Former President, Goodluck
Jonathan has reacted to claims by Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo that he
left Nigeria with debt and ruined the economy due to the alleged corruption
under his watch.
The Vice President had during a
lecture entitled, “Restructuring and the Nigerian federation,” delivered as
part of activities marking the 40th anniversary of Association of Friends in
Lagos yesterday, accused the immediate past government of President Goodluck
Jonathan, of throwing Nigeria into untold hardship, recession and debt.
But reacting in a statement by Reno Omokri (for Dr. Goodluck Jonathan), the former
President wondered why Osinbajo, who, according to him, was recently indicted
by the House of Representatives for an alleged worse corruption in Nigeria,
should point accusing fingers at him(Jonathan).
The statement continues, “My
attention has been drawn to regurgitated and discredited allegations by Vice
President Yemi Osinbajo blaming former President Jonathan of saddling Nigeria
with debt and ruining the economy by the alleged corruption of his
administration.
“How can Vice President Osinbajo,
a man who had just been indicted by the House of Representatives in one of the
biggest corruption scams ever in Nigeria’s history, have the gall to point
accusing fingers on Dr. Jonathan, a man that is celebrated internationally for
his efforts at achieving Nigeria’s best rating in Transparency International’s
annual Corruption Perception Rating when Nigeria improved 8 paces from 144 to
136 in 2014?
“Having read through the sordid
details of Professor Osinbajo’s corruption as revealed in the indictment by
Nigeria’s House of Representatives, it is easy to understand why Nigeria made
her worst ever retrogression in Transparency International’s annual Corruption
Perception under him this year, moving 11 paces backwards from 136 to 148.
“On the issue of debt, the fact
remains that in the entire 16 years that the Peoples Democratic Party governed
Nigeria, the total amount of money borrowed was ₦8.06 trillion Naira. These are
facts sourced directly from the budget office controlled by the Buhari
administration.
“However, in only 3 years, the
All Progressives Congress-led administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has
borrowed a total of ₦10 trillion Naira. With this fact in hand, where does Vice
President Osinbajo have the moral authority to point leprous fingers at former
President Jonathan?
“The claim by Vice President
Osinbajo that former President Jonathan left $$63 billion in debt is also a
false claim. The Jonathan administration inherited $42.23 billion in debt in
2011 which were debts borrowed by the states and the Federal Government.
“Throughout the five years that
he was President, former President Jonathan incurred the wrath of several state
governments because his administration refused to guarantee their foreign
loans.
“The reason that Nigeria’s debt
has ballooned under this administration is because the Federal Government lacks
the discipline that Jonathan had and are thus unable to curb borrowing by both
the Federal Government and the states.
“For example, on Tuesday,
November 13, 2018, the Debt Management Office revealed that in just 2017 alone,
the Buhari administration borrowed ₦2.4 trillion to fund their budget deficit.
This is besides other loans that they took in 2017 alone. That money is more
than the funds borrowed by the Jonathan administration in 5 years!
“To show to Nigerians the
profligacy and ineptitude of the current administration, I draw their attention
to the fact that between July and August 2018, the Buhari administration claimed
it had shared $322 million Abacha funds recovered by the Jonathan
administration to the poor. Then a week after it made that announcement, the
Buhari government borrowed $328 million from China.
“The question is this, why would
you share out $322 million one week only to borrow the same amount next week?
Why not use the Abacha funds to fund government activities instead of adding to
the already strained debt burden?
“These are questions that Vice
President Osinbajo should answer rather than making false allegations against
former President Jonathan.”
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