Jonathan’s govt preferable to Buhari- led administration
One of the three factional leaders of the All Progressives Congress in Kano State, Hussaini Mairiga, has expressed regrets over Buhari led-administration. Says Jonathan's government is surpassing. He made those comments in an interview with a correspondent with Punch News.
In his words:
''Yes, because all Nigerians felt that as soon as Buhari came to power, they would feel some relief after the hardship from the immediate-past administration of Goodluck Jonathan. But from all indications, Jonathan’s Government is better than our government. Meanwhile, the prices of all goods and services in Nigeria have gone up, particularly essential commodities. Each time one buys a product from the market and goes back the second day; one will notice that the price has drastically increased. . It’s indeed failure to him and us, the APC members and followers of the party. The painful aspect is that we turn a blind eye when our own is doing something wrong. Each time the President goes wrong, it’s better to tell him right away than to wait until he leaves government before cataloguing his misdeeds''.
He was unhesitant to leave some bullet-point response when asked if he was trying to score cheap political points with his recent criticisms of the President as some people allege.
He said: "Yes, those people do not know who Hussaini Mairiga is. I have been with President Buhari since 2002, when he veered into politics and I am still his supporter and follower. I will therefore not close my eyes and overlook his other side because he is the President of the nation. He is a human being like me and was given power by almighty Allah, and by tomorrow, Allah may bring him down. Any person who is an administrator that I follow, I must tell him whenever he goes wrong. Certainly I will not start criticising him after his tenure in office. I have to tell him the truth and I often call my friends in government on phone for them to advise the President on what Nigerians are actually facing. I also personally call on phone but they often refuse to respond to my numerous calls. The truth is that I was a member of the then All Nigeria Peoples Party (now defunct). Speaking from my experience, I observed that the party executives always hid the truth from Buhari because they wanted to get something from him. But as for me, I am not lobbying for any position from him and therefore, I have to tell him the truth, no matter how bitter it is, to enable him to right his wrongs''.
''What I am emphasising is that the Buhari-led administration is almost one and a half years old and it has about six months more to attain two years in office. My argument is that after two years in office, political campaigns will be flagged off. President Buhari therefore has barely six months to achieve something in order to take Nigeria to another level. I am worried by the situation and that is why I have to tell him the truth to enable him correct it. In essence, every politically-elected government to has two years to perform. After the first and second years in office, the third and fourth years are used by politicians to seek and clamour for juicy positions. At that time, politicians will hardly concentrate on governance.'' he said.
''I am not blaming the previous administration and I must also point out that I am not a member of the Peoples Democratic Party. But let me tell you the truth, during the PDP government, it was only insurgency that was the most critical situation in Nigeria. Apart from security challenges, the masses were able to afford their needs. A 50kg bag of rice sold for between N7,000 and N8,000. The price of kerosene per gallon, at that time, sold for not more than N200. But currently, the price of kerosene sells for N1,200 per gallon. The same measure of garri that was sold for not more than N150 currently sells for N500. It’s good to face the truth. During the PDP administration, prices of essential goods and commodities did not hit the roof top as it is today. The bottom line is that the Buhari-led government has to urgently do something to alleviate the ongoing level of untold hardship and poverty in the country so as to bring relief to Nigerians who are currently in critical condition.'' he said.
