Buhari's 32 Days In Office Is Disappointing - PDP
Read Press statement from the PDP below;
As you are aware, today marks exactly thirty-two days of the inauguration of a new administration under the APC, which was elected into power over three months ago on the basis of their numerous promises to the Nigerian people.
Even though this government has continued to plead for patience, we are
worried that indications from President Muhammadu Buhari and his party
do not inspire desired confidence in the citizenry that they are
adequately equipped and ready to chart a direction for the enormous
challenges of governance.
In the last one month, instead of a journey to change as they claim, all
we have witnessed are avoidable tension, wrangling within the ruling
party, disruption of legislative activities in our National Assembly,
painful economic stagnation, pronouncement of voodoo achievements and
overall uncertainty in the polity all due to the apparent inability of
our respected President to provide leadership.
We have a President and a party that have since thirty–two days been
unable to decide on rudimentary appointments such as Secretary to the
Government of the Federation (SGF), Chief of Staff to the President,
ministers and his demand for 15 Special Advisers as approved by the PDP
controlled Seventh Assembly since June 5, 2015.
Even the very little intervention made on appointments such as those of
the Accountant General of the Federation (AGF) and the Acting Chairman
of INEC, have not shown our beloved President as an evenhanded and
patriotic leader resulting in the confusion and crisis of confidence
that have trailed the two appointments.
The PDP is particularly disturbed by the development in INEC where
President Buhari, who knew all along that the immediate-past INEC
Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega would be leaving office by June 30, had to
wait for him to handover to one of the national commissioners only to
reverse it immediately, thereby injecting bad blood in the commission.
The situation in INEC since the PDP government reformed and granted it
operational autonomy has been peaceful, but Tuesday’s untidy overruling
of Prof. Jega and appointing of Mrs. Amina Zakari as acting chairman
which, we gathered was influenced by personal relationship with the
Presidency and one of the new governors of the North West, ostensibly to
pave the way for the APC at the electoral tribunals, has completely
eroded public trust in the commission.
Whereas the PDP recognizes the right and powers of the President to
appoint the Chairman of INEC and the Accountant General of the
Federation (AGF), we reject attempts as in the case of the AGF to paint
the process as transparent and objective when such was not the case, but
brought to question the sincerity and commitment of the present
administration to due process.
In INEC, the PDP states in unequivocal terms that we cannot, as critical
stakeholders fold our hands and watch while the Presidency perpetuate
actions that diminish the independence of the electoral commission.
The PDP has declared the appointment of Mrs. Amina Zakari as
unacceptable and demand that President Buhari changes her immediately.
Our reasons include the fact that due process was not observed in the
appointment and that Mrs. Zakari has shown in the last elections that
she is manifestly bias in favour of the APC. Finally her appointment is a
clear case of nepotism.
We ask, if they trusted Prof. Jega and commended him for conducting free
and fair elections, why would they not trust him on who to hold forth
in the commission until a substantive Chairman is appointed, rather than
appointing someone who is retiring from the commission in the next
three weeks?
With the prevailing record of Mr. President on appointments, it is
unlikely that a substantive INEC Chairman will be appointed in the next
one year. Is there a hidden agenda? Has Mrs. Zakari been handed a
script to act given that we have cases in the tribunals in addition to
the forthcoming elections in Kogi and Bayelsa?
Furthermore, the PDP finds it sycophantic, insincere and the height of
deceit for the APC to continue to deceive President Buhari by parading
voodoo achievements and pretending that all is well with the nation even
when it is obvious that the government has not been able to locate its
bearing.
The PDP also finds unacceptable APC’s continued playing on the
intelligence of the people by dishing out imaginary achievements in the
media even when it is evident to all that the nation is stagnating, a
clear indication that the ruling party and the President lack direction
and capacity to meet the expectations of Nigerians.
It is indeed amusing that a party in power in a press conference on
Tuesday claimed progress in the fight against terrorism when the effort
has lost steam in the last thirty-two days with insurgents, who under
the Goodluck Jonathan administration were already at the verge of
surrender in the Sambisa now surging back into the country.
How can a political party attempt to deceive Nigerians and the President
when the economy has plummeted under their watch with a terrifying
crippling of foreign and domestic investments and the stock market
losing over N350 billion because of the prevailing uncertainty and
confusion in the system?
More astonishing is the fact that a ruling party and a government of a
sovereign nation and strong international voice like Nigeria are
parading mere promissory notes from foreign interests as achievements,
instead of settling down to galvanize resources and potentials that
abound in our country.
If by the declaration of the APC National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji
Lai Mohammed that President Buhari has done excellently well thus far,
then Nigerians should not expect anything from this administration.
The PDP as a responsible political party committed to the national
interest, we urge the APC to henceforth desist from unnecessary
propaganda which ought to have ended with the campaigns, settle down and
help the President form a government and chart a direction for the
nation.
Finally, while we restate our respect for the office and person of the
President, the Presidency and the APC must know that though Nigerians
are wiling to give them time to perform, they are tired of their
unfounded excuses of handover notes coming late; of meeting empty
treasury, of clearing the so-called Augean Stable among nuances of other
frivolous claims.
What Nigerians expect today is a government that will hit the ground
running, face the challenges of governance and commence implementation
of its campaign promises.
Signed:
Chief Olisa Metuh
National Publicity Secretary
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