The All Progressives Congress, APC, presidential aspirant, Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, warned, yesterday, that the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was gradually destroying the nation with the sustenance of the culture of corruption and impunity.
He also said Boko Haram insurgents, kidnappers and armed robbers could over-run the country, if the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, was allowed to rule Nigeria for another four years.
Buhari spoke in Asaba, Delta State and Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, at a meeting with APC faithful to woo delegates for party presidential primaries.
Speaking at the APC’s Secretariat in Yenagoa, he urged Nigerians to vote out the ruling PDP and end the era of corruption that had threatened the foundation of the nation.
President Goodluck Jonathan and Gen. Muhammadu Buhari (rtd)
He said: “What is wrong with Nigeria? What is wrong is massive corruption. And the commentators have said it, written about it, and I believe them, if we don’t kill corruption in Nigeria, corruption will kill us. If Nigerians make the wrong choice as they have done since 1999, they will pay the price.
“If you want to know how much we have been suffering for the last 15 years under the PDP, try and imagine what our condition was in 1999. We will use the Nigerian Shipping Line, and the Nigerian Airways. The roads were not too bad.
“The most important among these, I suppose, was the industrialization. The creation of jobs, goods and services through what was called National Electric Power Authority, NEPA or Power Holding Company of Nigeria, PHCN.
“But after spending so much dollars, we are still where we are. Nigerians have abundant resources. God has endowed us with petroleum and some mineral resources, a lot of land for farming. But the educational standard has gone hay-wire. The infrastructure have gone. The institutions, I have just learnt, have disappeared. If you find out how much we have earned till date, you will be amazed,” he said.
He said though members of the National Assembly tried through various public hearings and the unearthing of corrupt practices by the present administration in the power sector, petroleum sector and the military,” such massive mismanagement and corruption discovered have been frustrated by the PDP.
“The National Assembly was worried and constituted public hearings. The hearings were conducted in Abuja and the geo-political zones. The National Assembly conducted hearing on NEPA. They conducted on the missing pension fund. They conducted on the petroleum industry. They got facts about those responsible for the massive mismanagement and sent the report to the executive as required by the constitution. Nobody has been charged.”
On insurgency in the North East, Buhari said the corrupt practices of the PDP-led government had rendered the military weak and incapable, lamenting that “the National Assembly became concerned about the performance of the military in the field. In the media interview conducted, the soldiers said they were ordered to face Boko Haram without appropriate weapons and ammunition. Even their leadership ran away.
“The National Assembly was again concerned. They went and dug out the budget allocated to the military in the last three or four years. They dug out monies allocated to the government to go and buy weapons and arms to distribute to the military and prepare them to defend the nation, but the hearing was frustrated. The message is absolutely clear to Nigerians now. If you don’t remove the PDP next year, they are going to kill this country.”
Also addressing APC delegates in Asaba, the APC presidential hopeful said the PDP had failed to provide the needed security for Nigerians, saying, “the North East is being over-run by Boko Haram; kidnappers and armed robbers are here thriving. The PDP is progressively destroying the security and economy of the country for the last 15 years. I don’t think we need them anymore. If not properly checked, Boko Haram and other criminals will over-run the country.
“My message to Nigerians is that they should vote PDP out because they have failed. Recall our infrastructure in 1999, what it is now, and how much we have earned and everything is being destroyed. If given a chance, we (APC) will make it better; just give us a chance.”
Earlier, Buhari said he had all that was needed to govern the country and solicited the support of all delegates to make him the presidential flag-bearer of the APC.
While promising to improve on the infrastructure of the country, Buhari said he was the right person to govern the country and blamed the woes befalling the country on the bad governance being offered by the PDP. He said the APC was determined to secure Nigerians.
Buhari was also in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where he spoke in the same vein.
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