Here's the reaction of former President Goodluck
Jonathan:The Presidency's statement issued by
Garba Shehu, Senior Special Assistant on media to
President Muhammad Buhari, has only exposed
why Nigeria is in an economic recession and is
floundering in all spheres.
It is quite sad that Malam Garba Shehu does not
know that oil constitutes only 15% of Nigeria's
GDP and thus a fall in the price of oil should not
lead to a collapse of the Nigerian economy as has
been experienced under President Buhari.
If Garba and his boss are willing to learn,
Jonathan Foundation and the PDP can arrange a
course for them to be tutored on the subject - how
to grow your economy to be the largest in Africa.
We make bold that we are experienced in that area.
When Mr. Shehu says "There is nothing to show
for the revenues earned, no major capital project
was completed, neither power generation, road
development, rail or agriculture benefitted from the
windfall earnings" he only further exposes his
intellectual laziness and failing memory.
Obviously Garba Shehu has forgotten that when his
boss was commissioning the Abuja-Kaduna 187KM
fast railway that enables Nigerians work in Abuja
and live in Kaduna, he was forced to admit that the
project was conceived, built and completed by the
Jonathan administration.
At that event, President Muhammadu Buhari said
about the $1.5 billion project and I quote "This
project was conceived by a previous
administration, started by the last government".
My question to Mr. Shehu is this-who is a liar
between him and his boss?
I also urge Garba Shehu to take note of the fact
that the only Federal University in his boss's home
state of Katsina was built by the Jonathan
administration in addition to 13 other universities
and 165 Almajiri schools built all over Nigeria. For
people who don't value education, I am not
surprised that they see this as "nothing to show"!
It may also interest Garba Shehu to note that the
Jonathan administration revived the moribund
Nigerian Railways Corporation to the extent that
the loquacious Minister of Transport, Rotimi
Amaechi was forced to confess on December 15,
2015 and I quote "In fact, I think we have a
problem; most people don’t believe that the
railway transport is functioning in Nigeria. I didn’t
even know, until I started this tour, I never knew
that the railway was functioning, it was even from
his (MD’s) speech that I learnt that there are some
coaches or services that go to Kano or Port
Harcourt or elsewhere."
These are just a few of the infrastructural legacies
of the Jonathan era.
It is quite surprising that Garba Shehu now praises
the former Central Bank of Nigeria Governor, His
Royal Majesty, Muhammadu Sanusi II.
Nigerians have not forgotten that it is the same
Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, now Muhammadu Sanusi II
who carpeted the economic policies of the Buhari
administration, saying that under the Buhari
administration, and again I quote, “There is one
rate for petroleum marketers, there is interbank
rate, there is another for money market operators
such as western union, money gram, there is
bureau de change rate and there is a special rate
you get when you call the CBN for a transaction."
My other question to Garba Shehu is this, how will
an economy not collapse when you have multiple
exchange rates?
Malam Garba and his boss continues to show that
they are in over their necks by their statements.
For instance, Garba says "At the inception of the
current administration, 21 States were unable to
meet their salary bills and the spectre of workers
arrears had commenced. The PDP solution was the
raid the Ecological Fund and selectively grant
N2Bn each to the PDP States."
Is it that Garba Shehu and his boss do not know
that Nigeria is a federation and that the Federal
Government cannot control the states? No wonder
they are against restructuring and want to throw
the report of the 2014 National Conference into the
dustbin.
We have already proved that the accusation re the
Ecological Fund i