2019: ‘Changing the change’ will only take Nigeria back to the disastrous past- Shehu

Senior Special Assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu,  says “changing the change” in 2019 would reverse all the gains of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

In an article he titled, ‘The Real Price of Changing the Change (1)’, Shehu said Nigerians must carefully appreciate the implication of voting out President Buhari.

Shehu said members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have only been advocating for changing the change “without defining what exactly that means”.

He argued that, “the real meaning and cost of the “Changing the Change” is a reversal of the victory gained against corruption.

Shehu claimed that Patience Jonathan, former first lady, will be the biggest beneficiary were PDP to regain power.

“As the governing All Progressives Congress (APC) gears up to celebrate the completion of three years of the Buhari government in the centre on May 29th, Nigerians need to be reminded of what the reversal of the achievements of this administration will amount to,” Shehu said.

“The main reason for the defeat of the PDP in 2015 was corruption. The present administration at the centre led by President Muhammadu Buhari has so far presented a corrupt-free image of itself. It has also succeeded in abolishing grand corruption at the top.

“The list of people who oppose the Buhari government and yearning to ‘‘change the change’’ include a number of parliamentarians, policemen, customs officials, immigration officials, civil servants now rooting for other political parties, not leaving out those various businesses and platforms owned by these political parties directly or indirectly.

Read also: ‘We only took N25m not N40m!’ Buhari’s ‘transport money’ to CAN leads to messy infighting

“The beneficiaries won’t like that the security threat is eliminated. Yes, for them, “Changing the Change” is an opportunity for a resumption of business as usual.

“But the happiest of them all will be Mrs. Jonathan, who will get the first priority when the refunds start coming for obvious reasons. The former First Lady would not anymore need lawyers to keep her mountain of gifts, counted in huge millions of dollars, billions of naira, hotels and buildings.

“The Buhari win in 2015, and the possibility of four more years have crumbled their dreams of endlessly looting the state and the growing list of achievements of the administration is not doing any good for them… Buhari is bad business for them.”

Shehu further listed the casualties of changing the change to include initiatives like the whistle blower policy, Voluntary Assets and Income Declaration Scheme (VAIDS), ease of doing business.

“Changing the Change means that we will go back to the old ways of doing things,” he said.

 

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