. Your failure, not elite haunting you, opposition party tells President
Main opposition Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday disagreed with President Muhammadu Buhari over his claims that the country’s elite had been harassing his government.
PDP said the Presidency’s allegation that certain Nigerians, particularly the elite, had launched a smear campaign against President Muhammadu Buhari was a clear indication that the Buhari administration “is being haunted by the shadows of its own failures.”
Buhari, who had earlier urged Nigerians, especially the elite, to demonstrate fairness in their criticism of his administration, had also accused the elite of non-interest in “rating the competence” of his government inspite of its efforts.
Comparing his government to the previous administrations, the President had said his government had achieved more success inspite of the limited resources available to it.
He asked his predecessors to account for what they did with the windfall realised by the country when oil prices were still high.
Buhari said, “The problem is that I will like especially the elites to please be reflective. When we came, where we were, the resources available from them and the condition of the infrastructure. I was contrived to go over it several times to tell Nigerians that between 1999 and 2014, let them check with the NNPC, let them check with the governor of Central Bank, production was 2.4 million barrels per day and the average cost was $100 per barrel. So for a year’s daily production, Nigeria would earn having 2.4×100 dollars every day. But look at the condition of infrastructure, you know this better than I do.
“I know I went to every local government of the country in my three consecutive attempts to become the President. You know the road more than I do. You know the condition of the rail, the railway is dead. Now look at it everywhere we go, what did they do with all these monies?
“When we took over the administration, production went down to about half a million barrels per day, the price collapsed. We had to do what is called a bailout, wherever we got the money from. Upon all the money from 1999 to 2014 we gave out money from the Centre to pay salaries. No, Nigerian elites are not interested in rating the competence but they are interested in harassing us with all efforts we are making.”
Buhari urged APC leaders in charge of their constituencies to make efforts to convince the elite to give his administration “the due relevance and respect we deserve that we are working so hard with limited resources.”
But the main opposition PDP in a statement by its spokesperson, Kola Ologbondiyan, titled, ‘Smear campaign: Nobody but your failures are after you, PDP Mocks Buhari Presidency’, advised Buhari to put an end to his “new-found pleading with Nigerians to award him an unmerited pass mark.”
On Friday, Presidency had cried out over alleged planned orchestrated smear campaign against Buhari with the aid of some online newspapers and blogs.
Buhari’s Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Femi Adesina, had made the claim in a statement titled, “Unrelenting plot to wage smear campaign against President Buhari.”
Friday’s alarm was Adesina’s second in about a month, having issued a similar statement in December 2020 in which he alleged plan to smear the image of the President and portray him as not being in charge of the affairs of the government.
But the PDP warned the Presidency to stop assaulting the sensibilities of Nigerians and stop blaming the elite for Buhari’s failure.
According to the PDP’s statement, “It is clear that the Buhari-led APC administration is plagued by all-round failure in governance. If indeed it has any record of success in any sector, Mr. President would not be begging Nigerians, even in his home state, Katsina and among his party members, to award him a pass mark.
“It is rather appalling that instead of facing reality, the Buhari Presidency is threatening Nigerians and overheating the polity with allegations of plots to wage a “smear campaign” against President Buhari in unnamed online newspapers.
“Such allegation is only symptomatic of a failed administration that is looking for who to blame for its woes. This is more so as any fair appraisal of the Buhari-led APC will only present a litany of failures and woes
“We however hope that this allegation is not a ploy for a renewed clampdown on the media and dissenting voices, particularly those now arising among well-meaning APC leaders, who are completely disenchanted by the incompetence and corruption inherent in their party and its administration.
“In any case, President Buhari and his APC should know that Nigerians have moved on and cannot be swayed again by false performance claims and unfounded propaganda.”