By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Naturally, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) would criticise Muhammadu Buhari for almost anything, but it raised the bar on Thursday to accuse the president of plagiarism apart from being evasive during his interview on Arise Television.
It expressed dismay that “while millions of Nigerians eagerly expected … Buhari to … address salient issues confronting our nation, [he] bungled the opportunity by being evasive and dodgy while attempting to lay claims to projects done by PDP administrations.”
The opposition party dismissed the interview as a “deplorable performance” that did not address issues.
Buhari failed to provide direction but rather “exposed his cluelessness, paucity of ideas for development” and made “very provocative comments” that could embolden terrorists and be a recipe for further division and violence,” PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, complained in a statement.
“On infrastructure, it is ludicrous to us in the PDP that Mr. President can disingenuously seek to subtract the deliverables achieved by past PDP administrations from his so-called achievement on infrastructure.”
National Development Plan
Ologbondiyan said former President Olusegun Obasanjo, who was elected on the platform of the PDP, introduced a 25-year National Development Plan when he came to power in 1999.
“This included the massive construction and expansion of road network, power plants, railways projects, inland and coastal waterways, airports, housing, agricultural and health projects as well as establishment of new universities and other legacy projects in various parts of our country.
“We want to inform … Buhari, since he is not always aware, that successive governments elected on the platform of the PDP built on these development plans leading to the expansion of major trunk roads across our country, railways and other legacy projects which, probably, his handlers are making him to believe are his.”
The PDP insisted that former President Goodluck Jonathan, its member, also expanded international and domestic airports across the country and built and commissioned railway stations.
“It is instructive to state that where projects were yet to be completed, it is only a natural occurrence for any Nigerian elected as President to proceed, in the national interest, to complete such projects.
“The PDP therefore considers it tacky for [Buhari] to seek to claim any credit for projects he never conceptualised, commenced or built to near completion, just because he found himself in office at the point of completion.
Ologbondiyan reminded him that the expansion of the Presidential Villa “including the Banquet Hall, which his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), uses today as its National Secretariat,” was conceptualided and built by the PDP government, even though the APC was stoutly against the project at the time.
“Buhari also needs to accept the bitter fact that the current draw back in infrastructural development in our country started with his administration. Like a relay race, successive PDP administrations furthered infrastructural development only for him to run in the opposite direction when the baton was passed to him.
“It is important to state that only the on-going refurbishing of Akwanga-Maiduguri road that … Buhari can lay claim to as the singular and only project in which he has demonstrated capacity.
The PDP said the expectation of Nigerians is that in an interview like this, Buhari should give honour to those who conceptualided and built these projects to near completion, because, in most cases, he only commissioned them for operation.
It reminded Buhari that “all institutions of good governance” such as the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC), Asset Management Company of Nigeria (AMCON), and Debt Management Office (DMO) were created in this dispensation by PDP administrations.
“Even the Sovereign Wealth Fund, which has become the referral point for his administration, was created by the PDP with stiff opposition from leaders of the APC, like former Governors Rotimi Amaechi and Adams Oshiomhole.
Insecurity
“On … devolution of power, state police and restructuring, it is disappointing and heartrending that Mr. President was evasive, dodgy and had no direct response to these burning issues even in the face of a national consensus for the amendment of the1999 Constitution to address these pertinent issues.
“It is also alarming that Mr. President, in his own words, dismissed two governors who ran to him for solution to issues of national security, with escalated killings, kidnapping and violence in their states.”
In the view of the PDP, that action “is very disturbing because, as the commander-in-chief, on whose shoulder rests the responsibility of securing our nation, and who also promised to lead from the front, his reaction ought not to have been dismissive of the said governors.
“This action as narrated by [him] clearly showed how he abdicated his responsibility and yet was audacious to come to the public arena and made open his personal flaws and failures that have affected the foundation of our national security and emboldened terrorists, kidnappers and bandits to attack and kill our compatriots.”
Fuel subsidy
On fuel subsidy, the PDP said cross-boarder crimes like smuggling have negative effects on prices of petroleum products, and while this is a challenge to the economy, the fundamental issue Buhari “dodged” in the interview is “the sleazy nature of subsidy policy” under his administration.
“Mr. President failed to tell Nigerians how the volume of PMS used in our country progressed exponentially from 35 million litres per day to the current fictitious 100 million litres per day, upon which his administration’s subsidy payout is calculated.
“In an interview in which for the first time in the history of his government, … Buhari flamboyantly faced the camera, the opaque nature of the subsidy regime under his administration ought to have been topical.
“The expectation of Nigerians was for [him] to address the demand for openness in his administration’s subsidy regime as well as why Nigerians are paying humongous sums on subsidy.”
Corruption
The PDP urged Nigerians to note that Buhari admitted that “corruption is endemic in his administration; that there are corrupt persons in his administration and his party,” but that he devised a way to ease them out and thus giving them official cover instead of exposing and prosecuting such persons.
“This validates our position that the Buhari administration is a sanctuary of corruption.
“It is also distressing that [he] used the interview to issue threats to Nigerians as well as justify the nepotism that has characterised appointment of key officials of his administration to the chagrin of our national sensibilities.
“Such disposition to our national sensibilities is a recipe for further divisions and violence in our country.
“Most disheartening is that in the face of grave security concerns across the federation, … Buhari proffered no solutions, even when he admitted that insecurity has almost overwhelmed his administration.
“Also, though he lamented the invasion of our national territory by Sahelians, Mr. President did not introduce any concrete measure that can vanquish these set of criminals.
“The interview session was therefore a Presidential demonstration of the challenges confronting our nation without a modicum of solution either now or in the future. It was all about buck-passing, grandstanding and a holier-than-thou disposition of the Buhari Presidency.
“From the interview, it is clear that … Buhari has no legacy project to point to except infrastructural backwardness, false performance claims, covering corruption, destroying of our national institutions, wrecking of our economy, dividing Nigerians as well as reckless borrowings with nothing to show [for them].”
