By Rotimi Ijikanmi
The Federal Government on Monday berated the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) presidential candidate, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, for accusing the administration of President Muhammadu Buhari of non-performance.
The Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said it was absurd for Atiku to make such accusation when his party PDP ruled for 16 years, eight of which he was a Vice President and there was no motorable road to his hometown and key areas of his senatorial zone.
The minister spoke at the seventh edition of the ‘PMB Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023) launched in October to showcase the numerous achievements of the Buhari Administration.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports the Minister of Water Resources, Suleiman Adamu, gives the scorecard of his ministry at the series.
In an opening remarks, Mohammed condemned the increasing tendency by some opposition presidential candidates to downplay the achievements of the Administration, in their desperation for power, ahead of the 2023 elections.
He said the worst offender in that regard was Atiku who at his recent campaign in Akure, said the APC had not done anything for Nigeria in eight years.
“What a preposterous statement from somebody who should know. I guess we can excuse His Excellency the former Vice President who, until recently, had fully relocated to Dubai, thus losing touch with Nigeria.”
The minister said what the PDP could not do or achieve in 16 years and Atiku in eight years as Vice President, the Buhari administration has achieved them.
“Today, gentlemen, the Mayo Belwa- Jada- Ganye- Toungo road have been constructed fully and it’s the road that Alhaji Atiku uses to get to his hometown of Jada.
“What about security? Before this Administration came into office, all the five local government areas in Adamawa’s Northern Senatorial District were effectively under the control of the Boko Haram terrorists.
“All state institutions, the local government administration, the police, the judiciary, schools, hospitals and markets had been sacked.
“Traditional rulers, including Emirs and Chiefs, had been displaced with their palaces taken over by the terrorists as their
“Today, not an inch of these local governments in Adamawa, the home state of the former Vice President, is under the control of terrorists.
“All institutions of state have relocated back and are operational while all Emirs and chiefs have returned to their palaces and schools and markets have opened,’’ he said.
The minister noted that throughout the period of the terrorists’ siege the former Vice President could not go home.
“Now that he can travel home freely, thanks to the Buhari Administration, it is not sweet in his mouth to accuse the same Administration of doing nothing,’’ he said.
In the area of Social Investment Programmes, the minister said there had been 29,641 beneficiaries, from Adamawa alone, of the N-Power Programme of the Buhari Administration.
He said under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, some 162,782 pupils from Adamawa are benefitting from one meal a day.
He said the programme employed 2,259 cooks in Adamawa and had covered 1,236 schools in the state.
The minister said under the Conditional Cash Transfer, some 64,607 vulnerable people have benefitted in Adamawa alone, while Trader Moni and Market Moni have reached a total of 38,000 people in the state.
In the area of infrastructure, Mohammed said eight roads projects totalling 714 kilometres were currently being rehabilitated or constructed in the state.
“You can also see the irony of someone who held the number two position in the country for all of eight years but could not positively impact on his own hometown, state or region.
“It is ironic that he should be the one condemning an Administration that has made it possible for him to even access his hometown,’’ he said.
The minister reiterated that the Buhari administration has had a positive impact on all parts of this federation and no amount of rhetoric could change the fact. (NAN)
