Posted on: 04:35 Sun, 29 May 2016



Ekiti State Governor, Mr Ayodele
Fayose has lamented that in just
one year of the All Progressives
Congress (APC) government of
President Mohammadu Buhari, the
country’s economy was ruined so
much that States could no longer
pay workers’ salaries, millions of
jobs were lost, prices of essential
commodities skyrocketed to the
extent that Nigerians could no
longer afford common tomato to
cook and the middle class wiped
away completely.

In a statement signed by his Special
Assistant on Public
Communications and New Media,
Lere Olayinka, Governor Fayose
said; “Despite President Buhari’s
electoral promise to reduce petrol
pump price from the N87 per litre
that he met it and make life more
bearable for Nigerians, he
increased the price of petrol to
N145, increased electricity tariff in
spite of lack of power supply.”

He said; “food scarcity last
experienced when Buhari was
military Head of State between
1983 and 1985 has returned to the
country, with Nigerians being
unable to feed.”

The governor who said Nigerians
should remove party, ethnic and
religious sentiments and ask
themselves what they have
benefitted in the last one year,
reminded Nigerians that “Foreign
Reserve was $28.6 billion, Excess
Crude Account (ECA) was $2.07
billion, dollars was less than N200,
petrol was N87 per litre and most
importantly, one bag of rice was
N8, 500 and power generation was
over 5,000MW when Buhari
assumed office.

The statement read in part; “Today,
power generation is less than
1,400, Foreign Reserve has reduced
to $26.5 billion, dollar is now over
N350, petrol has increased to N145
per litre and one bag of rice is now
over N15, 000!” “I read the
president’s speech and all that I
saw was a president still sounding
like he was campaigning for votes
more than one year after winning
election.

It is disappointing that the
President’s speech was once again
about promises, not about what has
been done. “Not even a mention of
one kilometre of road tarred by this
administration, no single job was
created except the ones created in
Central Bank of Nigeria for their
cronnies and children, not a single
megawatt of electricity generated.
This is shameful.

“The reward Buhari gave to
Nigerians for electing as president
was to increase petrol pump price
by N58.50 and get the Vice
President, Prof Yemi Osinbajo to
justify the increment by saying
Nigeria was broke! “In other words,
President Buhari increased petrol
pump price because the country
was broke and it needed to shore
up its revenue base.

The N58.50 added to the previous
pump price of N86.50 was an
Indirect Tax imposed on each litre
of petrol purchased by Nigerians.
“It is even more worrisome that we
have a presidency that is not
coordinated.

The president says one thing; his
vice says another while his
ministers also singing discordant
tunes.

This is a clear sign of cluelessness
and unpreparedness for
governance. “I cannot but agree
with the position of former
President Olusegun Obasanjo,
Obiageli Ezekwesili and others that
President Buhari has no clue
economically.

The situation of Nigeria today is
like the visually impaired leading
those who can see. But I warned
Nigerians, and I am still warning
Nigerians now that as it happened
in 1984 when our President was a
military Head of State, the economy
of Nigeria may collapse!

“Therefore, as we look forward to
the end of the honeymoon of
Buhari’s presidency, I wish to state
that if supposed men of honour are
going underground because of
possible harassment and
intimidation, I, Peter Ayodele
Fayose will not; because this is our
fatherland.

“Most importantly, those regarding
President Buhari as a saint should
know that he is not. The president
is not also the Almighty God that
cannot be questioned. After all, the
beauty of democracy is in credible
opposition.

“Today, I have expressed my mind
concerning the one year of Buhari’s
presidency as I did before the
election. This I have done basically
to remind Nigerians that I told
them then, and it is happening
now. “May God be with the
President and bless Nigeria.”