Again, Buhari asks PDP to explain 16 years of wasteful expenditure

President Muhammadu Buhari has asked the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, to explain to Nigerians how it wasted the nation’s resources in 16 years that it was in power.

The president also accused the opposition party of squandering Nigeria’s wealth irresponsibly and in an unprecedented manner.

Buhari spoke in Abuja during his meeting with the leadership of the Nigeria Labour Congress, NLC and the Trade Union Congress, TUC, led by the NLC President, Ayuba Wanna.

The labour leaders at the State House to congratulate the President on his reelection.

According to Buhari, there no long-lasting infrastructure bequeathed to the nation by the PDP, just as he claimed that the welfare of workers also took the back-seat.

The President also told the visiting labour leaders that the poor state of the finances he met on assumption of office in 2015 was part of the reason his administration had to keep explaining that it would be a challenge to pay a new minimum wage of N30,000.

Read also: PDP creating tension to scare Kwara voters, Lai Mohammed alleges

He said: “During your negotiation with the Minister of Labour (Dr Chris Ngige), and when he briefed us in council on N30,000 minimum wage. I gave an analogy of a mad woman, who went to fetch firewood but then she realised it was too heavy for her to carry. Instead of reducing it, she added more.

“I said, we are struggling to survive as a nation. You (workers) knew what this country was earning between 2009 and 2015, you knew the state of infrastructure when we came in; God gave them (the PDP) 16 years of unprecedented earnings.

“Multiply 2.1 million by $100 by 16 years. I don’t think the PDP has been able to successfully explain to Nigerians what they did with that money. Because some of the roads, especially the main ones, from here to Onitsha, to Port Harcourt (were not done) since Petroleum Trust Fund days, let alone construction of new ones.

“They earned money from petroleum in 16 years. You know the railway was virtually gone and power; I asked where is the power? They spent $16bn on power and Nigerians are asking, where is the power? It was unprecedented, irresponsible expenditure.

“Most of you are unanswerable to Nigerians, I appealed to you through our mutual friend, the minister of labour, to tell you where we found the country, where we are, and what we have been able to do with the resources available to us.

“Oil production from 2.1 million barrels per day went down to half a million. The militants were unleashed on this administration, and yet as confirmed by your leader, we had to ensure that pensioners were paid their entitlements. So really, there was terrible management of this country in the last 16 years and we are just trying to make (it) up.”

The president also sought the support of the organised labour for his administration to succed.

“We cannot succeed without your cooperation. I appreciate the pressure you are under from your respective constituencies, most especially if you have to submit yourself for elections, you have to prove to your members that you are with them rather than with the government and we understand”, he said.

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