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President Muhammadu Buhari
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The Presidency and the
ruling All Progressives Congress have come under fire for saying that President
Muhammadu Buhari never promised Nigerians that he would achieve specific things
within his first 100 days in office. Nigerians on social media expressed
disappointment at the party and Presidency’s excuses. The protest on Twitter,
which was titled, #100dayspromise, was directed at the APC and the Presidency
for being insincere with Nigerians during the electioneering.
The
National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Mr. Lai Mohammed, said during an
interview on Channels TV on Monday that Buhari never promised to do anything
within his first 100 days in office.
Mohammed
said, “Buhari never promised to do anything in 100 days, that’s the honest
truth. You see, when you are running a campaign, all kinds of literature will
emerge from all sorts of groups but there are only two documents that you can
judge a party with: That is the constitution of the party and the manifesto of
the party. Those
are the only two documents that are registered with the Independent National
Electoral Commission; you can go to court or hold a party accountable for
them.”
The Punch report continues:
Similarly,
the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity, Mr. Garba
Shehu, distanced Buhari from the many promises that were made during the
electioneering.
Shehu,
who was the Director of Media of the APC Presidential Campaign Organization,
denied the authenticity of a document titled, “My Covenant with Nigerians”,
which was purportedly signed by Buhari and posted on the APC’s website in
March.
He
also denied the authenticity of another list of promises titled, “One hundred
things Buhari will do in 100 days.”
However,
Kayode Ogundamisi, a social commentator, said on his official Twitter handle
that it was hypocritical of the APC, having allowed the said documents detailing
Buhari’s promises to be flying around on the Internet throughout the
electioneering, only to rubbish the documents when it was time for reckoning.
He
said, “The APC and President Buhari are telling us that they never saw the
‘100-day promise’ document; failing the integrity test so soon?
“Prof
Yemi Osinbajo mentioned free meals as contained in the 100-day document during
his US tour; is he also a loose organ?”
Another
Twitter user, Okezie Moses, said, “If the 100-day promises are now
‘unrealistic’, it means votes were obtained by false pretences.”
Abdulrahman
Muazu also wrote on Twitter, “The APC made a lot of unrealistic promises and
all of us heard it directly or indirectly, so denying it now won’t work.”
Similarly,
Obiogumu F. tweeted, “Buhari, APC and Lai Mohammed’s denials confirm lack of
policy direction and a propaganda-based government.”
Nwachukwu
Oluchukwu posted on his Twitter handle, “When will the APC and the Presidency
stop lying? This is becoming childish.”
In
the same vein, Akhehicols said, “Rather than deny the 100-day promises, Garba
Shehu and Femi Adesina should focus on highlighting the achievements so far.”
A
commentator on an online news website, The Cable, wondered why the APC did not
deny the authenticity of the documents before the elections.
The
commentator, Yasin, said, “You did not disown those so called publications then
because they suited your agenda. Now all we get from you is persistent use of
the Peoples Democratic Party as an excuse to cover your gross incompetence. We
are not fooled.
“The
PDP left a mess; an ex-minister stole $6bn, etc. When will you stop distracting
the masses and sit down to govern? Has PDP/Goodluck Jonathan prevented you from
naming any ministers?
“Your
first 100 days will pass without any significant achievement to show, not even
the quick wins recommended by (Ahmed) Joda committee. Your present press
release and others to come are aimed at dampening expectations. How can you
achieve anything significant without ministers, without policies? This is not
the change we voted for”
A
member of the APC Situation Room, Gbenga Olorunpomi, who was one of those in
charge of issuing press statements and other Internet materials on behalf of
the party, had in March, sent emails to news rooms, including The PUNCH.
One
of the emails had the document titled ‘My Covenant with Nigerians’. Efforts to
reach Olorunpomi, who also live tweeted APC’s activities during electioneering,
on Monday failed as his phone was switched off.
Earlier,
he had sent an email containing an article from Shehu to The PUNCH.
The
article contained the denial of Buhari’s ‘covenant’ document.
Shehu,
in the piece said he had no knowledge of the two campaign documents, which
reportedly emanated from the party’s “many centres of public communication
which, for whatever reason, were on the loose.”
Shehu
stated, “Both pamphlets bore the authorized party logo but as the Director of
Media and Communications in that campaign, I did not fund or authorize any of
those. I can equally bet my last kobo that candidate Buhari did not see or authorize
those publications.
“As
a consequence of these publications, expectations have been raised
unreasonably, that as President, Muhammadu Buhari will wave his hand and all
the problems that the country faces – insecurity, corruption, unemployment, and
poor infrastructure – would go away.
“That
notwithstanding, President Buhari has given the job his best shot and the whole
country is saying that we never had it so good. He has re-established the
values of hard work and administrative efficiency. The President says times
without number that this country needs to fix governance and that he won’t
tolerate laziness.
“In
the area of economic management, Nigerians are already seeing things happening
that they thought were not possible in so short a time.”
It
will be recalled that the Senior Special Adviser to the President, Mr. Femi
Adesina, had also warned Nigerians not to confuse Buhari’s promises with those
of his party, the APC.
Adesina,
while speaking with Ogundamisi, two weeks ago, said Buhari could not be
stampeded into declaring his assets publicly when it was the APC and not him
that made the promise.
He
said, “You need to get his words right. Go and check all that the President
said during the campaign. In no place would you see it attributed to him as a
person.
“But
then there is a document by his party, the APC, saying he would declare
publicly. So, we need to set that right; it was a declaration by his party. The
law requires public officers to declare their assets and he has done that.”
Apart
from Twitter, Nigerians also lambasted the APC and the Presidency on different
websites.
For
instance, on Nairaland, a commentator, Kakameks, wrote, “We are in for it. The
way this government is going is really mind blowing. Campaigns are over now,
the reality of the work ahead is gradually setting in and the goal post is
continually being shifted.”
Amazondepth
also wrote, “It is really troubling to see the APC failing the integrity test
so soon. In fairness to PMB, he has a monumental load of work on his hands but
the promises hoodwinked the gullible masses and coming to deny that is shameful
to say the least.”
Away
from the social media, some lawyers who spoke with The PUNCH on Monday said
Buhari needed to fulfil promises made during electioneering.
A
Lagos lawyer, Festus Keyamo, said, “If those promises were made in the course
of the presidential campaign and they were made by the party for Buhari as the
presidential candidate, then it is only proper that the President should
deliver on those promises and Nigerians should hold him accountable regarding
those promises.
“But
then, I can vouch for President Buhari. I travelled with him and I was with him
at Chatham House when he was asked a question on what he would do in the first
100 days; and Buhari’s reply was very simple. He said, ‘I consider all of these
promises about my 100 days in office fraudulent. I am not going to commit
myself to any 100 days promises.’
“That
was what he said at the Chatham House in London.
“But
if the party made any promises regarding 100 days, perhaps the President should
have corrected them at that time.”
The
Executive Director of the Socio-Economic and Accountability Project, Adetokunbo
Mumuni, also said the party was like Buhari’s principal and the President was
bound by the promises made by the APC.
“The
party is more or less like the President’s principal and so it would not be out
of place for Nigerians to hold the President accountable for the promises made
by his political party, especially the promises made on the campaign train,” he
said.
Another
Lagos-based lawyer, Mr. Wahab Shittu, said, “All the promises that the
President made are anchored on a very clear agenda. He made promises on security,
corruption, economy and infrastructure; those are clear promises based on his
agenda and they are the template on which he would be assessed.
“Buhari contested on the
platform of the APC and on the strength of that, he is obliged to implement the
manifesto of the APC and the promises made to Nigerians. The promises he made
as a presidential candidate are anchored on the manifesto of the party.”
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