The Federal Government has accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) of plotting another round of EndSARS protest and peddling lies about the government of President Muhammadu Buhari.
Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed told a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, that though there is nothing wrong in having a viable opposition, the PDP went too far in seeking the country’s destruction through its utterances and actions.
In its reaction to the weekend national convention of the All Progressives Congress (APC) held in Abuja, at the weekend, where a new National Working Committee of the party was elected, a day after, the PDP, in a statement by the its spokesman, Debo Ologunagba, the party said it was “appalling to see APC leaders come out one after the other at their national jamboree to spew out lies and false performance claims on the economy, infrastructure and security even in the face of biting economic hardship, high cost of living, excruciating fuel emergency, lingering crisis in the education sector and escalated insecurity that was happening real time and simultaneously when the ridiculous claims of achievements were being made.”
But, the Federal Government accused the PDP of advocating the destruction of Nigeria by threatening to unleash another round of EndSARS on the country and deliberately misinforming Nigerians on the APC government.
“…As you know, the folks on the other side have been doing everything in recent times to overheat the polity, distort the achievements of our Administration and spread misinformation. Yes, it is very cold out there for the hungry and desperate opposition, but every indication is that they don’t even want to wait for the 2023 elections before testing their popularity or acceptability at the polls.
“How else does one explain their court case seeking the declaration of our convention as illegal? How do you explain their threat of another EndSARS that pushed Nigerian to the brink? How do you explain their glaring misinformation regarding the nation’s state of affairs?
“There is nothing wrong in having a fiery and viable opposition in a democracy. We were there before and we remain the ones to beat in terms of a determined, viable and relentless opposition. But, in our time, not once did we advocate the destruction of Nigeria just because we couldn’t have our way. Not once did we seek to gain power via a desperate court action. If you destroy the country you are seeking to govern, what country will you govern? Must you cut your nose to spite your face?
“In their most recent act of desperation, they sought to erase seven years of unprecedented achievements by the Buhari Administration. In the most egregious show of shamelessness and a blatant refusal to be remorseful, they even had the audacity to express righteous indignation that the damage they inflicted on the country in their 16 years of misrule has not been totally undone in just seven years. In other words, those who brought the country to its knees are now accusing those working hard to repair things of non-performance. They said they are ready to rescue Nigeria. Pray, where do kidnappers rescue their victims? These same guys who kidnapped the fortunes of their country are suddenly posing as rescuers. Caveat Emptor; buyers beware! Nigerians beware!” government said.
The minister dismissed the opposition party’s claim that the PDP government handed over $550 billion economy, with single digit inflation and a much reduced debt profile.
“Ask them what infrastructure did they leave behind? Ask them how many motorable roads did they leave behind? They frittered away our gains from oil sales. How many times, on paper, did they launch the second Niger Bridge? How many times did they launch reconstruction of the Lagos-Ibadan expressway on paper?
“We are not saying that opposition should not critique. What we are saying is that they should not promote anarchy because we didn’t do that in our time. They wrecked the the economy and we are rebuilding it. They wrecked the country’s infrastructure and we are rebuilding them?…When PDP left, 21 states could not pay the salary of their staff. They should stop re-writing history while we are alive..”
Asked if he was satisfied that the APC government has ameliorated the sufferings of Nigerians, in light of the present economic situation in the country, Mohammed replied: “I’m very proud of this administration’s efforts to ameliorate the suffering of Nigerians. Before we came, there was nothing like the National Social Investment Programme (NSIP).
“They gloat that Nigerians are suffering under our watch. But we say that while they laid the ground work for today’s suffering with their mismanagement of national resources at a time of plenty, we have introduced unprecedented measures to alleviate the suffering of Nigerians, especially the very vulnerable. Our NSIP is the biggest of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa. The N-Power benefits one million people; the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme (GEEP), has benefitted four million people; the National Home Grown School Feeding Programme (NHGSFP) is providing quality meals daily to 10 million primary school pupils, in addition to empowering over 100,000 cooks and the same number of small holder farmers in the local areas where the schools are located; the Household Uplifting Programme (HUP), which has the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) as its flagship intervention, provides N5,000 monthly grants to almost 2 million eligible households across the country, in addition addition to the 1 million Urban Poor who are benefitting from the Conditional Cash Transfers, under the directive of Mr. President to further expand the programme due to the Covid-19 Pandemic.”
On the double digit inflation raving the economy, the minister noted that, “ inflation is a global issue. On petrol scarcity: if only they did the needful (in overhauling infrastructure), we would have been benefitting from increase in crude oil prices today.”
