25 May 2015, Abuja – Against the background of the pervasive fuel crisis, strike calls, mounting government debts, power outages and other problems, the All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, accused President Goodluck Jonathan of deliberately sabotaging the incoming APC-led government.
President Jonathan, on his part, counted peace and stability as positive isues he would hand over even as he confessed that the incoming government would need prayers to overcome the problems it would inherit. President Jonathan spoke at the presidential inauguration church service in Abuja, which was also attended by the Vice President-elect, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
The APC in a statement issued in Abuja, yesterday, by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, appealed to Nigerians not to lose hope despite the daunting challenges they are currently facing, saying help is on the way.
A nation in crisis
“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, 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, diesel to power their generators, keep their vehicles on the road and keep their businesses going. They are paying as much as N300 per litre of fuel if at all they can get it. Yet their government is not saying a word about the situation,” the party said.
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 is sacking people and making new appointments as if it had been deprived the opportunity to do so in the past six years.
“They are not interested in how to end the fuel scarcity that has paralyzed 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 N300 billion in salaries under their watch, or federal workers who are owed N400 billion, will be paid. Yet they are running a budget of N1 trillion deficit.
Sabotage
“They have deliberately stopped meeting their obligations to oil marketers, which is now around N200 billion, 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!” the party said.
Noting that its cry was only an alert to Nigerians on what the new government would inherit, the APC said: “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 has been on autopilot for the past several weeks, as the outgoing administration has shown neither the capacity nor the willingness to resolve any of the crises it has 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.
– Vanguard
