Peoples Democratic Party members in the House of Representatives did not spare the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari the rod on Monday, saying the two-year-old administration had impoverished Nigerians.
The opposition party members slammed the government’s economic policies and its N500bn social welfare programme for vulnerable groups, saying that in the last two years, poverty and hunger had really worsened in the country.
In a recent interview in Abuja, the members argued that Nigerians must have realised that they made a mistake by voting the All Progressives Congress into power.
However, amid criticisms by the PDP members, the Majority Leader of the House, Mr. Femi Gbajabiamila, reacted that the government’s fight against corruption, the weakening of insurgency in the North-East and the gradual recovery of the value of the naira against the US dollar were enough testimonies of performance by government.
But the Minority Leader of the House, Mr. Leo Ogor, giving a caucus position, told The PUNCH that every reason given in 2015 for sacking the PDP from office had not changed.
He noted that infrastructure, particularly power supply, had become ‘worse’.
Describing the government as a ‘failed administration’, Ogor said the caucus scored Buhari ‘zero’ on economic reforms.
He said, “This is a failed government that has not been able to put any markedly different programme on the ground for the people. I score them five per cent.
“That five percent is on security because outside that, there is nothing else to show. This economy went into recession under them and they have been unable to take us out of it.”
Ogor added that though the government budgeted N500bn for its social welfare programme for vulnerable members of the society, most Nigerians had yet to benefit from the programme.
He said, “What is the methodology they are using to distribute the money? Where is the list of the beneficiaries? How was it drawn?”
Another member, Mr. Johnson Agbonayinma, noted that in two years, Nigerians were not eating better food nor had improved access to basic amenities.
Agbonayinma stated that the implication was that the problem was not really about the PDP since under the APC, there had been no change.
“Are Nigerians better now? No. So, whether it is the PDP or the APC, there is a problem and that means that we must be really serious about the future of this country,” he added.
He said Nigerians wanted a country where they could have easy access to reliable health care and other social welfare services.
Agbonayinma observed that the President travelling abroad to seek medical care was an indication that the situation of the country was really bad.
On his part, Mr. Oghene Emma-Ego, told newsmen that although the government appeared to be serious about the war against corruption, the war was one-sided.
He claimed that the government had been hesitant in going after the APC members accused of corruption, a development Emma-Ego said made a ‘caricature’ of the anti-graft war.
The lawmaker stated, “If you are an APC man, they don’t bother to investigate you. If you are a PDP member, any allegation against you is quickly investigated.
“However, we thank Mr. President for suspending the Secretary to the Government of the Federation (Babachir Lawal) over the corruption allegations by the Senate. But, it took such a long time for them to act.”
However, in his reaction, the APC leader, Gbajabiamila, held the view that the APC government had done well in its midterm scorecard.
He explained, “The campaign of the Buhari-led administration stood on a tripod, fighting insecurity, corruption and repositioning the economy.
“If we are to do a midterm review, there is the technical taming of the Boko Haram insurgency and the release of Boko Haram victims from captivity.
“The strategic review of the amnesty programme has considerably arrested the outburst of aggrieved Niger Delta militants and translated into a steady production of crude oil and reduction in systemic destruction of oil pipelines.
“We have also witnessed a downward slope in the exchange rate, from about N500/$1 to now N306/$1. Our local production of what we consume is on the increase.”
On the anti-corruption war, Gbajabiamila noted, “It is on record that this government is stripping many public office- holders of their psyche of corruption through the BVN, TSA, whistle-blower policy and prosecution of different forms of corruption.
“We all knew how our anti-corruption agencies were stripped of powers and corruption became the order of the day.”
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