the crash in oil prices.

"The is why the president cannot stay here", he said. According to him, "staying here in Nigeria is like an army general who in the face of war remains in the bunker."

Mohammed who made the disclosure while fielding questions from a radio station weekend in Abuja, said the fact that the present administration being led by Buhari is still managing to drive the economy is a credit on its side.

He berated critics of the administration as mischief makers, adding that "the economic situation has become completely out of the control of government as the global economic meltdown is having a negative spiral effect on the economy". He said Nigeria cannot determine the price of crude or gas.

"That is why the president has been spending countless times lobbying and rallying other oil exporting countries on how to stabilise the oil prices and how to attract other investments into the country."

Asked on Nigeria's recent move to partner the Islamic Organisation, he said: "I think that we should not be too finicky on who offers to partner you in fighting terrorism, after all we went to the US, we went to France, we went to the United Nations (UN), and in each of these countries we received collaboration either in terms of sharing experiences intelligence, training of our people or giving us equipment.

"If the Islamic organisation says that they want to partner us in fighting terrorism, I do not think that we should read any religious colouration or meanings to it. Don't let us forget that many of them are facing the same problem that we have they are facing insurgencies the Maghreb and the Middle East are presently facing insurgencies and so they say they are going to partner us in fighting terrorism is not the same thing as Islamic country."

The minister said the introduction of the Treasury Single Account (TSA), has helped to save the country large sums of sum that would have gone into private pockets. He said: "This has helped Nigeria to block a lot of leakages."

"For instance several ghost workers are being detected at the federal level and a lot of money saved. You can see the leakage and government has said that it will take the burst in the oil prices to actually look into other areas and diversify the economy, that even when oil bounces back, it will not become our main source of revenue.

"And that is why the government has insisted that in the 2016 budget, 30 per cent of it will be spent on infrastructure like railways, electricity and roads." He explained that once the infrastructure bases are properly laid, and provided, then diversification of the economy begins, adding that the economy cannot be diversified without basic infrastructure.

He admitted that the naira is today in free fall, adding that what determines the exchange of the naira is a country's export and import and trade balance and the general economy.

Mohammed said: "Our total earning before now, a barrel of oil was selling for about N100 per barrel; today it is about N30 per barrel. If you look at the cost of production we have lost about 70 per cent, not only was oil responsible for all our income it was also responsible for our foreign exchange.

"Naturally there will be more pressure on the Naira and less dollars and more naira chasing the dollar and now look at the balance of trade it is negative. What do we do with trading and how much did we buy from them and how they buy from us, unfortunately it is negative we take more from them than they take from us", he wondered.