By Clifford Ndujihe & Henry
Umoru
ABUJA — NATIONAL leadership of the
Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday, took a swipe at President Muhammadu
Buhari, asking him and the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, to urgently
articulate an economic direction and stop appropriating the achievements of
former President Goodluck Jonathan.
The APC immediately countered that
there is nothing to appropriate from an administration that misruled the
country for 16 years, adding that President Buhari will not be distracted by
paranoid people.
According to PDP, instead of trying
to poach achievements to earn undeserved praise, the APC and its government
should brace up, articulate a precise economic policy, assemble an economic
team and urgently commence the delivery of their promises, for which they were
voted.
Jonathan and Buhari
In a statement by its National
Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the PDP stressed that it was
disappointing that a government, which came to power on claims of high moral
ground, rather than focus on delivering its promises “is dancing around the
achievements of the previous government in an attempt to make the public
believe that recorded successes in critical sectors are theirs.
“The PDP counsels the APC to always
be sincere and stop appropriating the achievements of the past administration
as theirs. The APC and President Buhari should make haste and activate the
various economic outlets which have been stagnated as a result of their obvious
inability to articulate a clear-cut economic policy for the nation.
On fight against insurgents
“For instance, how do we explain
APC’s spirited efforts to make the public believe that the equipping of the
country’s military for the fights against insurgency, the turn around of the
nation’s oil refineries and the polio-free certification of Nigeria were
products of their government even when it is common knowledge that they have
not been able to find their bearing for governance since their election into
office?
“If the former National Security
Adviser, NSA, Col. Sambo Dasuki (rtd) had not been courageous enough to release
those incontrovertible facts that the Goodluck Jonathan-led PDP administration
actually fortified the country’s military before leaving office in May, the APC
would have succeeded in its propaganda against that administration and led
Nigerians to believe that the equipping was a product of President Buhari’s
recent diplomatic shuttles.
“It is an obvious fact that before
the May 29 handover to the APC, the Nigerian armed forces, using these
equipment sourced under the watch of the PDP government, had already pushed the
insurgents to the verge of surrender in the Sambisa forest, only for them to
now resurge under the APC-led government due to apparent lack of direction and
confusion that have characterized this administration.
On refineries
“In the same way, this government
has positioned itself to claim credit for the turn around and resuscitation of
some of the nation’s oil refineries without reference to the past
administration that initiated and executed the Turn Around Maintenance, TAM, of
the facilities years back, which dividends the nation now enjoys and which we
expect will result in steady supply of petroleum products in our nation.
“Similarly, informed Nigerians note
with dismay how the APC administration has been celebrating the certification
of Nigeria as polio-free in the last one year by the World Health Organization,
WHO, without giving credit to the PDP-led government under whose watch
the feat was achieved.
“While the PDP well understands the
nervousness of the APC and its government in the challenge of fulfilling their
bogus promises upon which they rode to power, such does not in any way
rationalize the resort to deceit and flagrant appropriation of another’s
achievements, a thing no serious, credible and honest government will do.”
Govt without a cabinet
Metuh, who noted that the PDP finds
it unacceptable, not withstanding the reasons being adduced, for a government
in a democratic setting to run for almost three months without a cabinet and
any policy direction whatsoever, said: “This is the first time since
independence that our nation has stayed without a complete composition of
government for three months. Unfortunately, the negative effect of this
anomaly, which has taken a huge toll on the country’s economy and the welfare
of Nigerians will be with us in the coming years.
“We express this concern against the
backdrop of information that unpatriotic persons close to government are
already hounding civil servants for inflated concessions, allocations, jobs and
other favours being unduly granted, making the system fertile for heavy
financial sleaze in the absence of appropriate statutory supervising officers.
“This is in addition to the
avoidable economic downturn now manifesting in the abandonment of ongoing
infrastructural projects, crippling of foreign and domestic investments and
continued slide in the money and capital markets.
“We want to reiterate our earlier
call on Nigerians to continue to pray for President Buhari, who for obvious
reasons is surrounded by people whose divergent personal interests have become
a huge burden on our dear nation, the integrity of this government, the health
of our economy and sustenance of our democracy.”
Orchestrated distractions won’t
deter Buhari —APC
Countering, the APC said the
distractions being orchestrated by certain elements in the polity will not
deter the Buhari administration from its avowed determination to rescue Nigeria
from the clutches of those who are holding the country by the jugular.
In a statement issued in Lagos by
its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the
people, including fringe elements, who have frenetically engaged in fault
finding with the Buhari administration, are those who either have skeletons in
their cupboards or those who are acting at their behest, for a fee.
‘’These paranoid and skittish people
daily run to the media to disparage the Buhari administration. Grasping at
their straws, they condemn and criticize everything from appointments to the
war against corruption and the battle against insecurity, even though the party
to which they belong had 16 years to make things right for Nigeria but chose to
suck the country dry, enthrone insecurity and pauperize the citizenry.
“Their design is simple: Make enough
incoherent noise in the media with the hope that the administration will be
distracted. Unfortunately for them, they have failed in their evil machination,
because this President can neither be deterred nor be distracted. While their
dogs continue to bark, the caravan of the Buhari Administration proceeds on its
steadfast journey.”
APC said while a virile opposition
is indispensable in any democracy that is worth its salt, no opposition can
succeed by dwelling on the mundane or engaging in bare-faced lies, adding that
only good research, strict adherence to the truth and a focus on real issues
rather than frivolities can make the opposition relevant.
It wondered how the APC-led Federal
Government can be blamed for the blatant refusal of the last administration to
adequately equip the military to confront the Boko Haram insurgency, when even
an appointee of the administration told the whole world that he was the head of
a military that lacked the relevant equipment and motivation to fight an
insurgency
“What achievement is there for anyone
to appropriate from an administration that will go down in history as the most
rapacious, incompetent and clueless in the history of our nation?”
Buhari’s achievementsin 3 months
APC said in less than three months
of its existence, the Buhari administration has started off on a strong footing
in many areas, including the fight against insurgency, the battle against
corruption, the reorganization of the oil sector that was the private piggy
bank of the last administration, the bailout of many states that could not pay
the salaries of their workers, the revival of the Nigerian dream, the resetting
of Nigeria’s diplomatic relations with the rest of the global community and the
overdue clean-up of the Niger Delta region, which was shockingly ignored by a President
from that region.
‘’With its sure-footed efforts in
all the listed areas already attracting national and international acclaim,
does it not beggar belief that the same Buhari administration will be accused
by the apologists of the failed regime of appropriating their dubious
achievements?’’ the party said.
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