Return economy to Jonathan’s era and resign, PDP tells Buhari

By Emmanuel Aziken, Political Editor, Dapo Akinrefon & Omezia Ajayi KANO

—The Emir of Kano, Muhammad Sanusi II, has called on the Federal Government to seek the advice of economic experts in tackling the current economic crisis in the country. Sanusi gave the advice, yesterday, during the traditional Sallah Durbar (Hawan Nasarawa) at  Government House, Kano. The emir’s advice came as the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, yesterday called on President Muhammadu Buhari to step down from office; but not without returning the country’s economic indices and prices to the point they were when he took over. The All Progressives Congress, APC, however, insisted that whatever economic challenges facing the country  were as a result of PDP’s misrule and looting of the country’s resources. Presidentcy reacts In its reaction, the Presidency speaking through Mr. Femi Adesina, Special Adviser on Media and Publicity to the President said: “The President is open to positive contributions on how the country’s economic problems can be resolved in the shortest possible time, and he’s already doing as the respected emir counselled. All hands are on deck, and in the not too distant future, the results shall be evident.” Sanusi, the immediate past Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, during the durbar at the Government House, said consulting experts would help in enunciating proper solution to the economic crisis and reduce the hardship people were currently facing in the country. The emir urged wealthy Nigerians to support the less-privileged in the society in order to alleviate their sufferings.  He added that Nigerians, irrespective of religious beliefs and political inclinations, should continue to pray for economic growth and development of the country. He also urged the people of Kano to remain law-abiding and be their brother’s keepers, irrespective of religion or ethnic background. Mr. Sanusi appealed to the state government to help the people to acquire skills that would make them self-reliant. In his remarks, acting governor of the state, Prof. Hafiz Abubakar, said that paying salary of workers was not a privilege but an obligation, which the state had continued to meet. He pointed out that the economic crunch had made it difficult for no fewer than 28 states out of the 36 in the country to pay workers’ salary. Mr. Abubakar said the state government was spending N62 million weekly for the feeding of boarding school students across the state. He called on the people to continue to pray for peace, unity and progress in the country. Return economy to Jonathan’s era and resign — PDP The PDP on its part, in a statement, expressed surprise at what it described as the lackadaisical reaction of Finance Minister, Kemi Adeosun to the recession, saying it was reflective of her ignorance, lack of patriotism or confirmation by the president that ministers were noise makers. The fresh demand for the President’s resignation was ignored by the Presidency which, yesterday, directed reactions to the All Progressives Congress, APC, party officials, including the National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun. The APC Chairman was contacted through a text message, last night, but was yet to react at press time. The PDP, while calling on its supporters to keep on praying for the country, in a statement issued by the party’s national spokesman, Prince Dayo Adeyeye said: “The crass ineptitude and lukewarm-attitude of this APC government is no longer tolerable, and therefore, we are calling on President Buhari and his team to return Nigeria to its state of booming economy before they assumed office in May, 2015, and then quit immediately to allow other capable leaders recover our ailing economy”. Prince Adeyeye declared: “For instance, recall that about three airlines, local and international, like some banks, have suspended operations and sent their staff on indefinite leave due to poor state of  Nigeria’s economy. Nigerians are aware that the PDP government invested heavily in most of our airports in the country that resulted to obvious ‘facelift’ and improved operations through remodelling, construction of new airports, refurbishing and equipping of the local and international airports to meet best practices in the Aviation Industry. “But the APC administration has frittered away all the good policies and programmes which the PDP put in place, thereby crumbling the aviation sector in the country among other catastrophes it has caused. ‘.…What Nigerians want‘ “What Nigerians want from this administration are results, simple! And not resorting to throwing tantrums on the PDP at every given opportunity. Our call for the President to return the country to how he met it in 2015 is justified on the following grounds: A bag of rice was N7,000 and now it is above N20,000; a mudu of beans was N150 and now N500; one US Dollar was trading for N197 but now over N400; a litre of fuel was N87 but now N145; cost of transportation and other services have skyrocketed. Given our observation since the inception of this government, they have nothing to offer and as such, quitting will be a solution because nobody can give what he/she does not have. APC has failed. “The PDP calls on Nigerians to recall President Buhari’s purported ‘body language’ at the beginning of his administration and re-iterated that governance is a serious business and not about someone’s body language’ and de-marketing strategies of Mr. President while ‘globetrotting’. “When this government came to power in May 2015, riding on the achievements of previous PDP administration, President Buhari’s handlers and his party, the APC, claimed it was his ‘body language’ that brought some positive changes the country was witnessing at that time; so we want to know what are the results of the so called ‘body language’,” Prince Adeyeye queried. The party concluded that the earlier the President and his team quit, the better for the country, saying “there is no better time than now to make this call for the President to return the country to how he met it and quit, or right away quit for a more experienced team to take over”. APC slams PDP Reacting, the APC through a press statement issued by its National Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, while urging the President to remain focused in his drive to restore economic growth said: “In spite of the PDP’s orchestrated and feeble attempts to blackmail the current administration and twist facts, the reality remains that the prevailing socio-economic hardship being faced by Nigerians is a direct consequence of the mismanagement of the economy and unprecedented looting of the country’s commonwealth perpetrated under its watch. The PDP’s attempt to turn truth on its head is fraudulent, insensitive and an insult to Nigerians. For the umpteenth time, the PDP must own up to its transgressions and apologise to Nigerians. “Going forward, the urgent task before the President Muhammadu Buhari-led APC administration is to restore the country’s battered economy back to health and all legitimate and innovative means are being employed to achieve this in the quickest possible time. The party assured Nigerians of the strong political will and commitment of the Buhari administration to revive the economy and tackle the nation’s current challenges through suitable and well-thought economic policies, fiscal discipline and socio-political reforms. The party added that President Buhari was aggressively formulating and implementing policies aimed at diversifying Nigeria’s economy from oil to other sectors such as agriculture, mining and manufacturing. The APC assured Nigerians that the administration will pull the country out of the present hardships. With the support, cooperation, patience and prayers of Nigerians, the country will reach its deserved potential under our leadership.

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