Jonathan; Buhari
SOME ministers who served under former
President Goodluck Jonathan have warned President Muhammadu Buhari to
give the former president his “due respect.”
The former ministers said they had
observed that the Buhari administration and members of the All
Progressives Congress had been condemning, ridiculing and undermining
the efforts of the Jonathan administration.
Jonathan’s ministers said both the
President and his party had also been rubbishing the integrity of the
individual members of the past administration.
A former Minister of National Planning,
Dr. Abubakar Suleiman, said this on Sunday in a statement on behalf of
other ministers who served under Jonathan.
But the Presidency, while reacting to the
Jonathan’s minsters’ statement, on Sunday said Buhari’s war against
corruption was not negotiable.
Suleiman said the efforts of the Buhari
government had been to portray all members of the Jonathan
administration “as corrupt and irresponsible, in an orchestrated and
vicious trial by the media,” which he said had created “a lynch
mentality that discredits our honest contributions to the growth and
development of our beloved nation.”
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He
said while he and his colleagues believed that each administration had
the right to chart its own path, the Kwara State-born former university
lecturer said the alleged vilification of the Jonathan administration
was ill-intentioned.
The Buhari administration has alleged
several fraudulent practices against Jonatha’s ministers, including a
recent allegation that the former Minister of Petroleum Resources, Mrs.
Diezani Alison Madueke, illegally took $6.9m from the coffers of the
Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation to fund the bogus purchase of
three mobile stages for Jonathan’s public appearances.
The Suleiman statement partly read, “We,
the ministers who served under the President Goodluck Jonathan
administration, have watched with increasing alarm and concern the
concerted effort by the Buhari administration and members of the APC to
condemn, ridicule and undermine the efforts of that administration, in
addition to impugning the integrity of its individual members.
“While we concede that every
administration has the right to chart its own path as it deems fit, we
nevertheless consider the vilification of the Jonathan administration,
to be ill-intentioned, unduly partisan, and in bad faith.
“We are proud to have served Nigeria and
we boldly affirm that we did so diligently and to the best of our
abilities. The improvements that have been noticed today in the power
sector, in national security and in social services and other sectors
did not occur overnight.
“They are products of solid foundations laid by the same Jonathan administration.”
He said that contrary to what the APC and
its agents would want the public to believe, the Jonathan
administration did not encourage corruption, “rather it fought
corruption vigorously, within the context of the rule of law and due
process.”
“For the benefit of those who may have
forgotten so soon, it was the Jonathan administration that got rid of
the fraud in fertiliser subsidies, which had plagued the country for
decades. This helped to unleash a revolution in agricultural production
and productivity,” he added.
Suleiman added that it was also the
Jonathan administration that supported the institutional development of
strong systems and mechanisms to curb corruption in the public service
and plug revenue leakages.
He listed these to include the
development of the Government Integrated Financial Management Platform,
The Single Treasury Account, and the Integrated Personnel and Payroll
Management Systems, in addition to the biometric registration of civil
servants and pensioners which he said saved the country over N100bn paid
to ghost workers and ghost pensioners.
Apart from that, he said that the
Jonathan administration equally ensured greater transparency and
integrity in the oil and gas sector by ordering investigations and put
mechanisms in place to check the theft of Nigeria’s crude oil.
He said, “It was also under the Jonathan
administration that a Nigerian Content policy was introduced, which
opened up that sector to Nigerians in a manner that was not previously
the case.
“It was also the Jonathan administration
that mobilised and secured the support of our neighbouring countries to
ensure a robust multinational response to the menace of terrorism and
insurgency, resulting in notable advancements in the fight against
terror.
“President Jonathan personally initiated
the collaboration that led to this advancement and ensured that Nigeria
provided the needed financial support for the Multinational Joint Task
Force.
“It was the Jonathan administration that repaired and rehabilitated over 25, 000 kilometres of our nation’s roads.
“Nigeria also became a profitable and preferred investment-friendly destination.
“It was under President Jonathan, for
example, that Nigeria’s electric power sector became more competitive
and attractive to local and foreign investments.”
Suleiman added that the same
administration promoted the rule of law, free speech, fundamental human
rights, and a robust freedom of information regime.
Apart from that, he said women’s rights
to participate in public life and the Federal Character principle as
well as other constitutional principles were also respected.
“No administration can be either
completely bad or completely good. President Jonathan’s achievements in
moving this country to greater heights deserve to be duly acknowledged.
“We urge President Muhammadu Buhari to build on these achievements,” he argued.
He challenged Buhari to be fair and non-partisan in his anti-corruption crusade.
Suleiman added that “the various lies and
fabrications being peddled by some self-appointed spokespersons of the
administration may entertain the unwary” but added that such
sensationalism may achieve the unintended effect of de-marketing the
country within the international community.
Suleiman said that he and his colleagues
had reserved their comments until now in the hope that the euphoria that
inspired the various attacks on the past administration would wear off
and that reason would prevail.
“But we are constrained to speak up in
defence of the legacy of the Jonathan administration, and shall do so
again, for as long as those who are determined to rubbish that legacy,
are unrelenting in their usual deployment of blackmail, persecution and
similar tactics,” he warned.
The Senior Special Assistant to the
President on Media and Publicity, Garba Shehu, reacting to the
Jonathan’s ministers asked the affected persons who he described as
“members of the country’s latest trade union formation, the Association
of Ex-Jonathan Ministers” to do a bit of self-reflection on the sort of
government they handed over to Buhari on May 29.
He said such self-reflection would make
the former ministers decide for themselves if it would have been right
for any incoming government to ignore the issue of the brazen theft of
public assets, which he said appeared to be the first of its kind in the
country,
He said, “This war against corruption
knows no friend nor foe. There is no intention to deny anyone of their
good name where they are entitled to it and President Buhari reserves
the highest regards for the country’s former leaders, including Dr.
Goodluck Jonathan, who he continues to praise to the high heavens for
the way and manner in which he accepted defeat in the last election.
“That singular action remains a feat that
has earned the former President and Nigeria as country befitting
commendations all over the world, the latest coming from Mr. Ban
Ki-Moon, the Secretary-General of the United Nations, who visited a week
ago.
“For the purpose of emphasis, the issue of fighting corruption by President Buhari is not negotiable.
“It is sine qua non to the overall
reconstruction of the economy and social systems, which suffered
destruction and severe denigration under the last administration.
“President Buhari will not be deterred or blackmailed into retreat and surrender.”
