… President didn’t address issues –Ozekhome
By Iheanacho Nwosu, Godwin Tsa, Fred Itua,Abuja and Femi Folaranmi, Yenagoa
DOCTOR Junaid Mohammed and chairman of Northern Elders Council, Alhaji Tanko Yakassai have differed on yesterday’s Democracy Day speech by President Muhammadu Buhari.
While Mohammed hailed the decision by the president to rescind his earlier promise to name those who have returned money looted from the national treasury, Yakassai said Buhari exaggerated his achievements in the last one year.
Mohammed, a former lawmaker, said it would have amounted to demeaning the office of the president if Buhari had gone ahead to list the people who returned alleged stolen money during his national broadcast yesterday.
“I think he listened to the wise counsel by changing his mind on naming the looters. The office of the president is too high to do such a thing,” he told Daily Sun in reaction to the president’s speech.
On his part, Yakasai said while the president made remarkable progress in the war against insurgency in the North-East, “the economy is in critical condition under Buhari”.
He also faulted Buhari’s anti-corruption war, saying there is no conviction so far by anti-graft agencies in the country and added that the number of cases published on the pages of newspapers were more than those filed in competent courts of law.
“On anti-graft war, so far, I do not know of any conviction, after a whole year, of fighting corruption. I expect the anti-corruption agencies to put more effort. It is the court that will decide who is corrupt.
“The number of cases published in the media are more than those taken to court. In my mind, it is negligible. I like to see them take more people to court. From the point of view of the number of convictions secured, I do not think that it is remarkable.”
In his own assessment, rights activist, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN) said the president’s speech was poorly written as it did not address the yearnings and expectations of Nigerians.
Ozekhome said President Buhari was militant in his speech and was not reconciliatory and that it did not provide the soothing balm for the bleeding wounds of poverty, currently experienced by Nigerians.
“It was like pouring petrol on fire and too much crying over spilled milk. There were too many backward-looking in his speech, which did not address the current economic situation in the country, where the cost of living is high.
“The speech did not address the current poor state of electricity and power supply, where Nigerians are paying more tariff for increased darkness. It did not address the decrease in foreign reserve and excess crude account which he inherited at $28.8 billion, but which has virtually been depleted today.
“The president’s speech also failed to address the current exchange rate where today, our naira is N400 per dollar, and why the price of petrol has to be increased from N87 to N145 per litre.
“The speech did not address the over 500 percent increase in consumables, where a bag of rice is now selling at between N18,000 to N20,000; and the cost of tomatoes, where some families are now cooking stew without tomatoes.
“The speech shows lack of economic coordination of the present administration. He did not address the resolute efforts his administration is taking to bring back the Chibok girls.
“Rather than engage the angry youths in the Niger Delta region, he threatened to deal with them.”
Meanwhile, member representing Brass Constituency 1 in the Bayelsa state House of Assembly, Hon Israel Sunny-Goli, has reacted to the Democracy Day broadcast of President Buhari with a verdict that Nigeria is on the path of progress.
Sunny-Goli said the Buhari administration, in line with his electoral promises, has tackled insecurity and is waging war on corruption.
He said Nigerians should sustain their faith in the administration as the All Progressive Congress (APC) government is set to revamp the econ omy.
Sunny-Goli said the list of recovered loot, which would be published soon, is an indication that the government is serious with the war against corruption.