PDP Govs Reply Garba Shehu, Insist Nigeria Facing Existential Threats Due to APC’s Misrule

Chuks Okocha

Governors of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) have responded to the criticism of the communique from a meeting they held at Umuahia, Abia State last week by the Senior Special Assistant to the President, Mr. Garba Shehu.

The PDP governors described the statement by Shehu as infantile, ignorant, pedestrian, low quality, confused and the rambling response of a spokesman.

The PDP governors further stated that the presidency’s response was an amorphous entity, to the fact-filled patriotic, well thought out chronicle of the dire living conditions of Nigerians by the party’s governors in their communiqué of March 23, 2022.

Shehu had described the communiqué as a fantasy, delusional and fictional.

But a statement from the Director General of the PDP Governors, Cyril Maduabum, stated that, “perhaps Garba Shehu was dazed by the sheer assemblage of facts, figures and evidence on the existential threat Nigeria is facing as a result of the APC misrule, with respect to the economy, security, stealing of Nigeria’s crude, etc, as contained in the communiqué.”

According to the PDP governors, “It was John Adams who said that, “facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.”

The PDP governors maintained that the communiqué of their meeting merely stated the facts.

The statement added: “The PDP governors’ communiqué made a comparative sketch of Nigeria of 2015 under PDP and Nigeria of 2022 under APC. The communiqué reeled out the fact that in almost all sectors, things have gotten worse by over 1000 per cent.

“This is reflected in prices of basic foodstuffs, unemployment rate, electricity prices, kerosene, diesel, fuel, aviation fuel and air ticket prices which have all gone through the roof. It reeled out figures on poverty, inflation, exchange rate, debt accumulation and corruption.

“Indeed, all aspects of life in Nigeria are being systematically destroyed by the APC administration. Life has become short, brutish and valueless in Buhari’s Nigeria as insecurity ravages the land. But this is not the problem of Garba shehu, who is enveloped in the Presidential Villa, totally oblivious of the suffering and agony Nigerians are facing.

“The most disturbing aspect of misrule of the APC as chronicled in the communiqué is the petroleum sector.

“The stealing of Nigeria’s crude oil and the connivance of NNPC in shortchanging other tiers of government, namely, States and Local Governments is simply mind bogging, if not outright criminal. Nigeria now produces 1.1million barrels of crude oil per day. It has capacity to produce 2.5million per day. “It cannot even meet its OPEC quota of 1.8million per day. NNPC is a law unto itself. Nobody can call them to order to desist from the part of lawlessness and unconstitutional acts it has chosen to dwell in.

“Of course, President Buhari is the Minister of Petroleum Resources. Under his watch, the Nigeria’s Oil and Gas Sector is deteriorating. In an accountable government, he should have resigned his position as Minister of Petroleum, as a result of the cataclysmic failures in the sector.”

The PDP governors further stated that they were even shocked that Garba Shehu admitted that funds from NNPC are now directly used to fund social and health programmes, road construction etc, in an unconstitutional overreach.

They further stated, “NNPC can spend the federal government’s share of the Federation Account as it pleases. It cannot spend money belonging to other tiers of government without their approval. NNPC cheats states and local governments.

“NNPC recklessly squanders money belonging to other tiers of government and has the audacity and impudence to pay Zero amount of money into the Federation Account.”

The PDP governors pointed out that Garba Shehu conveniently ignored the facts in their communique that exposed the deduction of N788 billion for NNPC’s own chosen projects without recourse to the Federation Account; the deduction of N8.3 billion monthly for rehabilitation of refineries in Nigeria that do not work; the scandal called petroleum subsidy that gulps trillions of naira yearly without accountability and value for money.

They further said that “between 2012 and 2021, N7.6T has been withheld by NNPC from the Federal Account,  Yet, Garba Shehu kept mum on these scandalous disclosures.”