The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described incompetence, cluelessness and inconsistency as the hallmark of the Jonathan Administration, contrary to the futile attempt by presidential aide Doyin Okupe to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians through a pedestrian play on semantics.
The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has described incompetence, cluelessness and inconsistency as the hallmark of the Jonathan Administration, contrary to the futile attempt by presidential aide Doyin Okupe to pull the wool over the eyes of Nigerians through a pedestrian play on semantics.
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In a statement issued in Abuja on Tuesday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the
party also slammed Okupe for seeking to blame the opposition for the failure of the Jonathan Administration to make a positive impact on the lives of Nigerians, saying the likes of Okupe, rather than the opposition, have contributed in no small measure to the Administration's low esteem in the eyes of Nigerians.
''There is no point rummaging through the dictionary to define incompetence, as Okupe has done in his rambling statement. All one needs to do to understand the meaning of incompetence is to look at the waffling Jonathan administration.
''Touting President Goodluck Jonathan's impressive academic qualifications is also very cheap, as they have not proven to be an asset in the way and manner the President has steered the affairs of his Administration, especially his articulation of his government's policies and the projection of its ability. In any case, while a Doctorate Degree in any field is something to be celebrated, it is not a pre-requisite for being a good leader,'' it said.
ACN said the incompetence and cluelessness of the Jonahan Administration have resulted in the country being bogged down by monumental corruption, unprecedented level of insecurity, policy flip-flops, absence of governance and downright lies that have estranged the citizens and erased their trust in government.
''No Administration in our recent history has been more a hotbed of corruption than the Jonathan Administration, whether it is the fuel subsidy scam or the police pension scam, just to mention two. Even when a feeble attempt is made to prosecute those behind the scams, incompetent prosecution that ensures that convicted persons get only a slap on the wrist rubbishes the majesty of the law. Under the Jonathan Administration, the more money you steal, the less punishment you receive!
''Profligacy has also been the order of the day. If this government is not building a 2.2 billion-naira banquet hall, it is spending 4 billion naira on the office building of the African First Ladies Peace Mission. The funds being wasted on these white elephant projects would have been better spent on creating jobs for our youths, millions of whom are roaming the streets daily in search of what to do to make ends meet,'' the party said.
On the road contracts awarded by the Jonathan Administration, it said the joke is on Okupe who, in saner climes, cannot be speaking for any government that is worth its salt.
''There is nothing new about awarding contracts for road rehabilitation. What the public expects from Okupe is how many of theroads have been completed or are nearing completion. The contracts for most of the roads, which Okupe listed in his statement, have been awarded severally by previous PDP regimes, with nothing to show. Even Okupe has collected huge funds for road contracts that he later abandoned! How then can such contracts be celebrated, when all they do is put money in the pockets of party cronies?
How can such men like Okupe speak for any serious government, when he should have been dutifully prosecuted? Little wonder the citizens have no trust in the Jonathan Administration?'' ACN queried.
The party said one area in which the Jonathan Administration's incompetence is most glaring is the provision of security. While a security crisis of the scale perpetrated by Boko Haram may be unprecedented in our country, equally unfathomable is the government's inability to rise to the occasion, to such an extent that even the President admits that Boko Haram members have infiltrated his administration! Of course, there are also unprecedented cases of kidnapping and armed robbery, all of which have overwhelmed the clueless government.
''Overall, a government that lies to its citizens by either saying it had been hailed for its anti-corruption effort by Transparency International when that is not the case, or giving an exaggerated amount of electricity that has been generated cannot get much respect from the people.
A government that sends conflicting signals to foreign investors, in particular over whether or not the power contract awarded to Canadian firm Manitoba has been cancelled, cannot and should not be trusted.
''The Jonathan Administration should address the issue of trust, chase away those among its officials who lack credibility because of their past deeds and begin to take governance very seriously. Then, and only then, will it not have to worry about what label an imaginary opposition is putting on the government,'' ACN said.
Alhaji Lai Mohammed
National Publicity Secretary
Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN)
Abuja, Feb. 5th 2013
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