Under Jonathan, ‘so much money grew feet and ran faster than Usain Bolt’- Tinubu

National leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, Thursday in Abuja slated the Goodluck Jonathan administration for poor governance and widespread corruption, stating that “in governance, they earned a red card but in corruption, they won the gold medal”.

Tinubu stated this in a keynote address at the presentation of the book, Making Steady, Sustainable Progress – for Nigeria’s Peace and Prosperity, which held at the Presidential Banquet hall, Abuja.

He argued that the former administration abused the public treasury .

“So much money grew feet and ran faster than Jamaican runner, Usain Bolt, ever could. That which could have been spent on national development was squandered in ways that would cause the devil to blush.

“One minister and her rogues’ gallery picked the pocket of this nation for billions of dollars.

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“While poor at governance, these people could give a master thief lessons in the sleight of hand. In governance, they earned a red card but in the corruption, they won the gold medal.

“It was not that our institutions had become infected by corruption. Corruption has become institutionalized’’, he said.

Tinubu said the “war on corruption has been won as President Buhari has set an axe to what he called, “the root of this dangerous tree.”

He noted that, “gone are the days when a minister can pilfer billions of dollars as easy as plucking a piece of candy from the table.

“We have much to do to combat this disease. Not only must we track down the takers.

“In the long term, we must review the salaries of public servants and create universal credits for our people to reduce temptation.”

According to the APC chieftain, if the Jonathan government had not ben dislodged, Boko Haram would have taken more territory and killed many more people.

While noting that though Boko Haram had not been completely defeated, he contended that there was no question that it had been decimated, unable to constitute the threat it once was.

“Had the previous government remained in place, Boko Haram would have surely eaten more territory and devoured more people.

“This nation might have been divided and cut asunder, not by choice but by the knife of terrorism’’, he said.

 

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