Former President Goodluck Jonathan, yesterday, told President Muhammadu Buhari that his administration has failed in governance. He stated that more than two years the All Progressives Congress (APC) had been in power, it has not recorded any achievement. Jonathan, who noted that APC’s victory in the 2015 presidential election was aided by propaganda and lies, added that the ruling party has continued to feed Nigerians with lies and has deployed hi-tech propaganda to cover up its misrule.
The former president, who spoke when he received one of the chairmanship aspirants for the December 9 National Convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Prof. Tunde Adeniran, also attacked the Minister of Power, Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Fashola, for failing to fix the power sector within the period his party had been in power as he expected of the PDP. His words: “Those who are giving us some kind of names, what have they done? They spread propaganda and lies to professional level. Sometimes, people come to write off the 16 years of PDP, but PDP did well from May 1999 to May 2015.
“The PDP administration for 16 years did well, but this administration has done nothing; the administration is full lies and propaganda. “In the power sector, we did well to revive it. A state governor (then) said any serious government should be able to fix the power within six months.
Today, APC has been in power for how many years? Fortunately, the then governor (Fashola) is in the APC government as a minister.” Jonathan also noted that when the PDP government raised the pump price of fuel from N67 to N97 because of increase of the crude oil price in the global market to over $100, but reduced it to N87 because of reduction in crude oil, it came under attack, but now that the price is about $53, the pump price of petrol is N143 with those who attacked his government keeping quiet.
“A serving minister (in the APC government) gave an illustration that if a bag of flour cost N10,000 and a loaf of bread is N100, if that bag of flour costs lower, the price of bread is supposed to reduce. “When the price of crude oil was going for over seventy something dollars per barrel, we brought down the pump price of fuel to N87. Now that the global price of crude oil goes for $53, the pump price is N143.
Those who attacked us (then) did not say anything because they have seen it,” he added. He, however, said that all hopes are not lost as he advised the PDP to put its house in order for it to return to power in 2019. According to him, Nigerians have been able to see the difference between the APC and the PDP.
“With the rate at which people are coming around to associate with a party that lost elections, it shows that the people still believe in the PDP. With the number and calibre of the people coming out to vie for the seat of the national chairman and offices of our party, it shows that our party still has another chance,” he said. But the Presidency has described Jonathan’s outburst as a result of ongoing trials of his wife, Patience, and some of his associates for corruption. One of the presidential aides, who pleaded anonymity, stated that the former president was trying to divert attention.
His words: “Our view is that this was attempt to divert attention from the multiple corruption scandals surrounding his wife, Dr. Patience Jonathan who, in September, had $31.4 million frozen in a bank account linked to her following an approval obtained by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) from a judge.
“This came on the heels of an earlier $15 million allegedly kept for the medical treatment of her mother, as well as a forfeited amount of $5.9 million following an order by Justice Mojisola Olatoregun of the Federal High Court in Lagos. “The EFCC has also laid its hand on no less than a dozen properties in Abuja, Port Harcourt and Yenagoa estimated to cost billions of naira.
“To cut a long story short, the story of Mrs. Jonathan’s fortune, from all indications, is just beginning.” National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mallam Bolaji Abdullahi, urged Jonathan to do dispassionate study of how and why APC won the 2015 presidential elections. Abdullahi said, “I doubt that President Jonathan actually said these words you have reported, because he would be exposing himself to reactions that would not be edifying of his status as a statesman by so doing.
Secondly, I know the former President to be of even temperament. Only few days ago, I read that he was counselling his party on the choice of chairman and publicity secretary. “Statements like these wouldn’t represent an example of the kind of attitude he was canvassing. “With due respect, former President Jonathan may need to commission a more dispassionate study of how and why APC won the 2015 presidential elections.
To say that APC won the election simply by deceiving the people would be too simplistic and may even be interpreted as an insult to the millions of Nigerians that voted the APC into power.” Meanwhile, Jonathan has said that the PDP needs a courageous national chairman, who will be able to call the president to order if the party wins the presidency in the next general elections. He also noted that for the PDP to get it right and regain its glory it needs a competent, reliable and courageous national chairman, who will lead the party to victory in 2019.
He, therefore, advised PDP members and aspirants for the national chairmanship not to allow the convention to cause another crisis in the party, advising that the contest should be seen as a family affair.
His words: “We need a national chairman who will be courageous enough to call the president to order if we win the presidency and the president is going astray. He must not be someone who, when the party takes positions on issues, will change them. “We need a national chairman, who will lead the party democratically and carry others along.
In fact, the national chairman is the leader of the party; it is not the way round. “The kind of chairman that we need is like a general that will lead the troops. Not the chairman that will sit down drinking champagne or wine.
We need a courageous chairman, who knows that imposition is destructive.” Jonathan added that given his long interaction with Prof. Adeniran and testimonies of other party leaders, he possesses all that is needed to lead the PDP at this critical time, and wished him success in the election.”
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