…Says a failed Somalia better than Nigeria
ABUJA- National chairman-elect of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Dr. Iyorchia Ayu has taken a swipe at the monetary policy of the President Muhammadu Buhari-led government which has seen the Naira depreciates in value in relation to other international currencies.
Ayu who played host to a delegation of the Conference of United Political Parties, CUPP, in his Maitama, Abuja residence, Monday, further chided the All Progressives Congress, APC, for doing little in tackling the poverty in the land.
He said: “With the exchange rate today, Nigeria seems to have the worst currency in Africa. Even Somalia that is a failed state is doing better than Nigeria, even small countries like Ghana. Our currency is in a free fall and that is because, we are an import dependent economy.
“The quality of lives of Nigerians is going down. N10, 000 yesterday before All Progressives Congress, APC took over is now a N100, 000. You can even see with the price of rice in the market today.
“Our people cannot live a healthy, quality life. So I charge all of you to strengthen Nigeria so that more voices will be speaking about that and not just the PDP.”
He called on the CUPP to educate Nigerians on the need to realize that another APC government will be disastrous for Africa’s biggest nation.
“You have a duty to educate Nigerians that eight more years of this government will cause complete disaster for the country. It will lead to the breakup of this country and everything should be done to educate Nigerian to democratically remove this government because they are the biggest cancer affecting Nigeria today at every level.
In what appeared a veiled dig at Governor Mala Buni of Yobe state, caretaker chairman of the APC, Ayu wondered why a governor elected to govern his people will abandon his mandate for party administration.
“How can a governor leave his state for years and stay in Abuja because he is the national chairman of the political party? Who is governing the state? That is how unserious they are.,” he added.
That said, Ayu said he bear no personal grudges against President Buhari, adding that his Chief of Staff, Professor Ibrahim Gambari is his personal friend who is serving “a wrong government.”
Earlier in his opening remarks, spokesperson of CUPP, Ikenga Ugochinyere said the delegation was in Ayu’s residence to urge him to rally forces to deepen democracy in Nigeria particularly with 2023 election some less than two years away.
CUPP, Ugochinyere added, is proud of Ayu’s track record as Senate President and Minister at various times, saying it’s a great thing that the party settled for him as its next national chairman.
“Everybody was excited because of the prospect that we know you are going to bring to the table because of your believe in party discipline. Everybody is looking up to you because at this particular moment, a lot has gone wrong in the country.
“With all due respect to all formal officers of the party, much was not done to put the APC on their toes and now that you have come on board, our county will be in good shape and we believe that once you are sworn in, you will help to rebuild the coalition to make it more stronger this time around so that together, all of us can work and ensure that the country gets the kind of leadership it deserve in 2023,” he said