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Alhaji Lai Mohammed
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The All Progressives
Congress has said President Goodluck Jonathan is handing over a nation in
deep crisis, even as his administration continues to contrive more crises
without making any effort to solve any of them.
In a statement in Abuja on Sunday by its National
Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party however appealed
to Nigerians not to lose hope, despite the daunting challenges they
were currently facing in “this atmosphere of contrived chaos”, saying help
was on the way.
The Punch report continues:
APC said, “In a few days’ time, President Jonathan will hand over
to President-elect Muhammadu Buhari. Never in the history of our country has
any government handed over to another a more distressed country: No
electricity, no fuel, workers are on strike, billions are owed to state
and federal workers, US$60 billion dollars are owed in national debt and
the economy is virtually grounded.
“Today, Nigerians are roaming the streets, jerry cans in
hand, searching for everything from kerosene to fuel to diesel to
power their homes, keep their vehicles on the road and keep their
businesses going. They are paying as much as 300 Naira per litre for fuel,
if at all they can get it. Yet their government is not saying a word
about the situation.”
APC said while the “Jonathan administration has arrogantly
told Nigerians that it remains in office and in power till May 29, all
it has been doing was sacking people and making new appointments as if
it has been deprived of the opportunity to do so in the past six years.”
The incoming ruling party added, “They are not interested in how
to end the fuel scarcity that has paralysed the socio-economic lives of Nigerians,
they are not interested in how to raise electricity production from
its unprecedentedly-low level of 1,327 megawatts, they are not doing anything
to end the strike by blue and white collar oil workers, or to stop the
impending one.
“They say they are in office till May 29, but they do not care
how workers in 18 states, who are owed a total of N300bn in salaries
under their watch, or federal workers, who are owed N400bn will be paid. Yet
they are running a budget of N1tr deficit.
“They have deliberately stopped meeting their obligations to
oil marketers, which is now around N200bn; hence, no one is lifting
petroleum products anymore. If the current energy crisis is not solved
soonest, the telecommunications sector could even be grounded in a matter of
days as service providers will have neither electricity nor fuel to power
their base stations.
“Of course, the aviation sector has already been left
comatose by the fuel crisis. The whole scenario reeks of sabotage!”
APC said before PDP and “Jonathan administration’s spin doctors
distort its message, it is important to let Nigerians know that the
party (APC) is not engaging in lamentations but simply keeping the
citizenry informed of the situation on the ground”, with just five days to
the handover date.
APC stated, “If we
thought the nation was being well managed and there was no problem, we
would not have embarked on a campaign of change. While we are ready,
willing and able to begin to address the mammoth challenges facing us as a
nation as soon as we assume office at the centre in a few days’ time, we
will not hesitate for a second to keep Nigerians informed of how we have
been brought to this sorry pass, with a view to avoiding such a tragic
turn in the future.”
It expressed sadness that the nation had been on auto pilot for
the past several weeks, saying the outgoing administration had shown
neither the capacity nor the willingness to resolve any of the crises it
had “contrived and foisted” on the nation.
"This is the most vivid manifestation of the old
saying that literally translates to a departing office holder defecating
on the chair he is vacating,” APC said.
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