Buhari apologises to Nigerians on fuel scarcity

Buhari apologises to Nigerians on fuel scarcity

 

BARELY 24 hours after Minister of Information and Culture, Lai Mohammed, blamed the lingering fuel scarcity on former president Goodluck Jonathan’s administration, President Muhammadu Buhari has apologised to Nigerians.

Buhari, who offered the apology yesterday during the budget presentation also promised to ensure the scarcity is brought to an end soon.

“The current fuel scarcity with long queues at petrol stations all over the country causing social dislocation is very unfortunate. Government profoundly apologises to Nigerians for this prolonged hardship and misery.

“It is as a result of market speculators and resistance to change by some stakeholders. Government is working very hard to end these shortages and bring fuel to the pumps all over the country.”

Blaming the scarcity on stakeholders and saboteurs who are opposed to change, Buhari revealed that the management of the Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) has been directed to immediately explore funding models that will enable the Federal Government to honour obligations in joint ventures.

The president, who admitted that he was aware of the sufferings of Nigerians, amid dwindling economic fortunes, urged them to re- main firm, rest assured that the years ahead will usher in good tidings.

Continuing, Buhari said: “The confidence of many might be shaken. However, I stand before you today promising that we will secure our country, rebuild our economy, and make the Federal Republic of Nigeria stronger than it has ever been.”

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…Budget: A big fraud, conspiracy – PDP

•No, it raises hope for Nigerians, says Gov. Al-Makura

From Taiwo Amodu and Juliana Taiwo- Obalonye, Abuja

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has desmissed the N6.8 trillion 2016 federal budget presented by the President yesterday as a big fraud and executive conspiracy tailored towards mortgaging Nigeria’s future.

It expressed consternation over Buhari’s decision to borrow N2 trillion, as “the height of recklessness and deceit from a government that trends on propaganda.”

National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement, said the All Progressives Congress (APC)-led Federal Government was trying to use what it called “bogus welfare programme and phantom capital projects as cover and conduit to syphon funds to satisfy partisan interests, particularly to settle huge campaign debts.

Metuh said: “It is obvious that this budget is an extension of the campaign promises of the APC government, presented as a manifesto filled with bogus promises which implementation will be inconclusive, thereby allowing the APC to once again deny their promises.

“There has never been any known economy in the world where government deliberately mortgage the future of its nation by borrowing excessively to finance partisan interests while hiding under bogus welfare programmes. This is moreso important as the APC in reeling out its bogus campaign promises never informed Nigerians that they would mortgage their future through excessive borrowing.

“We have it on good authority that this is the first in the series of APC borrowings which would leave the future generation of Nigerians under the burden of huge debts after four years”

The PDP further said the budget clearly showed that after seven months in power, President Buhari and his party, the All Progressives Congress (APC) were yet to differentiate between governance and campaign propaganda.

In his reaction, Nasarawa State Governor Tanko Al-Makura said the budget has shown that there is hope for the country. This is even as he has expressed confidence that despite the dwindling oil price, Nigeria will survive.

He said the budget showed that 2016 would be a year that will turn around a lot of things that Nigerians had thought was going wrong. He was one of the top government officials who accompanied Buhari to the National Assembly for the presentation.

Speaking with State House correspondents at the Presidential Villa, Abuja, he said the provisions of the budget showed that Nigeria has a purposeful and responsible government.

He said, “I have not gone through the budget in details to know all the details regarding the allocations and programmes but from the presentation, you can see that there is direction in this country, there is hope in this country.

“When people are crying about dwindling situation and lack of resources in the country, you find that the budget has gone far beyond the expectation of a lot of people.

“This is indicating the fact that we have a purposeful government, we have a responsible government, a government that will ensure that it plugs all the holes of creating economic problem in the country; a government which will look into the actual problems of the people and solve them with all the accountability, sense of responsibility and prudence, Al-Makura said.

Source: the sun