All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Josef Onoh, has criticized former President Muhammadu Buhari’s eight-year tenure, describing it as marked by widespread corruption and insecurity.
Onoh made these comments in a statement on Friday, responding to Buhari’s claim that his administration brought significant improvements to Nigeria’s security and economy.
Buhari had argued that he inherited a poor economy and security challenges from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), which governed for 16 years, and claimed that his government’s strategies successfully addressed these issues, reducing terrorism and economic hardship.
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In his response, Onoh countered that the country experienced economic collapse, rampant corruption, and insecurity during Buhari’s presidency.
He further stated that President Bola Tinubu’s administration is now grappling with the consequences of Buhari’s economic mismanagement throughout his time in office.
The statement read, “Nigerians today accuse Tinubu’s administration of being the worst they have met without knowing that the President chose to be silent and carry his cross alone without shouting or calling names.
“He continues to navigate the economic minefields the Buhari administration left behind after they failed to frustrate him from becoming the president.
“Under Buhari’s watch, the North East. North Central, South East, South West couldn’t go to sleep in peace. When you assumed office on May 29, 2015, the cumulative number of people killed in Nigeria, according to the NST, was 34,972. But from the day you assumed office, the death figure rose to 98,083 as of May 16, 2023.
“Under your watch as President, 98,083 were killed in 12 years; 27,311 persons were killed in your first term in office; 35,800 were killed between 2019 and May 2023.
“Let me remind General Buhari that Nigeria has never witnessed the level of insecurity witnessed under his administration, not even during the Civil War. Let me refresh your memory with figures of Nigerians killed under your watch: In 2015, 5556; In 2016, 5763l; In 2017, 4618; In 2018, 6565; In 2019, 8340. In 2020, 9694; In 2021, 10575; In 2022, 9079; In 2023, 2921 totalling 63,111.
“You rode on the mantra of change but ended up changing Nigeria for the worst, and after you failed, you turned around to blame PDP your continuous self-assessment begs certain questions: could this stance be a political pretence or stem from a genuine insensitivity which has been your trade mark.”
Onoh stated that under the Buhari administration, Nigeria was ranked high in the Global Terrorism Index and was ranked low in the Global Peace Index.
He added, “In 2019, under your watch, Nigeria was ranked 3rd below Afghanistan and Iraq out of 138 countries in the Global Terrorism Index and was said to be the 14th most fragile in the world and the 9th in Africa, according to the Fragile States Index. Unsurprisingly, in the same year, our country was also ranked 148th out of 163 countries in the Global Peace Index, far below former war-ravaged countries like Sierra Leone (52), Liberia (59) and Rwanda (79).
“Under your watch, attacks and reprisal attacks continued in states like Kaduna with accusations of ethnic cleansing and mismanagement of religious and cultural diversity today. Tinubu’s administration has brought peace to southern Kaduna.
“Your insensitivity and ineffectiveness of your security chiefs were part of the reason for the spread of insecurity that allowed these groups to operate with impunity while you displayed ‘the failure or unwillingness while in authority to address these and other non-state actors and to secure ungoverned spaces, which cumulatively allowed the violence to mutate.”
The APC chieftain also noted that the former president’s failure to address the economy and insecurity hindered the country’s ability to attract foreign direct investment.
He added, “On the issue of economy, your failure to handle insecurity created an environment in which Boko Haram extended its operations’. The heightening insecurity continued to impact negatively on the business environment and business flows of our nation during your tenure.
“Under your watch, one of the biggest fish markets in West Africa, located in Baga near the Lake Chad basin in North East Nigeria, has long been abandoned due to the ongoing Boko Haram insurgency and only under Tinubu’s administration has life gradually started coming back.
“Without prejudice, I maintain that in any fair assessment of Buhari’s administration, either by himself or even artificial intelligence, he must take these facts into consideration before giving false credits to his elapsed administration or himself. He should always remember these staggering statistics i have provided clearly have a verifiable impact on the direction of investment decisions, whether foreign or local.
“In the end, it affected both the perception of Nigeria globally and the reality of citizens’ livelihoods in our oil-rich country, which today Tinubu’s administration is paying the price of his ineptitude.
“Finally, one of the greatest legacies the Buhari administration left in the minds of Nigeria as its greatest contribution to the economy was a success story of a recharge card seller turned billionaire overnight and a serving Central Bank governor running for president from the comfort of his office using public funds.
“Your administration yesterday introduced “Ranka ya Dede Nepotism”, today, it’s “Emiloka”, tomorrow it might be “igbo kwenu” and what will be next tomorrow’s catchphrase. Because your 8 years in office was truly the las vegas of insecurity and corruption”.
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