The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on President Muhammad Buhari to rather use the benefit of his state visit to Ghana to draw lessons from his Ghanian counterpart, President Nana Akufo-Addo on how to run a peaceful, united and economically vibrant nation.
The party also criticized the President for offering to assist Ghana in her war against corruption, when his own administration reeks heavily with corruption as evinced by the Transparency International report which exposed the fact that corruption has worsened in Nigeria under his watch.
The party, in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Wednesday said the President and his handlers should have been embarrassed that while the President of Ghana paraded credentials of a robust economy and a peaceful nation, Nigeria, under the Buhari Presidency is plagued with economic recession and upsurge of violence and daily bloodletting.
“When President Buhari was reeling out President Akufo-Addo achievements in his one year in office; his ingenious approach to job creation; the farming for job initiative, the senior high school free education, one district-one factory projects and one village-one dam initiatives among others; we hope our dear President reflected on the fact that back home, his inept government had instead, wrecked our once robust economy, the reason he had nothing to present to the world at the ceremony.
“We hope President Buhari recollects that unlike his Ghanian counterpart, his administration had nothing to show in its first year in office. Our President recalls that under his own watch, over 8 million Nigerians have lost their jobs, 16 million remained unemployed, 18 million more were underemployed while another 27.44 million refused to work for various reasons related to frustrations occasioned by the negative policies of his government.
“In the same vein, we hope President Buhari notes that unlike his Ghanian counterpart, who initiated development projects and opened factories, in Nigeria under his watch, many factories have shut down, infrastructures are collapsing, inflation has soared, fuel price has moved from N86.50 to N250-N300 per liter in various parts of his country, while the nation’s debt profile has continued to escalate.
“Furthermore, when President Buhari offered to assist Ghana in her fight against corruption, we hope he remembered that the world already knows that back home, his administration reeks of allegations bordering on corruption in high places and the Transparency International (TI) report has exposed the fact that corruption has worsened in Nigeria under his government.
“Today, the world knows that what obtains in Nigeria is direct persecution of opposition members under the guise of a fight against corruption, which has been aided by intimidation of the judiciary and incessant harassment of journalists”.
The PDP urges President Buhari’s handlers to stop embarrassing the nation, especially at the international stage.
“We know that the Presidency sought to use the Ghana visit to curry international endorsement for their 2019 reelection bid, unfortunately, they reaped a harvest of international embarrassment and ridicule.
“Finally, we want to urge Mr. President to be wary of turning Nigeria into a joke in the international arena, especially as the world knows what is obtainable in his government.”
