The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has accused the Jonathan administration of engaging in governance by deceit, saying the administration has been overstating its achievements and making fake promises to Nigerians. In a statement issued in Lagos yesterday by its National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party also slammed the president’s Special Adviser on Public Affairs, Dr. Doyin Okupe, for making himself a purveyor of blatant lies and for having the temerity to denigrate the country’s opposition for daring to criticise a non-performing government.
It said only a government swimming in corruption and lacking self-respect and decency could pick as its spokesperson a man who had been shown to be an epitome of corruption by collecting funds for contracts that were not executed. ACN said the government’s claim, through Okupe, that it would generate 780,000 jobs in 2013 through the “Young Graduate Employment Scheme” and 5,000 jobs in each of the 36 states through SURE-P was the latest example of the administration’s lies.
“Our advice to the teeming young graduates who have no jobs is that they should not allow themselves to be hoodwinked by this promise. They should remember that this same administration promised to create 10,000 jobs in each of the 36 states through SURE-P in 2012. The year is over and all we have now are phantom jobs and more fake promises,’’ the party said.
It also urged Nigerians to ensure that their generators were in good working condition, as the government’s promise of stable electricity in 2013 was as unrealistic as it was deceitful. “The administration said it has generated an all-time high 4,500MW and will increase the number to 7,000MW in 2013. What a celebration of tokenism! In the first instance, the government should be ashamed to tell Nigerians it has been able to generate only 4,500MW from a huge expenditure of 16 billion dollars!
“Also, no one needs a rocket scientist to know that 4,500MW cannot ensure stable electricity supply in a country of 160 million people, when South Africa, with less than a third of Nigeria’s population, generates over 40,000MW! The party also faulted the administration’s claim that the bombings and killings in the North had decreased from January to December, calling it “fabricated cold comfort and a disservice to millions of our citizens who are daily being subjected to terror attacks, while President Jonathan, now a professional mourner, resorts to endless lamentation instead of decisive action.”
“Well, we are not surprised at the claim of reduced terror attacks by the Jonathan administration. After all, the same administration claimed that global anti-corruption body, Transparency International (TI) acknowledged Nigeria’s progress in fighting corruption, when nothing like that ever happened. “To set the record straight, 750 people have been killed in terror attacks in the North this year, a figure higher than about 570 who were killed in 2011 and not counting the latest killings in Borno and Adamawa states,’’ it said.
ACN advised the Jonathan administration to level up with Nigerians by admitting its failings and rolling up its sleeves, to reverse the “transmogrification” which the president’s transformation agenda had become, instead of relying on a hypocritical spokesman to peddle lies to citizens already reeling under the failure of an impotent government. Lagos, Dec. 30th 2012
Sun
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