VON DG to Jonathan: You failed woefully, apologise for betraying Nigerians

The Director General of Voice of Nigeria (VON), Osita Okechukwu, said former president Goodluck Jonathan should apologise to Nigerians for failing “woefully” during his time in office.

He said he regrets demonstrating in the streets of Abuja in 2010 — alongside members of the Save Nigeria Group — for Jonathan to be made president.

Okechukwu said this in Abuja, yesterday, while reacting to Jonathan’s comments on the performance of his administration.

Jonathan had said at the national convention of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that “though we didn’t completely plug the loopholes in the fight against corruption, we did well”.

But Okechukwu said the former president widened the loopholes of corruption rather than tackling it.

“My own sincere assessment is that our dear ex-president rather than plugged loopholes of corruption, opened it wide. He should apologise to Nigerians whom he betrayed for being less than transparent,” he said.

“I was outraged when I heard him proclaim that the PDP will return to power in 2019 because of the hunger and poverty ravaging the country.”

He said with the huge oil revenue under Jonathan’s regime, he had a good chance of fixing the Niger Delta but he did not.

The VON DG said the former president relied on “voodoo” economic records, adding that the nation’s economy “could have collapsed” but for the intervention of President Muhammadu Buhari.

“Going by the financial records, the ex-president and his party railroaded Nigerians into abject poverty, food insecurity and deficit infrastructure through lanlessness and squandermania,” Okechukwu said.

“He (Jonathan) propelled his preferred minister, Mrs Deziani Alison Madueke and other cronies to loot dry our dear countrymen.

“Later day revelations are showing how $80 million was used by Mrs Madueke’s ally to purchase a luxury yacht, money which could have been utilized to build the best hospital in Yenogoa.

“Or is he not reminding us of the humongous foreign exchange used in buying choice estates locally and abroad?

“In sum, the biggest headache of Buhari administration is the huge local and foreign debt amassed by the PDP’s 16 years misrule.

“On bail-out fund and Paris Fund refund, Buhari has spent over N1 trillion on salary and pension arrears. He has also paid over $7 billion on obligations to international oil companies (IOC) with the little he got.”