The National Publicity Secretary of the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC), Malam Bolaji Abdullahi, says the government and
the party have reasons to celebrate if the situation of Nigeria is looked at
“closely”.
Abdullahi, in an interview with journalists yesterday in
Abuja said President Muhammadu Buhari promised to focus on three key issues;
fight against insecurity, a renewed battle against corruption and employment.
The APC spokesman said there might be temptation to say that
nothing had been achieved because of the difficulties being experienced by
Nigerians.
He, however, said that the fact that no part of the country
was now under the Boko Haram group which has also released over 100 among the
Chibok girls kidnapped three years ago, was worthy of celebration.
He said corruption, which had been considered a ‘normal’
practice in the past, is now being tackled head-on as more achievements are
being recorded following introduction of the whistle-blower policy by the
federal government.
He said, “Two years down the line, what is the size of
Nigeria territory occupied by Boko Haram? Zero, including the dreaded Sambisa
forest. For us, this is a remarkable achievement and we believe that in that
respect, President Buhari and the government of APC have justified the purpose
of coming to power. “Yes, many of the Chibok girls are still in captivity, but
some of them have been recovered and more are still being recovered.
“For the parents of those recovered, you cannot tell them
there is no reason to celebrate. For those who had to abandon their families
and homes two years ago because of the menace of Boko Haram and have returned
home today, you cannot tell them that there is nothing to celebrate.
“Let us take the issue of corruption....you hear people
talking about whistleblowers, people talk about huge amount of money being
recovered, people being dragged before the court and former governors being
remanded in prison custody for corrupt practices. You hear about former
ministers being held in detention and prison for corruption. These are things
that were almost impossible two years ago. The challenges are still there, but
this is the progress we have made in two years.
“For us, we would also like to argue that there is the
tendency to look at the APC from the perspective of the federal government. But
the performance of the APC as a party is the aggregate of the performance of
our 24 state government. You go to each of our 24 states and you will find out
from the people the progress that has been made in two years in those
respective states.
“So, when you want to assess whether the APC has delivered
or has justified our being in existence, then you have to look at the totality
of the federal government and the 24 states that are being governed by the APC.
So, we believe that we have a lot of reasons to celebrate. The reality which we
have acknowledged is that the economic recession has created difficulty and
those hardships still exist and nobody has ever denied that reality.” To tackle
the challenge of youth unemployment, Abdullahi said it required a new and
comprehensive approach.
“You hear about NPower which is what is being done at the
moment among others. Like I said, unless we go back to the nature of our
education that retools young people for a different kind of occupation, we will
continue to deal with this. So, I believe that it is not something that we can
say we have solved in two years.
“It is a problem that needs to be dealt with, but when you
are operating an economy in recession, it is even more difficult to manage the
impact that some of these things can have. But you will agree with me that if
the President promised three things and he has delivered well on two and he
still has two years to go, I think he has done well,” he said.
The acting spokesman for the Senator Ali Modu Sheriff-led
Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Bernard Mikko, told Daily Trust on Sunday, that
the APC-led government performed well in some areas but failed in other areas.
“On the war against corruption, the president has performed
above average; on fight against insurgency in the North East, the
administration has recorded an increasing progress from the past
administration.
“But the claim on the achievement on economy appears to be
more political and passive, considering the conflicting reports from the
presidency and the Federal Bureau of Statistics and even the National Assembly.
“We urge the electorate to hold political leaders at all
levels; from local, state and federal government to account for their years of
stewardship,” he said.
The spokesman of the PDP National Caretaker Committee,
Prince Dayo Adeyeye, could not be reached at the time of filing this report.
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