Don’t scare investors
…President won’t lie – Spokesman
By Emeka Nze and Abdullahi M. Gulloma
Abuja
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday warned that President Muhammadu Buhari’s comments on the Nigerian economy and the people’s general well-being, portend harmful consequences on the country’s image.
“It is worrisome that in the last six months, the President, instead of making efforts to harness resources and grow the economy, has rather continued to apply himself, perhaps unwittingly, to de marketing
the nation and scaring away investors through negative labelling of Nigerians and unwarranted unhealthy portrayal of the nation’s economy,” the party said in a statement by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisah Metuh.
According to him, President Buhari’s “unwary statements have become very serious clog in the wheel of progress, eroding the confidence of both domestic and international investors in the Nigerian economic and social system.
“In the last six months, our President has only succeeded in discouraging foreign investors with his continued misrepresentation of our country as a business unfriendly environment, where most of the citizens are basically corrupt, dishonest, and cannot be trusted.
“Whereas we have restated our total support for the war against corruption, we insist that Mr. President’s unceasing blanket negative labelling of citizens, in a country where millions of honest and hardworking individuals/firms are genuinely contributing daily to the development effort, is indeed a disservice and injurious to the nation and the people.
“Furthermore, Mr. President’s recent announcement to the world that the nation, with its abundant human and natural resources, is broke and cannot pay cabinet ministers not only sends a discouraging signal to the domestic and international business community, but also exposes the ineptitude of the present administration to meaningfully and sincerely exert itself and work with industrious and innovative investors to create and manage wealth.”
Continuing, the party queried:“We ask: How can any reasonable investor still have the confidence to invest in a country where the President himself continues to alert that his country reeks of corrupt people and that the government is broke to the extent it cannot pay cabinet ministers?
“Is the President not directly advising investors against having confidence in Nigeria and the system, and that they risk not being paid for jobs awarded by government at any level?
“More worrisome is the fact that Mr. President most times, makes his damaging comments in international fora with potential investors in attendance to the extent that reminds one of the proverbial father who, in the presence of potential suitors, often portrays his daughters as wayward and yet constantly complain of their inability to find husbands.
“Indeed, this is not the way to go, Nigeria is a country blessed with abundant human and natural resources. What we need at the moment is a serious, innovative and practical approach with the capacity to harness the resources and create wealth for the benefit of all, instead of an apparently laidback scapegoat tactics with outworn excuses and unhelpful comments.”
“May we remind Mr. President that even in the darkest period of our economic challenges, successive administrations made efforts in steadying the economy, while always reassuring our citizens and the international community of the strength and economic potentials of our great nation.
“We know that in the desperation to cover its apparent lack of economic plan, this administration has positioned cabinet ministers, upon inauguration to concentrate on diversionary blame game on the past PDP administration. But even this political deceit cannot combat the unpalatable consequences of Mr. President’s damaging utterances on the image of the nation and its economy,” Metuh added.
The party reminded the APC-led government that, by the 2015 elections, Nigerians have committed the fate of the country in its hands for the next four years and were not willing to accept excuses for any economic failures under Buhari’s watch.
In a reaction, the Special Adviser to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Femi Adesina, said President Muhammadu Buhari would always tell Nigerians the truth on issues, policies and programmes of the present administration.
Adesina who said this in a statement issues in Abuja, declared that attempts to distract the president by the opposition PDP would fail.
He said: “We restate for the umpteenth time to Metuh and his ilk that their attempts to distract President Buhari from the job he has been elected to do will fail. President Buhari will remain true to the virtues of honesty, integrity, sincerity, incorruptibility and plain-speaking which endeared him to Nigerians and made them prefer his leadership to that of a lying and deceptive PDP administration.
“The President will not, in the guise of “marketing” the country, refrain from telling Nigerians and the world, the emerging truths about the abject state in which years of plundering by a PDP leadership has left the Nigerian treasury and economy.
“President Buhari will not in the name of ‘marketing or attracting’ investors, follow in the footsteps of the ousted PDP Administration and its discredited officials who shamelessly lied to Nigerians and the world about the buoyancy and vibrancy of an economy they had bled dry for personal gain, when it was very obvious to the discerning, that the Nigerian economy was headed for serious trouble.”
“It is most unfortunate that instead of showing some remorsefulness for the harm done to the nation by his party, and giving genuine support for President Buhari’s efforts to salvage and revamp the national economy, Metuh persists in a vain attempt to remain relevant on the national stage by unjustly denigrating the President who continues to strive with all his might to alleviate and reverse the harm done to the nation by PDP misrule and corruption.
“Metuh’s antics are futile. President Buhari cannot be distracted by a broken record. If the PDP spokesman ever has serious matters to bring to our attention, we will be prepared to listen,” the president’s spokesman further stated.
