Outspoken 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.”
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