PDP, others exploiting govt’s passive communication to criticise Buhari – PGF chief

The Director-General of the Progressive Governors’ Forum, Dr. Salihu Lukman, on Sunday, accused the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and other opposition elements in Nigeria of unfairly criticizing President Muhammadu Buhari and the All Progressives Congress (APC) despite their achievements.

Lukman, who stated this in a statement in Abuja, added that the opposition was taking advantage of passive official communication by APC and the Federal Government to achieve their negative objectives.

He said: “A major gap being exploited by the opposition against the APC and the Federal Government is that official communication both by the APC and the Federal Government are passive and reactive.

“Consequently, opposition is succeeding in taking advantage of this reality to unfairly portray both the APC and President Buhari in a bad light.

“Efforts to engage Nigerians to secure ownership of policy initiatives are quite low, but quite some significant progress had been recorded.

The PGF chief stressed that since 2015, the federal government had rolled out several initiatives to deliver on APC’s campaign promises targeted at strengthening Nigeria’s public service institutions.

Lukman added: “The false narratives against APC and President Buhari are being promoted by the opposition to suggest that criminal activities of banditry started only when APC took control of the Federal Government in 2015.

READ ASLO: Opposition misinforming public about Buhari’s administration -PGF DG

“APC is being portrayed to have failed in ending Boko Haram insurgency, whereas objective analysts would recall that activities of the insurgents predated the current administration.

“As of 2015, apart from controlling most parts of the North-East, Boko Haram had spread to parts of North-West and North-Central, notably, Kano, Kaduna, Niger, Kogi and Nasarawa States.

“In both the North-West and North-Central, problems of cattle rustling were rampant. Kidnapping was also there in many parts of the South-South and South-East.

“To worsen matters, there was the 2014 corruption case of $2.1 billion meant for arms procurement, which was diverted by PDP-led administration of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

“It is true that the problem of cattle rustling in the North-West and North-Central has graduated to banditry and it is assuming a war situation.

“However, it should be recognised also that the fight against Boko Haram has made significant progress. Unlike what happened before 2015 when most parts of the North-East was under the control of insurgents, this is no longer the case.”

While acknowledging that there were still challenges in fighting banditry and insurgency, Lukman said the current administration was responding creditably.

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