Why I said Buhari’s 3 weeks better than Jonathan’s 6years - Lai Mohammed

The National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, Tuesday, reiterated that the steps taken so far by President Muhammadu Buhari, within 30 days of the life of his administration, especially in tackling corruption and insecurity‎ has outpaced the six years achievements of former President Goodluck Jonathan.

Lai Mohammed

Mohammed, who was addressing a press conference in Lagos, berated the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, for quoting him out of context when he said Buhari has out-performed Jonathan in just three weeks.

Reacting to ‎agitations over the delay by Buhari in the appointment of Ministers and principal officers such as Chief of Staff (COS), Secretary to Government of the Federation (SGF), the APC spokesperson explained that it was caused by delay of the Jonathan administration to submit the hand-over notes, and what he described as the dynamics of a ruling party handing-over to an opposition party.

Pleading however, with Nigerians for patience, Mohammed said “the President will set-up his team in the shortest possible time.”

He‎ said: “It’s been about one month now since President Buhari assumed office, and I can tell you that there has been motion, and there has been movement, contrary to what is being peddled in some quarters.

“Let me say straight away that my party, the APC, understands and appreciates the concerns of Nigerians as far as the perceived pace of the administration is concerned. We understand that they repose so much confidence in the party and the government to act quickly to stamp out insecurity, tackle corruption, revive the moribund economy, provide jobs and generally restore hope.

“Justifiably, the expectations are high and urgent, and the Buhari administration has started addressing them, despite the enormous challenges that it faces, including an empty treasury and an economy that has virtually collapsed.

“While Nigerians are right to demand quick and sustained action in addressing these challenges – and honestly we make no excuses – it is important for us to put things in perspective for a better understanding.

“The Buhari administration got the handover notes from the former government just four days before the inauguration, hampering its efforts to have a clear understanding of the situation on the ground before taking the necessary measures to address it. If any disease is not appropriately diagnosed, it cannot be effectively treated. Any government that is truly desirous of bringing about real change will not act hastily and without the necessary understanding of what is on ground. Coupled with the delay in getting the much-needed information, that takes time.

“Recall that when we raised the alarm over the delay in getting the handover notes, the former government even accused us of seeking to form a parallel government!

“Secondly, Nigeria has never before witnessed this kind of transition. What the country has been accustomed to is transition from one government to another under the same ruling party, not from the ruling party to the opposition as we have now. The implication is that this is a new learning curve, with its attendant hiccups.

“Thirdly, never before has the ship of Nigerian state been steered aground as we have it now. Never before have Nigerians been this expectant from any leader or any government. These are all the more reasons to get things right, once and for all, so we won’t need to continue with the vicious cycle of hopes raised and dashed!

“Even with these challenges, the Buhari Administration has availed itself creditably within one month of assuming office.”

 

Why I said Buhari’s 3 weeks better than Jonathan’s 6years - Lai Mohammed