President
Goodluck Jonathan has berated his opponents, particularly those who
handled the past privitisation exercise, saying they are now “opening
their mouth wide” to attack his administration.
Jonathan, who said this while addressing
Nigerian professionals in New York, United States, on Monday said the
privatisation of public utilities by his administration was being done
in a transparent manner.
He also said the problem of the Boko Haram insurgency was being exploited to blackmail his administration.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria report,
the President said that so far $3bn had been realised without any
form of corruption compared to the privatisation that took place in the
past.
Jonathan’s critics that played key role
in the past privatisation included former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar
and an ex-minister of the Federal Capital Territory, Mallam Nasir
El-Rufai.
Berating his critics, the President
said, “In the country’s past privatisation, we know what happened there
and yet those who sat over the exercise are the same people who are
opening their mouths wide to attack this administration.”
But speaking through his Media Adviser,
Muyiwa Adekeye, El-Rufai said that the Jonathan administration did not
understand transparency.
He challenged the President to be specific in his allegations.
The former minister said, “President
Jonathan is dealing in innuendo as is the tradition of his government.
He should make specific allegations against specific persons since he
claims to know what went on in the previous privatisation regime.
“We are all witnesses to how rules have
been bent in the ongoing power privatisation in favour of investors with
close ties to government. This government does not understand
transparency, and is in no position to practise it.”
Reacting to the allegation of shoddy
performance as the chairman of the National Council of Privatisation,
Atiku said he was proud of his achievements.
Atiku who spoke through his Media
Adviser, Malam Garba Shehu, expressed confidence that his tenure was not
in President Jonathan’s frame of reference.
Shehu said, “(He) acquitted himself well when he held sway at the NCP.
“We are very proud of Turaki’s legacies
at the NCP and that his vindication is there for all to see in the
reports of the separate investigations by both the Senate and the
House. We have our records. Let us see his own.”
On security, Jonathan said that in the
past, the major security challenge facing the nation was armed robbery.
He said that terrorism had emerged as the major challenge in the country
now.
Jonathan, however, stressed that the challenge of terrorism was being seriously tackled by the government.
He stated, “I appreciate that we have a
serious security challenge with Boko Haram insurgency. This is the area
where the government is being blackmailed, but by the grace of God this
will soon be a thing of the past.
“Before now it was robbery, until terrorism took us by surprise. Soon it will be a thing of the past.”
On Nigerians in Diaspora, the president acknowledged that they had excelled in their respective professions in the US.
He stressed “Nigerians in Diaspora are an important group particularly those in the US.”
According to him, the administration needs them to work in different areas of the Nigerian economy.
“You do not have to relocate to Nigeria
to make the necessary impact, you can come and establish businesses to
create jobs for your brothers and sisters at home,” Jonathan said.
The coordinating Minister of the Economy
and Minister of Finance, Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, in her remarks said
that the country’s economy was growing stronger, noting that the
Jonathan’s transformation agenda was helping the economy.
PUNCH
No comments:
Post a Comment