The Federal Government and the ruling All Progressives Congress, on Sunday, knocked state governors on the platform of the Peoples Democratic Party who demanded the resignation of President Bola Tinubu over the lingering economic hardship and devaluation of the naira.
The ruling party also faulted the governors for saying Nigeria, under the leadership of the APC was almost on the path to becoming like Venezuela.
Last week, the PDP governors under the leadership of the Bauchi State Governor, Bala Mohammed, said Nigeria under Tinubu was almost on the path to becoming like Venezuela.
The South American country is currently facing myriad challenges ranging from corruption, scarcities of food and medicine, shutdowns of businesses, and high unemployment rates, amongst others.
Also on Saturday, the PDP governors advised Tinubu and the ruling APC to resign over the state of the nation if they cannot provide sustainable solutions.
Responding, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, slammed the PDP governors for attempting to distract those who are focused on achieving the visions of President Tinubu.
Idris, in a statement signed by his media aide, Rabiu Ibrahim on Sunday, said, “The call is nothing but an attempt at distraction by people who should instead be busy supporting the President’s efforts at bringing economic relief to the Nigerian people. It is our considered view that the PDP and its Governors should not be seeking, through the back door of intimidation, what they have consistently failed to achieve by democratic means, since 2015.
“Those who could not bring transformational change when they had a lengthy chance to, should not seek to interrupt or distract those who are busy at work on the presidential vision that Nigerians elected them to implement.”
Explaining what the present administration was currently working on, the minister noted, “The administration of President Bola Tinubu has also, since inception, generously extended financial support to all the State Governments, regardless of partisan affiliation. In addition, the removal of the petrol subsidy—which, incidentally, was one of the main planks of the PDP presidential campaign—has swelled the revenues of all States, including the PDP States. To whom more has been given, more is therefore expected.
“The President and his administration recognise the unfinished business of revamping our national economy kickstarted by the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, through programmes focused on large-scale infrastructure, social welfare, prioritizing the equipping and welfare of the military and security agencies, and reclaiming Nigeria’s strategic place in the comity of nations. Boko Haram and its affiliates, on the ascendancy in 2014/2015, have since been decimated, and similar bold gains are now being made with bandits and other criminals.”
Idris added that the ruling APC had “cleared several liabilities left behind by the PDP government, such as subsidy claims by oil marketers, Paris Club Refunds, unpaid pensions, gratuities, and salary arrears owed various categories of pensioners from liquidated and existing state-owned enterprises.
“Major oil sector reforms that the PDP touted for years but could not deliver – passage of the PIB, new refineries, as well as the revamp of existing ones, and so on – are the very real and continuing legacies of the ruling All Progressives Congress.
“We must continue to state these facts so Nigerians will know where we are coming from, and appreciate what is being done in its full context.”
Also reacting, the National Publicity Secretary of the APC, Felix Morka stated that while he can’t fault anybody for holding opinions, it would be wrong to call on the President to throw in the towel for ‘idle spectators.’
Morka stressed that a federal system like Nigeria operates on the idea of shared, constitutionally delineated responsibilities among the three government tiers and could benefit from constructive ideas or solutions to governance challenges from the governors instead of mockery.
He said, “Basking in willful blindness to their constitutional responsibilities, governors elected on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party in a statement, yesterday, advised President Bola Tinubu to “throw in the towel” if he can’t govern Nigeria anymore. This noxious executive flippancy has now become a badge of identity for these idle but viciously complicit spectators in the affairs of their states and citizens.
“Like all citizens, governors are entitled to free speech. However, that right must be exercised against a standard of respectability and reasonableness. Reckless utterances capable of inflaming passions and social upheaval must be avoided. Likening Nigeria to Venezuela as the PDP governors did in a recent communique, even under the prevailing challenging economic and security contexts of Nigeria, is unhelpful and smacks of unrighteous indignation.”
Morka expressed disappointment in the PDP governors who he claimed are mere sycophants who hardly practice what they preach.
He therefore urged Nigerians to ignore their utterances and exercise some patience for the president to fix the country.
“As the federal buck ultimately stops at the President’s table the state’s buck ultimately stops at the governors’ table. The PDP governors’ call to the President to throw in the towel is nothing short of self-indictment. It is cringeworthy that the same governors that have never justified the massive federal allocations to their states that have perennially stifled and dispossessed local government administrations of federally allocated funds are talking about buck.
“President Bola Tinubu is taking responsibility and providing solid leadership in this historic season of deep and enduring economic transformation in our country. The administration has initiated bold and far-reaching reforms that are indispensable to economic recovery, sustainable growth and prosperity. Our people are going through transient but painful difficulties that the administration is supremely determined to mitigate as these policies begin to yield the desired results.
“Nigerians deserve to live in peace and security, with access to basic social and economic amenities. Our Party and administration urge patience during these turbulent times as our nation soars unstoppably to firmer grounds and a more prosperous future,” he stated.