Adesina made this known in Osogbo, yesterday, at a programme, tagged Media Dialogue with Femi Adesina, organised by Association of Veteran Journalists in Osun State.

The former spokesperson said before Buhari left office, he had a two-hour chat with him, during which he (Adesina) asked all manners of questions.

He said during the interview, he asked his principal what his regrets were, and Buhari expressed disappointment that certain things could have been done better.

Adesina, who did not disclose Buhari’s particular regrets, said: “There is no living being that will not regret certain things. It was one of the questions I asked the President.

“Before we left the office, I sat with him for about two hours and asked him every question under the sun. And when we finished, he asked what I gave to the Chief of Protocol that he gave so long a time with him. There was no question I didn’t ask. There were things he (Buhari) felt could have been done better.”

Defending some of the actions of the administration, Adesina said the naira redesign policy, although it exposed Nigerians to hardship, was not altogether a bad policy, as it reduced crime, especially kidnapping, and curbed manipulations in the 2023 polls.

He said Buhari served the country diligently, noting that inadequacies in the way he governed could not be entirely blamed on him.

He said: “The policy (naira redesign) brought hardship to Nigerians. I had N20,000, which I stretched for almost two weeks. There was a day I had a full house and we wanted to cook breakfast. But midway, the gas finished.

“When they came to tell me that the gas had finished, I didn’t know what to do because to fill that big cylinder, I needed N40,000. But I didn’t have it. I was Special Adviser to the President but I didn’t have cash. One boy living with me had to bail me out to fill the gas, and I refunded.

“So, it was everybody that bore the brunt. You will recall that even during that time, there was no kidnapping. I remember some people went to kidnap an APC chairman, or was it secretary, in Kano. After holding him for three days, nobody called to ask how much they would collect, because there was no cash, they just slapped him three times and told him to go.”

Adesina added: “Even kidnappers were out of business because there was no naira. And do you know that we had a cleaner election because of that policy?

“Nine serving governors couldn’t go to the Senate. They contested but lost. Have you ever seen a governor contest an election and not win? But because there was no money to spread around, they couldn’t win. The policy was not bad in its entirety. There were issues with it, but it was not bad in its entirety.”