PDP, APC Bicker Over Buhari’s ‘Achievements’

L-R: Chairman, Dangote Group of Companies, Alhaji Aliko Dangote; Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, President Muhammadu Buhari, Emir of Kano, Mahammadu Sanusi II and others, during a courtesy visit by members of the Blackstone Africa Infrastructure, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Friday

Barely 24 hours after the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), accused the former ruling  Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) of pervasive corruption that needed to be cleaned, before Nigeria will be able to actualise its potentials, the PDP, has responded, accusing the Presidency and the APC of deliberately resorting to diversionary blackmail and overused excuses to shy away from providing answers to the salient issue of unprecedented damage done to the nation’s economy in its 90 days in office.
The PDP said that rather than hide their heads in shame for poor performance in the last 90 days that has resulted in the sudden economic retrogression, the worst ever experienced by the nation, the APC and Presidency continue to grope and look for excuses.
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Olisa Metuh, in a statement, yesterday, said discerning minds were appalled that instead of providing answers to issues of economic retrogression, the Presidency and the APC have resorted to wild allegations and insults to attempt to cover their ineptitude and divert attention from their list of bogus promises which they have no intention to fulfill.
“The PDP has severally expressed its support for a holistic fight against corruption and we have challenged the Federal Government to investigate and prosecute all corrupt persons irrespective of ethnic and political affiliations. We are therefore appalled that instead of getting serious with the challenges of governance, the APC is bent on inventing excuse for its crass incompetence to create and manage wealth, to the detriment of the nation.
“We challenge the APC and the Presidency to be honest enough to respond to issues instead of resorting to propaganda. Is the so-called mess clearing an answer for the adamant stance of the APC and President Buhari in running a government without a cabinet and precise fiscal policy direction, a strange totalitarian approach that has taken serious toll on the economy and the polity in general?
“Is it an answer to the resort to constitutional violations, abuse of financial regulations, halting of development projects and the pervading uncertainty that resulted in the retarding of domestic and foreign direct investments with attendant avoidable losses to Nigerians?
“What has the APC and the Presidency to say to the official report by the National Bureau of Statistics that while they are busy celebrating imaginary achievements, the economy is running aground with real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunging with about 2.35%, with job creation dropping by 69 per cent under their watch?
“Are we not already experiencing the consequences of abuse of rules such as the foisting of foreign exchange transaction restrictions in violation of the Foreign Exchange Monitoring and Miscellaneous Provisions Act, otherwise known as Decree No. 17 of 1995?
“What is the APC-led government’s answer to the report by Fitch Rating, which alerted that Nigerian banks and other businesses in the sector are now at risk following the economic slowdown occasioned by the incompetence of the President Buhari-led APC government?
“Why have the government and the APC refused to provide answers to the recent depleting of funds inherited from the previous administration without recourse to appropriate statutory arms of government, while no corresponding improvement has been witnessed in the economy?
“We challenge this administration to present to Nigerians a score card of investments it has made in any critical sector of the economy in the last 90 days. What investment has the Buhari administration made in power, health, education, railway or petroleum sectors in the last 90 days, to warrant its posturing on achievements?
“Is the APC not artfully seeking to appropriate the achievements made by the PDP-led administration; such as the effort in ending polio, the improvement in power supply, the reopening of the refineries, among others which are dividends from numerous investments by the previous administrations?
“While we expect the present administration to be serious about the fight against corruption by ensuring that all corrupt persons are brought to book, especially those who, as major beneficiaries of corruption and sleazes associated with themselves and their allies, believe they now are now safe, as members of the APC.
In the same vein, we restate our caution against the current drama of politicizing the issue of corruption in the country, while turning blind eyes to reports of sleazes going on unchecked in government quarters under the current administration.
In a swift reaction, the All Progressives Congress (APC) listed new instances of the insane looting of the treasury by some officials of the Jonathan Administration, saying the corruption mess that characterized the administration was so pervasive that until it is cleaned, Nigeria will not be able to actualize its potentials.
In a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said: “Those who would rather give comfort to the looters by dismissing the media exposure of looting cases as mere hell-raising should realize that no sane person can be silent in the face of what is unfolding as the worst cases of brazen stealing of public funds in Nigeria’s history.
“On August 16th 2015, we listed some instances of the breath-taking looting of the treasury by some officials of the immediate past administration. Today, we bring three more heart-rendering cases to the attention of Nigerians. We will not relent until closure has been brought to this issue,” it said.
It listed the new cases as a mind-shattering $2.2 billion arms scandal; a $6.9 million fraud by the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to President Jonathan, committed under the guise of buying three mobile stages for the President; and N2.5 billion scam involving the rent of house boats.
The APC said that, “While those charged with handling these cases are finalizing the details of bringing the suspects to justice, our immediate concern is the attempt by the PDP, under whose umbrella the looting took place, to blame the Buhari Administration for the mess and then infer that things have been worse in Nigeria in the past 3 months under the APC-led federal government than in the 16 years under the PDP. This is totally provocative, shameless and uncharitable.
“They say we are yet to fulfil our campaign promises to Nigeria, but they have forgotten that if only the PDP/Jonathan administration had not stolen Nigeria blind, there would have been more than enough money to give school children in Nigeria not just one but three meals a day and even pay N5,000 to 50 million most vulnerable Nigerians, not just the 25 million we promised in our manifesto,” the APC said.
Despite the almost daily discovery of cases of corruption under the Jonathan Administration, the party assured Nigerians of better days ahead, as all its campaign promises will be kept because of the commitment and determination of President Buhari not only to cleaning the Augean Stable but also ensuring purposeful governance for the benefit of all Nigerians.
“It is clear to all Nigerians that the debilitating impact of 16 years of PDP’s misrule cannot be reversed in just 3 months. It is an obvious truth that it is always easier to destroy than to construct, but nothing will stand in the way of the Buhari Administration’s commitment to improving the quality of life of Nigerians and making our country to function again,” it said.
It said that a major clog in the wheel of faster progress for the new Nigeria under President Buhari has been the discovery that the pot housing the commonwealth has been licked dry by the looters of yesterday, hence the need to work meticulously to recover the looted funds and facilitate the delivery of good governance that will manifest in abundant jobs, strong economy and improved welfare and security for Nigerians.
APC said while the PDP, ever steeped in the pursuit of lies, presents the recently released data on job creation and economic growth as ‘clear signals’ that President Muhammadu Buhari is failing Nigerians, the disgraced party mischievously omitted the fact that those numbers are basically a manifestation of the disastrous final days of President Jonathan’s failed economic policies.
“The PDP omitted the fact that these numbers measure job creation and economic growth for the second quarter of 2015, which covers April to June 2015, a period in which President Jonathan was in office for 2 months while President Buhari was only just settling in to discover even more of the mess left for him to clear. No one in his or her right mind will hold someone more accountable for actions in just one month and exonerate another who was in the same office for two months.
“Since the PDP has become insular to global events, the APC will also like to educate the party that every country in the world is struggling to adjust to the effects of a global downturn at the moment. Only very few countries, if any, are growing as fast as they did, in say two years ago. From China, India, Russia, South Africa, to Ghana, Malaysia and Brazil, every country is feeling the effects of a sustained slowdown in global growth.
“The APC will also like to categorically say that it supports the policies of the CBN in its quest to ensure greater transparency in the Forex market and eliminate currency substitution in our economy. The CBN’s policy to stop cash deposits of foreign currency is in line with global best practices and has led to a drastic reduction in the BDC exchange rate for the Dollar, the party said.
It commended Nigerians for showing absolute understanding and faith in the leadership of President Buhari to change the way that Nigeria has been misruled in the last 16 years, and assured that, in the days ahead, the painstaking efforts of the President will manifest even more than Nigerians have already witnessed.
Earlier on Saturday, the national leadership of the PDP, had taken a swipe at the government of President Muhammadu Buhari and the APC, saying the nation’s economy under the Buhari administration is worse in 90 days.
According to the PDP, Nigerians have been scammed with empty promises since the President was inaugurated on May 29.
In a statement by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, the opposition stressed that   instead of gains, official reports showed that the last three months under the APC-led government had brought a sudden decline in the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), with attendant losses and hardship to the citizens, while government embarks on propaganda of imaginary achievements, in addition to attempts to foist harsh economic regime to cover its ineptitude.
Metuh said, “The   shambolic state of the nation’s economy within the period, which represents the worst in the nation’s contemporary history, is a direct fallout of uncertainty created by the inability of the Buhari-led government to chart a clear-cut economic policy, worsened by abuse of regulations, and flagrant violation of constitutional provisions.
“If not for crass incompetence or a possible ulterior motive to subjugate Nigerians for selfish reasons, what else explains the adamant stance of this administration in running a government without the statutory components of a full cabinet and precise fiscal policy direction, even when the negative consequences of this strange totalitarian approach are taking serious toll on the economy and the polity in general?
“Whereas the APC led government is busy with its propaganda of imaginary achievements, official reports from the National Bureau of Statistics show that that the economy is being grounded with Nigeria’s real Gross Domestic Product (GDP) plunging with about 2.35%, while job creation has dropped by 69 per cent”