Why Jonathan, PDP Must Go, By

Babatunde Raji Fashola

Premium Times March 23, 2015 Why Jonathan, PDP Must Go, By Babatunde Raji Fashola2015-0323T20:13:42+00:00Columns, Opinion Comment (15)

I want to thank all of you for taking time off your very busy schedules to be part
of this session; especially a few days to the elections, which by all accounts
could be historic and critical for the soul of our dear country.
Election is a referendum on the performance of the incumbent government and
a decision whether to keep it in office or vote it out of office.
As Progressive Governors who are committed to Good Governance, this years
1st Quarter Progressive Governance Session is designed to present our
assessment of governance challenges in Nigeria today as well as our proposals
on what needs to be done to move our country forward, post- May 29, 2015.
The parameters of the referendum are defined by issues of national security,
economic management, social issues and the like. So I will start by reviewing
briefly the record of the current government and share with you what they say
they have done.
Let me start with the Economy, and share with you a text message that I
received from a Nigerian film maker in Nollywood on the 14th of March 2015.
This is what he said:I will like to bring to your attention that there is a reliable information that our
film has been pirated to be released in Alabaon Monday. I also want to confirm
to you that the criminals committing this act are known and can be handpicked.
There was a meeting with NCC last week where to our surprise they invited the

so called pirates for negotiations and discussion on the previous works that they
pirated. I am devastated sir and not sure what to do. Am not sure what you can
do in your capacity as the executive governor of the State but I believe your
approach to resolving issues in Ladipo could bring a lasting solution. This new
development will not only bring a big set back to my business and the industry
at large but will discourage a dedicated filmmaker like myself from going all the
way in the name of being a Nigeria. Please do something sir.
It must be clear to everyone that the greatest problem that people in the
entertainment industry have is that their intellectual property rights are not
being protected.
This is a law enforcement issue, rather than a cash solution that the PDP and its
government has continued to proffer.
It is simple copyright law enforcement and the PDP simply does not get it.
Roads:
As far as roads are concerned, and they are critical to the economic
development and prosperity of our people for the movement of people, goods
and services, the record of performance offered by the Federal Government is
that they have constructed 25,000 kilometers of road.
How true that is, is to be measured by the complaints of PDP Governors
themselves, who say Federal roads in their States have been neglected.
How bogus this is, is the realization that the distance between Lagos and London
is approximately 5,025 kilometers.

Has the PDP Federal Government constructed roads that go the distance of
Lagos to London 5 (Five) times?
Is it possible to do this by a Government that has never had a capital budget of
up to 40% in 6 (Six) years?
Housing:
As far as housing is concerned, please note that after being unable to account
for $20 billion which is the equivalent of N3.3 Trillion at N165/$1.00 at the time
the money was unaccounted for; after losing 400,000 (Four Hundred Thousand)
barrels of oil per day for years, when oil was trading at $100 per barrel, meaning
that we were losing $40,000,000.00 (Forty Million United States Dollars), the
equivalent ofN6,600,000,000.00 (Six Billion, Six Hundred Million Naira).
Our countrys solution according to the PDP is to borrow $300 million from the
World Bank in order to provide mortgage refinancing for all Nigerians.
What this means, is that every Nigerian must first buy a house with a mortgage
loan, and then apply for his share of the $300 million as a refinancing facility.
That is the PDP model for housing.
I know that in Ogun State, there is a better model that places emphasis on
housing construction in order to create jobs.
I can speak better about my State, where we are building public housing and
allocating it to residents at a mortgage rate of 9.5% payable over 10 (Ten) years.
I know that construction is going on in no less than 25 sites, and we have not
borrowed one kobo to fund this initiative.

It has been funded by tax payers money.

Jobs:
As far as employment is concerned, again their own service record is the place
to look.
They say that they have created 2 (Two) million jobs. On a straight line analysis,
this would suggest at least over 50,000 (Fifty Thousand) jobs in each of the 36
(Thirty Six) States and Abuja.
Simply ask yourself, how many people you know, who got those jobs. Were they
part of the jobs in which people died while stampeding for employment in the
immigration service?
Why is unemployment at 24% if this economy is working?
What I know is that between only (Four) construction companies over 5,000
(Five Thousand) workers have been laid off in this first quarter of 2015 and in
the last two weeks at least 2,400 (Two Thousand, Four Hundred) bank staff have
been laid off.
Security:
It is easy to summarize the security situation.
Thousands killed violently. Hundreds kidnapped routinely. 219 girls missing,
citizens and even the Federal Government relying on alternative security, like
ethnic militia to secure pipelines.

While all these happens, year on year, amounts close to N1 Trillion have been
budgeted and expended on defence and security; yet there are unanswered
questions of availability of equipment, while a new set of billionaires
masquerading as security experts have emerged.
The answer of the PDP Federal Government and Mr. President himself is that
General Buhari, who left office in 1985 did not equip the security forces.
Clearly the PDP forget that Nigerians remember that they have been in office for
16 (Sixteen) years, and President Jonathan has to account for 6 (Six) of those
years.
They have killed Skekau, the supposed leader of the terrorist group at least 4
(Four) times.
During one of those killings for which they claim success, they signed a
ceasefire with him; from which he quickly played his part by attacking more
Nigerians.
After the 4th (Fourth) killing, there are now instructions to capture him.
Lies:
Ladies and gentlemen, there are two common denominators in the record of
service of the PDP Federal Government.
The first is FAILURE and the second is LIES.
They have failed in their management of the economy and they have been
untruthful about how bad the economy is.

These numbers are important. They dimension the real difficulty Nigerians are
dealing with.
I expected that when the PDP Governors gathered in Lagos, on their poorly
conceived mis-adventure, they would have spoken about these issues.
Instead, they were seeking to stop the use of Card Readers which their
Government approved.
They forgot that they were the ones who approved the use of Permanent Voters
Cards (PVC).
They forgot that they postponed the elections because they said enough PVCs
had not been issued.
Now that PVCs have been issued, should we not verify and authenticate eligible
voters with the Card Readers?
We recognize the issues in the Nigerian State
We keep a track on them
We have made them the issues in the election as you will have heard from our
Presidential candidate and his running mate
No amount of Goodluck can help the PDP escape from these issues.
Our candidates have kept the Nigerian electorate focused on the issues of jobs,
security, and corruption
Our opponents urge that they are moving forward.

The question to ask is what their definition of forward is.

Moving the rate of exchange of the Naira to the dollar from N120 to $1.00
toN198 to $1.00 is not the way forward
Managing an economy where employers cannot keep people at work because
of bad government policies is not the way forward
Unemployment is not the way forward. Employment is the way.
Inventory of imported raw materials trapped in the port is not the way forward
to economic recovery.
Fuel queues arising from Government failure to pay importers is not the way
forward.
Blaming the opposition for fuel shortage is not the way forward.
The largest economy in Africa that cannot generate electricity is not the way
forward.
The avoidable loss of human lives, and the unresolved disappearance of 219
(Two Hundred and Nineteen) young girls is not the way forward.
It is the opposite of development. It is the opposite of industrialization. It is the
opposite of job creation.
It is the way backwards.
It is not the way to continue.

Ladies and gentlemen, like Vision 2020, like the 7 Point Agenda, like the
comparisons to Martin Luther Kings, Lee Kwan Yew, Nelson Mandela, Barrack
Obama, and the Transformation Agenda, all of which have been abandoned
because they are not true, it is obvious that our opponents in Government, have
lost their way.
They are reading the Developmental Map of Nigeria upside down. So they do not
know the way forward.
The Nigeria ship of State is heading in the wrong way because the captain
cannot navigate.
This is the most important reason why PDP and the President must be voted out
of power.
In 2011, President Jonathan made a total of 91 (Ninety One) electoral promises
around power, security and the economy.
Majority of them remain unfulfilled.
Between then and now, he set up a total of 28 (Twenty Eight) Committees as his
Governments response to critical national issues such as Nuhu Ribadu fuel
subsidy scandal committee, Steve Oronsaye harmonization of Government
Agencies and Department Committee, Justice Alfa Belgore Committee on Abuja
Parks and Zoo, Edem Dukes Committee on Proliferation of Small Arms, Ibrahim
Sambo Presidential Fact Finding Committee and PriceWaterHouse Coopers
forensic audit of the missing oil receipts in the region of $20 billion.
The President has either forgotten or refused to either make public the reports of
these Committees, or implement them.

The President resumed work only 6 weeks ago, because of elections.

Nigeria needs a full time President not a part time one.
General Muhammad Buhari will be a full time President, ready to work every day.
A full time President will re-set and re-direct this Nation and set her back on the
right path.
That is the way forward.
The second major reason is that after 16 (Sixteen) years of start and stop, policy
changes and no verifiable results, this country will benefit from a fresh pair of
hands, that will have another look at the problems that have defeated the PDP
for 16 (Sixteen) years.
We simply cannot continue on this road that has failed us, and expect different
results.
A vote for change is the first step in the expectation of different and better
results.
Instead of running on their record of service, the Party in power has chosen to
become film makers, making one poorly scripted documentary after the other.
The tragedy is that after one year of TV propaganda dating back to March 2014,
their bird has refused to fly. There is nothing to sell. The good governance road
show died on arrival. And the captain was initially honest in Lagos to admit
failure.

The PDP led Federal Government has no credible record to defend nor a
roadmap to rectify the damage they have done to our body politic, our economy
and all our institutions.
It is perfectly understandable that when you have an indefensible record like
theirs, you resort to despicable diversionary campaign, the like we have not
seen before.
We have demonstrated and must continue to demonstrate that there is a gulf of
difference between the APC and the PDP, not only in our visions (if they have
any) and in our policies, but that we are willing to engage with them in a
transparent and accountable manner.
Our party, the APC has presented a year 2015 Election Manifesto, while the only
known Manifesto of the PDP is dated 1999.
We are committed to reinventing governance in Nigeria in order to solve our
socio-economic and political challenges.
We were farsighted when we established the Progressive Governors Forum
(PGF), where these kinds of questions and issues have constantly been
interrogated through effective research, knowledge sharing, consultations and
policies, at our quarterly fora.
So when the APC talks of change, what kind of change are we talking about?
How do we plan to redefine the concepts of leadership and responsibility?
The objective here is to demystify governance and restore ownership of the
country to the Sovereign- the Citizens!

It means that we must be accountable to the sovereign for our performance and
how responsive we are to their wishes and demands.
It means that the citizens will always retain the right to hire and fire.
It means that we must embed the Rule of Law, political and civil liberties in our
political culture. The culture of unbridled impunity must come to a grinding halt!
APC does not believe that the Federal Executive Council should be reduced to a
bazaar which merely awards contracts to leaders of ethnic militia posing as
sociocultural groups, to the detriment of constitutionally established institutions
and in subversion of the procurement laws.
Were these contracts advertised? Where was due process here?
We are certain that this session will, in many ways, give more clarity and further
insight into the kind of change APC represents.
The other presentations will amplify many of the issues I have addressed so far.
While not underestimating the enormity of the challenges that will face an APC
led Federal Government.
The APC is proud to have as its flag bearer, a patriot with the public stature and
integrity of Gen. Muhammadu Buhari, who has unreservedly committed to this
vision and mission as reflected in his Covenant with Nigerians and campaigns
promises.
It is not by accident that teeming millions of Nigerians are showing their support
effusively for Gen. Buhari.

What I have confirmed since the emergence of Gen. Buhari as our Presidential
candidate, is that Nigerians still believe in the virtues of probity, selfless
leadership and commitment to the greater good inspite of the 16 years of failed
PDP government and leadership that they have been unfortunately saddled
with.
For many years I have heard complaints about PDPs dismal management of our
national life.
Many Nigerians have expressed understandable frustration that PDP could not
be defeated because there was no formidable opposition.
Our leaders have heard these frustrations. They have organized rather than
agonise.
They have sacrificed their smaller parties and leadership role to deliver the first
ever political merger in the history of Nigeria.
They will all vote for the APC, but they cannot elect the APC into Government.
That is the duty of the Nigerian electorate if we must experience change, and
save our country.
With the emergence of APC, PDP began to unravel.
With the mismanagement of its top leadership it began to dismember, losing its
most vital parts; and making history for all the wrong reasons.
It is the first political party that I know that lost 5 (Five) Governors to the
opposition without an election.

It later lost the Speaker of Parliament, and eventually its former leader and
Chairman Board of Trustees.
The giant is tattering and about to fall.
For every goliath, there is a stone.
The APC is PDPs stone and the people of Nigeria must rise like David to bring
this plundering goliath down.
The merger was historic. But it will be more historic if Nigerians elect that
merger to office.
The people of Nigeria will have taken power by doing so.
Let me underscore once more that while the APC is ready, willing and able to
take on the huge tasks of regenerating our country once more, APC is humbled
by the enormity of the challenges it has to deal with in the next few years.
Once more, let me re-affirm the commitment of the PGF to continue to provide
the platform where our party, governors and other stakeholders will continually
engage, reflect on critical issues and challenges, and more importantly proffer
implementable policy options to address these challenges- indeed more than a
talk shop!
It is now my privilege to invite you to listen to the presentation of our leader,
Gen. Muhammadu Buhari and the other panel presentations on Sustaining
Development in Times of Dwindling Resources, to be followed by an interactive
session among the participants.
God bless us all as we work to protect our democracy.

Thank you!
Mr. Fashola is the governor of Lagos. He delivered the above speech,
entitled March For New Nigeria at a conference of APC governors
held in Owerri on Monday, March 23, 2015.
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