The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Mr Osita
Okechukwu, has asked former President Goodluck Jonathan to apologise to
Nigerians over the comments he made on the handling of the corruption war
during his tenure.
Former President Jonathan was quoted on Saturday to have
said that “though we didn’t completely plug the loopholes in the fight against
corruption, but we did well” at the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP)’s Special
Non-elective Convention held at Abuja
Okechukwu, who spoke on Sunday in Abuja, in reaction to the
former president’s remarks, dismissed the statement credited to the
ex-president.
“My own sincere assessment is that our dear ex-president
rather than plugged loopholes of corruption, opened it wide. He should
apologize to Nigerians whom he betrayed for being less than transparent.
"I was outraged when I heard him proclaim that the PDP
will return to power in 2019 because of the hunger and poverty ravaging the
country."
The VON DG, reiterated that the economy could have collapsed
if President Muhammadu Buhari didn't come to the rescue.
He added that Jonathan relied on “voodoo economic records”
which rated the Nigerian economy higher than that of the industrialised South
African economy.
He said going by the financial records, the ex-president and
his party “railroaded” Nigerians into “abject poverty, food insecurity and
deficit infrastructure” via “planlessness and squandermania”.
Part of the statement also read, “He (Jonathan) propelled
his preferred Minister, Mrs Deziani Alison Madueke and other cronies to loot
dry our dear countrymen.
"Example, later day revelations are showing how $80
million was used by Mrs Madueke’s ally to purchase a luxury yacht, money which
could have been utilized to build the best hospital in Yenogoa.
"Or is he not reminding us of the humongous foreign
exchange used in buying choice estates locally and abroad?
“In sum, the biggest headache of Buhari administration is
the huge local and foreign debt amassed by the PDP's 16 years misrule. On
bail-out fund and Paris Fund refund, Buhari has spent over N1 trillion on salary
and pension arrears. He has also paid over $7 billion on obligations to
International Oil Companies (IOC) with the little he got.”
Okechukwu said if the Jonathan government had executed the
award of $23 billion contract for the erection of three Greenfield refineries
promised to located in Bayelsa, Kogi and Lagos, it could have saved Nigeria
over $200 billion expended on importation of refined petroleum products till
date.
The VON DG said that with huge oil revenue under his regime,
Jonathan “stood a good chance of fixing the Niger Delta, but failed woefully”,
advising him to keep quiet, especially now that the hunger and poverty he
allegedly imposed “are getting too harsh”.
“I regret demonstrating on Abuja streets in 2010, for him to
be made an executive president, with others as a member of the defunct Save
Nigeria Group,” said Okechukwu.
By Muideen Olaniyi
