A chieftain of the PDP and former Information Commissioner, Prince Kassim Afegbua, has branded the Buhari administration as the worst the country has ever witnessed, with scathing accusations that the President, whom he regards a medical tourist, is presiding over failure and has made life unbearable for Nigerians.
A chieftain of the PDP and former Information Commissioner, Prince Kassim Afegbua
Prince Afegbua claimed in a Thursday press statement where he expressed concerns over the country’s compounding energy woes, following a nationwide blackout caused by the collapse of the national grid, persistent fuel scarcity, and the controversial revelation of a missing 107 barrels of crude oil.
He said: “In all my adult life, I have never seen a government that is this confused, incompetent, spineless, uncreative, rudderless, tactless, clueless and demoralizing like this one headed by a medical tourist, President Muhammadu Buhari. In seven years, it is a big shame that the Buhari presidency is unable to build a state-of-the-art hospital that could answer his medical needs and the needs of other Nigerians.”
“In seven years, our megawatts still revolve around 4,000 and 5,000 with so much so-called investment in the energy sector; and the president hops to London at the slightest opportunity to enjoy uninterrupted power supply, while leaving us in darkness.
They go for medical tourism like post-graduate students seeking postgraduate degrees abroad. In seven years, electricity is in a quandary, possibly leading the country to a state of near-total darkness; and General Buhari would still thump his chest as president of Nigeria; presiding over failure?”
Afegbua continued, “In seven years, not a single Refinery has been fixed or has any brand new one being built. It is an unpardonable failure on the part of this APC-led Federal government under the watch of President Buhari. I have never seen this level of incompetence being exhibited in high office like what we are witnessing today.”
“Life has become unbearable under a system that is manifestly asphyxiating, dehumanizing, and discomfiting. Nigeria and Nigerians have become internally displaced persons in their own country as a result of the blood-spilling activities of bandits and kidnappers. From the North to the South, we are seeing rivers of blood flowing with a cake of crimson, as a result of general insecurity.”
“Nothing seems to be working in Nigeria except failure. Only last week, the Auditor-General made mind-boggling revelations about the millions of barrels of oil without any trace under a president and minister of petroleum whose adherents see as “mai-gaskiya”.
“How on earth can 107 million barrels of oil be declared missing under a government that sings about anti-corruption, yet not many heads have rolled, nobody has been sacked, nobody has been apprehended and no one is cooling off in jail!! Imagine such a whooping figure as if it is a piece of groundnut in a pupil’s pocket. To make matters worse, the Finance Minister reportedly told the nation that the Federal Government was thinking of raising euro-bond cash to fund oil subsidies. What a cataclysmic catastrophe!. What impudence!”
“The APC and the Federal Government are two sides of a dysfunctional system that are unassailably confused, directionless, and running amok. The president is confused, the APC is confused, the general psyche of the people has been utterly affected. Aside from dithering from one dysfunctional emanation to another, the confusion in the party is a manifestation of the confusion in the government.”
“As if to rub insult on our collective injuries, the President’s Spokesman told an already befuddled nation and a citizenry that is heavily overburdened that “heaven will not fall”, no matter the lamentations and difficulties we are experiencing. Imagine such infamy! How do you score such a wicked and sullen statement from a government that was voted for?”
“For over a month now, fuel scarcity has remained a perpetual crisis across the country. Man-hours wastages are affecting the economy in a very debilitating manner. Long queues of vehicles occasioned by the scarcity have become ugly sights across the country. Diesel has risen to over N700 per liter, kerosene which ought to be the cheapest for the average masses is now selling for N450 per liter. Electricity tariffs have risen astronomically, almost beyond the reach of the ordinary Nigerian. In all of these, an elected president abandoned his citizens to seek medical attention in London.”
“ I have stated on several occasions in the last that a sick country cannot do well under a president that has health challenges; one of the reasons I am vehemently opposed to those old and tired politicians who now want to temporarily acquire the Aso Villa as their retirement home, and use the office to rejuvenate and repair themselves by contesting for the presidency.”
“Rather than attend to our needs, they would be making all efforts to sustain their wellbeing at the detriment and expense of Nigerians. They will force the country to work and walk at their own slow pace. Rather than be on the fast lane, the country will naturally be detained in a motion without movement scenario, because the supposed enabler is busy attending to his health needs.”
“It is pathetic that in president Buhari’s 7 years in office, he could not build a world standard hospital to look after his OWN health needs and those of other citizens. Just take a look at the curious contradictions; the president of the country is in London for medicals, the First Lady is reportedly in Dubai, the Caretaker Committee Chairman of the ruling party was in Dubai for medicals. Both party and government are immersed in unpardonable voyageS of wellness while the rest of the country can go to hell. This government is not just wicked and inconsiderate, but also a cultivator of poverty, impoverishment, deprivation, hunger, and starvation. The government has shown visible signs of underperformance, incompetence, and crass materialism. The level of corruption in the system rubbishes the so-called anti-corruption mantra of the government.”
“This is a clarion call to all and sundry that we must collectively add our voices to make the 2023 election a referendum by Nigerians against the abnormalities of the ruling APC. We have been demobilized by suffering and economic dislocations, hence we must speak with one voice against a system and party that has crippled our sense of creativity and productivity. As hard-working Nigerians, we must Nm, mobilize, and synergize amongst ourselves to create the right nexus for citizen action against the ruling party in 2023. We must bail our country from the octopoidal grip of the present incompetent leadership and lead it on the path of constructive and collective engagement in the overall interest of our people. We cannot continue to cultivate failure, embellish incompetence, glamourize inertia, celebrate nepotism and decorate cronyism in a 21st-century world, as our article of faith. Never again! 2023 beckons.”
A chieftain of the PDP and former Information Commissioner, Prince Kassim Afegbua
