Director-General, Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, has dismissed with a wave of the hand the statement credited to former President Goodluck Jonathan that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would return to power in 2019. Th e All Progressives Congress chieftain, who, however, asked the former president to apologise to Nigerians “for being less than transparent” in fi ghting corruption during his tenure, said rather than plugging corruption loopholes, the administration opened it wide. At the Peoples Democratic Party Special Non-elective Convention on Saturday in Abuja, former President Jonathan was quoted as saying “though we didn’t completely plug the loopholes in the fi ght against corruption, we did well.
” Faulting his position in an interview with journalists yesterday in Abuja, Okechukwu, who said the PDP government relied on voodoo economy, believed the nation’s economy could have collapsed if the APC had not come to the rescue. “My own sincere assessment is that our dear ex-president, His Excellency Dr Goodluck Jonathan, rather than plug loopholes of corruption, opened it wide.
He should apologise to Nigerians whom he betrayed for being less than transparent. I was outraged when I heard him proclaim that PDP will return to power in 2019 because of the hunger and poverty ravaging the country,” he said. On the claim by the former president that the country was currently experiencing hunger and poverty, the VON boss said: “Wait a minute; the Nigerian economy could have collapsed if President Buhari didn’t come to the rescue. Jonathan relied on voodoo economic records which rated the Nigerian economy higher than that of industrialised South African economy.
“An economy with 40,000MW to Nigeria’s less than 4,000MW; this is a hard fact, otherwise let’s refer to our fi nancial records to see how the expresident and, by extension, his party railroaded Nigerians into abject poverty, food insecurity and defi cit infrastructure via planlessness and squander mania. “Jonathan era – 2010 – $70.7 billion, 2011 – $100.1 billion, 2012 – $96.9 billion, 2013 – $86.9 billion, 2014 – $77.9 billion, 2015 – $21 billion (Jan-May), compared to Buhari era – 2015 (June-Dec) – $16 billion, 2016 – $26 billion, 2017 (Jan-July) – $16 billion; source – OPEC Revenue Data Sheet.”
Continuing, he said: “Jonathan and his cohorts assume that many of us will easily forget how on May 13, 2010, his regime announced publicly with joy the award of $23 billion contract for the erection of three Greenfi eld refi neries, one to be erected in Bayelsa, one in Kogi and one in Lagos. Today, neither did we see the refi neries nor the billions of dollars at a time Nigeria Excess Accounts hovered around $17 billion.
Th e refi neries could have saved Nigeria over $200 billion expended on importation of refi ned petroleum products till date. “Jonathan should just keep quiet, especially now that the hunger and poverty he imposed on us are getting too harsh. I regret demonstrating on Abuja streets in 2010, for him to be made an executive president, with others as a member of the defunct Save Nigeria Group, nor can one forget his melodious inaugural speech, May 29, 2011, where he said: “Th e lessons we have learnt is that the resolution of the Niger Delta issue is crucial for the health of the nation. “Is the health of the nation not bleeding because of his planlessness and squander mania? With
huge oil revenue cited above, he stood a good chance of fi xing the Niger Delta, but failed woefully. “He propelled his preferred Minister, Mrs. Diezani AlisonMadueke, and other cronies to loot dry our dear countrymen. Example, latter day revelations are showing how $80 million was used by Mrs. Madueke’s ally to purchase a luxury yacht, money which could have been utilised to build the best hospital in Yenogoa.
Or is he not reminding us of the humongous foreign exchange used in buying choice estates locally and abroad? “In summary, the biggest headache of Buhari administration is the huge local and foreign debt amassed by the PDP’s 16-year misrule. “On bailout fund and Paris Fund refund, Buhari has spent over N1 trillion on salary and pension arrears. He has also paid over $7 billion on obligations to International Oil Companies (IOC) with the little he got.”
