Nigerians Are hungrier, Under Buhari Than Under Me —Jonathan

Former president, Goodluck Ebele Jonathan has declared that Nigerians are hungrier under the present President Muhammadu Buhari than under his tenure.

President Jonathan said this while responding to claims by Chairman of Presidential Committee on Anti-corruption [PACAC], Prof. Itse Sagay, SAN.

Prof. Itse Sagay had said that Nigerians would have been crossing the Sahara to Libya had Jonathan remained in office for another three years.

Speaking through his aide, Mr Reno Omokri, Jonathan said that facts on ground suggested otherwise.

Going down memory lane, he cited World Bank statistics as showing that Nigeria’s economy was better under him than it is now. 

Also, citing Transparency International, he said corruption is worse today than what it was under Jonathan. 

It could be recalled that the former British Prime Minister was caught on video telling the Queen of England, during President Buhari’s visit, that Nigeria is “fantastically corrupt”.

Furthermore, quoting the Global Hunger Index, Omokri stated that Nigerians are more hungry today than under Jonathan. 

“Nigeria moved from 4th most terrorized nation in the world in 2015 to 3rd most terrorized nation in the Global Terrorism Index for 2017. 

“Furthermore, under President Muhammadu Buhari, the United Nations reveals that there has been a massive increase in the number of Nigerians fleeing Nigeria via the desert with 602,000 leaving annually and 27,000 dying every year either in the Sahara Desert or the Mediterranean Sea.  

“So by what parameter is Sagay using to make his jaundiced judgment?” he asked.

Comparing the Arab Spring during Jonathan with the recent report of Nigerians being sold as slaves in Libya, he said:

“Under former President Jonathan, Nigeria was the first nation in the world to evacuate her citizens from Libya during the Arab Spring. 

“Dr. Jonathan would never keep quiet if Nigerians are being sold as slaves in Libya.

“If President Buhari can call Nigerians “criminals” to the Telegraph of U.K, why should Nigerians be surprised when he does not act to free us from slavery in Libya?” he noted.

Taking Sagay to the cleaners, he stated:

“Professor Sagay spends too much time poking his nose into other people’s affairs and too little focus on his own business, that is why under his watch as chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee on Anti-Corruption [PACAC], Maina got recalled, reinstated, double promoted and still received salary (according to his lawyer). 

“That is why the Group Managing Director of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, Maikanti Baru, was able to award $25 billion worth of contracts without due process. 

“That is why $40 million was found in an Ikoyi apartment and Nigerians still do not know who the money belongs to. 

“That is why there has been unbridled looting around President Buhari to the extent that the Presidential Clinic at Aso Rock does not have ordinary Panadol, despite the billions allocated to it under President Buhari.

“My advice to Professor Itse Sagay is that while he may be unjustifiably pointing one finger at former President Jonathan, four of his own fingers are justifiably pointing back to him and his master,” he concluded.

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