Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele Fayose has lamented that in just one
year of the All Progressives Congress (APC) government of President
Mohammadu Buhari, the country’s economy was ruined so much that States
could no longer pay workers’ salaries, millions of jobs were lost,
prices of essential commodities skyrocketed to the extent that
Nigerians could no longer afford common tomato to cook and the middle
class wiped away completely.
In a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media, Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose said;
“Despite President Buhari’s electoral promise to reduce petrol pump
price from the N87 per litre that he met it and make life more
bearable for Nigerians, he increased the price of petrol to N145,
increased electricity tariff in spite of lack of power supply.”
He said; “food scarcity last experienced when Buhari was military Head
of State between 1983 and 1985 has returned to the country, with
Nigerians being unable to feed.”
The governor who said Nigerians should remove party, ethnic and
religious sentiments and ask themselves what they have benefitted in
the last one year, reminded Nigerians that “Foreign Reserve was $28.6
billion, Excess Crude Account (ECA) was $2.07 billion, dollars was
less than N200, petrol was N87 per litre and most importantly, one bag
of rice was N8, 500 and power generation was over 5,000MW when Buhari
assumed office.
The statement read in part; “Today, power generation is less than
1,400, Foreign Reserve has reduced to $26.5 billion, dollar is now
over N350, petrol has increased to N145 per litre and one bag of rice
is now over N15, 000!”
“I read the president’s speech and all that I saw was a president
still sounding like he was campaigning for votes more than one year
after winning election.
It is disappointing that the President’s
speech was once again about promises, not about what has been done.
“Not even a mention of one kilometre of road tarred by this
administration, no single job was created except the ones created in
Central Bank of Nigeria for their cronnies and children, not a single
megawatt of electricity generated. This is shameful.
“The reward Buhari gave to Nigerians for electing as president was to
increase petrol pump price by N58.50 and get the Vice President, Prof
Yemi Osinbajo to justify the increment by saying Nigeria was broke!
“In other words, President Buhari increased petrol pump price because
the country was broke and it needed to shore up its revenue base. The
N58.50 added to the previous pump price of N86.50 was an Indirect Tax
imposed on each litre of petrol purchased by Nigerians.
“It is even more worrisome that we have a presidency that is not
coordinated.
The president says one thing; his vice says another while
his ministers also singing discordant tunes. This is a clear sign of
cluelessness and unpreparedness for governance.
“I cannot but agree with the position of former President Olusegun
Obasanjo, Obiageli Ezekwesili and others that President Buhari has no
clue economically.
The situation of Nigeria today is like the visually
impaired leading those who can see. But I warned Nigerians, and I am
still warning Nigerians now that as it happened in 1984 when our
President was a military Head of State, the economy of Nigeria may
collapse! “Therefore, as we look forward to the end of the honeymoon of Buhari’s
presidency, I wish to state that if supposed men of honour are going
underground because of possible harassment and intimidation, I, Peter
Ayodele Fayose will not; because this is our fatherland.
“Most importantly, those regarding President Buhari as a saint should
know that he is not. The president is not also the Almighty God that
cannot be questioned. After all, the beauty of democracy is in
credible opposition.
“Today, I have expressed my mind concerning the one year of Buhari’s
presidency as I did before the election. This I have done basically to
remind Nigerians that I told them then, and it is happening now.
“May God be with the President and bless Nigeria.”
