He was not prepared to rule- Adebanjo
Anti-graft war biased- Olanipekun
Nigerians will smile soon- Oyegun
Change comes from heart – Bishop Chukwuma
President Muhammadu Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress, have come under swipe over their failure to fulfill electoral promises, as some prominent Nigerians said the President has been far from being nationalistic in his style of governance in the last one year.
They said that contrary to the President’s promise last year to run a pan-Nigerian government with the pledge, “I belong to no body, I belong to everybody,” on assuming office, the reality indicates that he is sectional, especially in his appointments, with his catchment area, the North taking over 70 per cent of key appointments so far made. Available records show that out of about 51 appointments made so far, the President’s geopolitical zone, North- West, has 25; North-East nine; North-Central four; South-West four; South- South six and South-East nil. The figure includes the seven Directors-General appointed last week.
Buhari is, however, commended for liberating all local governments hitherto under the control of the Boko Haram insurgents and gradually eroding culture of impunity, especially in handling public funds, and his loot-recovery efforts opens new vistas for the nation in the international community. However, they cited the nation’s plummeting economy, which is on the verge of recession, as inflation rose to 13.7 per cent; the nation’s foreign reserves has fallen as low as $27 billion, even as scores of companies have sent over hundred thousand workers into the labour market. National Chairman, Labour Party, Alhaji Abdulkadir Abdulsalam, said the first one year of “President Buhari and APC is disastrous,” describing it as colossal failure.
“It is a failed year in every sphere of our life – economy, security, youth empowerment, health, education, in all spheres,” he said. Abdulsalam said the President failed to fulfill all the promises made to Nigerians. “They assured Nigerians of change, but we are in chains and we are in bondage. As such, the situation we found ourselves is unexpected, and is disastrous because any political party or any politician who promises change and eventually fails to actualize that cannot be taken seriously.”
He said the economy “has nosedived into a dangerous level, our security, though seemingly we are able to manage the Boko Haram thing; abduction, armed robbery, herdsmen, have endangered our security, peace of our dayto- day relationship.”
In his assessment, Afenifere Leader, Chief Ayo Adebanjo, said was dissatisfied with Buhari’s performance in the last one year. Said he: “I want to emphasise that I am a very dissatisfied and disgruntled octogenarian. I was 88 last April. I don’t want this country to continue like this…I want Buhari to change and change this country for good. But the cabinet he has can’t do it.
While he said he was not urging the President and his team to “do everything in one year. I said what have they done now? If they should do 10, have they done one or two? You should point out to me that after all, save the question of anti-corruption which I scored him about 20 per cent, what else has he done? “I’m in support of what he did on that, but wiping out of corruption does not put food on the table of the people.
And that was why I said before the election, even when I said they are not organized, is that ‘just let Goodluck Jonathan go. When I asked the question, after the departure of Jonathan, who will replace him? They said just let him go.
They should have had a plan; it is because the people believed that you could better the Jonathan administration, that’s why they voted for you. And I agreed with that. I may not like your being elected, but you have been elected; that’s the voice of the people. Now perform! On whether the President has lived up to his own creed, he said the nature of his appointments showed he has not “walked the talk,” as majority of his appointments are from the North. Former President of the Nigeria Bar Association, Chief Wole Olanipekun, on his part, said the nation since 1999, is migrating from military dictatorship to civilian despotism.
He also frowned at what he called disregard for rule of law in the war against corruption, noting that our legal system is adversarial and not inquisitorial” as it is currently practiced. Urging him to ensure that the anti-graft war is across board, Olanipekun said government should ensure national spread in the appointment into key offices in order to avoid portraying himself as a sectional leader or President for the APC.
Similarly, Mr. Kolawole Banwo of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre said the spate of contradiction and recant on the part of the government gives impression of “a divided government where the President is in a world of its own, just like his ministers and the party.”
Banwo said the incident predated the government, having commenced during the campaign of the APC, which was so uncoordinated that the presidential candidate’s position was almost at variance with that of the party. Now taken into government, he said, the trend tends to “erode credibility of the entire government, and reinforces stereotypes that politicians cannot be taken seriously, because they make many promises just to get into power. This development as it affects the APC is unfortunate and it discredits the change mantra.”
But APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie- Oyegun, in his message yesterday, assured Nigerians of the party’s dividends of democracy soon. Oyegun gave the assurance in a statement issued by the APC Assistant Director of Publicity, Mr. Edegbe Odemwingie. According to him, the N500 billion earmarked for social intervention will begin to yield dividends very soon, and commended President Muhammadu Buhari for his leadership acumen and for repositioning the country.
Odigie-Oyegun, in the statement said, “Twelve months ago, President Muhammadu Buhari was sworn into office after the decisive victory of our great party in the general elections that marked 16 years of unbroken democratic rule in Nigeria.
“On behalf of the National Working Committee, elders, leaders and the teeming members of our party, I wish to convey my immeasurable gratitude to our fellow compatriots for their unprecedented confidence and trust in President Muhammadu Buhari and the Party.
“The APC assures all Nigerians that the party and the President hold as very sacred this collective trust, which the President has so creditably discharged this past one year. “President Buhari has, in the last year, worked hard to repair Nigeria’s previously tarnished image in the international community; restored the territorial integrity of our country by ensuring the containment of the erstwhile rampaging Boko Haram insurgency and has waged an unrelenting and vigorous war against corruption as he promised in his electioneering campaign.”
Similarly, Majority Leader of the House of Representatives, Hon. Femi Gbajabiamila, urged Nigerians to keep faith in the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari, stating that the ruling All Progressives Congress cannot be assessed under one year in office.
Speaking over the weekend in Lagos at a Town Hall Meeting organised to give account of his stewardship to his constituents, Gbajabiamila, who represents Surulere I at the House of Representatives, said the APC government inherited a virtually empty coffers when it took over the reins of leadership last year. “Many are saying that we should assess the government of President Buhari and APC in one year, but I say to them that the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria gives every President four years.
The reason why it gave four years was because those who drafted the constitution knew that you can’t assess a sitting government in one year, not even in two years. So, they gave four years as the point of assessment at elections. I believe that as things begin to turn around under Buhari, this country will get better. We should not be despair or lose hope with the APC or the government.
“Things are very difficult in Nigeria today; we must acknowledge that. The question we need to ask ourselves is why? And the answer is very simple. “When this government came into power, we knew the situation was bad, we knew the previous government did so much damage to the economy, but, we did not know how badly,” he said.
While reeling out some of his achievement in the lower chamber, the lawmaker who is representing his constituency for the fourth time, said he has in the past one year provided empowerment support of over N10million, secured employment for some unemployed youths, sponsored bills restricting movement of articulated vehicles on bridges and granted loans to indigent students, among others.
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