The federal government has taken a swipe at the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, saying he lacked the moral justification to condemn the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC)-led government.
The minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, stated this at the 7th edition of President Muhammadu Buhari's Administration Scorecard Series (2015-2023) in Abuja on Monday.
Mohammed stressed that, "if anyone would accuse the APC-led federal government of doing nothing, it should not be Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Why? Because for the 16 years of the PDP rule, eight of which Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was Vice President, there was no motorable road to the former VP's hometown and indeed to key local governments in the Southern Senatorial zone that served as Adamawa's food basket and economic nerve centre until the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office.
"Today, gentlemen, the Mayo Belwa-Jada-Ganye Toungo road has been constructed fully and it's the road that Alhaji Atiku uses to get to his hometown of Jada."
LEADERSHIP reports that the series was launched in October to showcase the achievements of the current administration. Before now, six ministers have presented their scorecards including Ministers of Works and Housing, Transportation, Aviation, Interior, Agriculture and Rural Development as well as Finance, Budget and National Planning.
Commenting on what he described as the increasing tendency by some opposition presidential candidates to downplay the achievements of the current administration in their desperation for power, ahead of the 2023 elections, the minister said the worst offender in this regard has been Atiku Abubakar.
He said during his recent campaign in Akure, the former VP was quoted as saying the APC had not done anything for Nigeria in eight years.
He said until recently, Atiku had fully relocated to Dubai, thus losing touch with Nigeria.
According to him, "What a preposterous statement from somebody who should know. I guess we can excuse His Excellency the former Vice President who, until recently, had fully relocated to Dubai, thus losing touch with Nigeria.
"And if anyone would accuse the APC-led federal government of doing nothing, it should not be Alhaji Atiku Abubakar. Why? Because for the 16 years of the PDP rule, eight of which Alhaji Atiku Abubakar was Vice President, there was no motorable road to the former VP's hometown and indeed to key local governments in the Southern Senatorial zone that served as Adamawa's food basket and economic nerve centre until the Government of President Muhammadu Buhari assumed office.
"Today, gentlemen, the Mayo Belwa- Jada- Ganye- Toungo road has been constructed fully and it's the road that Alhaji Atiku uses to get to his hometown of Jada," he added.
On security, he said before the current administration came into office, all five local government areas in Adamawa's Northern Senatorial
District were effectively under the control of the Boko Haram terrorists.
"All state institutions, the local government administration, the police, the judiciary, schools, hospitals, and markets had been sacked. Traditional rulers, including Emirs and Chiefs, had been displaced with their palaces taken over by the terrorists as their headquarters.
"The affected 5 local governments in the Northern Senatorial zone are Madagali, Michika, Mubi North, Mubi South, and Little Gombi.
"In the Central Senatorial zone, two local governments were effectively
under the control of the Boko Haram terrorists: These two local governments in the Central Senatorial zone are Maiha Local Government and Hong Local government," he said.
Today, he said not an inch of these local governments in Adamawa, the home state of the former Vice President is under the control of terrorists.
The minister said institutions of state have relocated back and are operational.
He said all emirs and chiefs have returned to their palaces and schools, and markets have opened.
He continued, "Please note, gentlemen, that throughout that period, former Vice President Atiku Abubakar could not
even go home. As a matter of fact, when one of his right-hand men, Mr. Adila, was killed by the terrorists, Alhaji Atiku Abubakar could not even go to condole with the family of the deceased. It was that bad.
"Now that he can travel home freely, thanks to the Buhari Administration, it is not sweet in his mouth to accuse the same Administration of doing nothing. As they say, the bedwetter should not
join those who are insulting the washerman."
In the area of Social Investment Programmes, he said there have been 29,641 beneficiaries, from Adamawa alone, of the N-POWER Programme of the Buhari Administration.
Under the Home Grown School Feeding Programme, he said some 162,782 pupils from Adamawa are benefitting from one meal a day.
"That programme employs 2,259 cooks in Adamawa and has covered 1,236 schools in the state.
"How many school children did the
PDP feed in Adamawa or anywhere in the eight years that Alhaji Atiku Abubakar held sway as Vice President in Abuja! We are not done. Under the Conditional Cash Transfer, some 64,607 vulnerable people have benefitted in Adamawa alone, while Trader Moni and Market Moni have reached a total of 38,000 people in the state."
On infrastructure, he said some eight road projects totalling 714 kilometres are currently being rehabilitated or constructed in the state.
"That's out of 43 road projects in the North East alone. These are not phantom projects. We have the full list of the roads and can make it available to anyone who so wishes. Similarly, the North East Development Commission (NEDC) has either completed or is currently working on 140 projects, including the construction of classrooms, healthcare facilities and ICT training centres, in Adamawa alone," he said.
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Overall, he said NEDC has a total of 593 projects in the entire North East.
"Again, we have a full list of the projects. Gentlemen, you can now see that we didn't even need to go far to disprove the former VP's soap box statement.
"You can also see the irony of someone who held the number two position in the country for all of eight years but could not positively impact his own hometown, state, or region now condemning an Administration that has made it possible for him to even access his hometown - anytime he flies in from his new hometown of Dubai!
"The Administration of President Muhammadu Buhari has had a positive impact on all parts of this federation. No amount of fallacious soap box rhetorics can change this fact," he said.
The Minister urged PDP Presidential candidate to commend Buhari for making it easy for him to travel to his hometown.
He said, "Now that he can travel home freely, thanks to the Buhari/administration, it is not sweet in his mouth to accuse the same administration of doing nothing.
"As they say, the bedwetter should not join those who are insulting the washerman."
