Jonathan administration won gold medal in corruption – Tinubu

A chieftain of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and former governor of Lagos state, Asiwaju Ahmed Bola Tinubu, said on Thursday that the defeat of the administration of Dr Goodluck Jonathan of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) during the 2015 general elections was the turning point for the country and its people.
Speaking at the public presentation of a 360-page book titled “Making Steady, Sustainable Progressive for Nigeria’s Peace and Prosperity: A mid-term scorecard on the President Muhammadu Buhari Administration” in Abuja on Thursday, Tinubu said the  Jonathan administration won a gold medal in corruption.
He said should the government had remained in power, Boko Haram would have taken more territory and devoured more people, and that the country would have been divided.
He said that so much money grew feet and ran faster than Jamaican runner, Usain Bolt, adding that the money that should have been spent on development was squandered in ways that could cause the devil to blush.
“The prior government used the public treasury as a private hedge fund or a charity that limited its giving only to themselves. So much money grew feet and ran away faster than Usain Bolt ever could. That which could have been spent on national development was squandered in ways that would cause the devil to blush.
“One minister and her rogues’ gallery picked the pocket of this nation for billions of dollars. While poor at governance, these people could give a master thief lessons in the sleight of hand. In governance, they earned a red card but in corruption, they won the gold medal. It was not that our institutions had become infected by corruption. Corruption has become institutionalised,” he said,
Tinubu said that the war on corruption has been won as President Muhammadu Buhari has set an axe to “the root of this dangerous tree,” stressing that gone are the days when a minister can pilfer billions of dollars as easy as plucking a piece of candy from the table.
He said that though Boko Haram has not been completely defeated, there is no question that it has been decimated and made shorter and weaker in such a way that “they shall never constitute the threat they once were.”
The APC chieftain stressed the need for Nigeria to urgently move towards true federalism, saying that the country cannot grow without robust industrial capacity.
In his remarks, chairman of the All Progressives Party (APC), Mr. John Odigie-Oyegun, said the scorecard of the present administration was spirit lifting and a great morale booster for the party and the nation.
“This is rock-solid evidence not newspaper induced achievement that use to be the case. On corruption, what is important is that the public now discuss corruption, is an indication of major achievements that Nigerians no longer accepts corruption.
“There is so much going on today, there is serious process of reconstruction and consolidation. What is going on must get to a stage that it is not irreversible.
“Irreversibility means consistency, continuity of policies and leadership. All these can al mature with time and with somebody who truly believe in consistency. The media team has saved me an agony. I have an encyclopedia now which is verifiable. You don’t know what agony you have just saved me,” he said.

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