The President, who spoke in Osogbo, the Osun State capital, added that through patience and perseverance, the challenges the country was facing would become a thing of the past. He reiterated his administration’s determination to implement the change agenda through the fight against corruption. “We are determined to implement our change agenda by curbing excessive waste in government. We shall restore integrity to governance through the fight against corruption. We are determined to deliver and rescue the country from bad governance,” he said. This came as an avalanche of reactions trailed the National Bureau of Statistics’ report which showed a negative economic growth in the first two quarters of the year, with the opposition Peoples Democratic Party Party, PDP, asking Buhari to resign over the economic misfortune. Also, the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, MAN, National Union of Petroleum and Natural Gas Workers, NUPENG, among others, proferred ways Nigeria can riggle out of the recession. OBJ, Yar’Adua, Jonathan’s reckless decisions caused recession – APC The ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, yesterday, pooh-poohed PDP’s call on President Buhari to resign over the poor economic indices and accused the party and Nigeria’s past presidents produced under its platform of bringing the current economic recession upon the nation. The PDP on Wednesday, took a swipe at the President Buhari-led Federal Government, over the statistics released by the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS, which showed a negative growth in the first two quarters of the year. In a statement by its Director, New Media, Deji Adeyanju, PDP stated that nothing showcased the incompetence of the Buhari administration better than the GDP, inflation and unemployment figures released by NBS. “These figures revealled what we have repeatedly said over the last 15 months – the Nigerian President is destroying the Nigeria economy. The result of these indices is that Nigeria is in its worst economic state for 29 years – dating back to 1987 when the nation had to take harsh steps to recover from President Buhari’s policies of 1984-85. As with 1984-85, companies are fleeing our shores in droves. Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) recently stated that 272 companies have shut down in the past one year. Furthermore, like we suffered in 1984-85, we are suffering a brain drain where our best and brightest talents are leaving the country in search of a better life elsewhere. It is disheartening that the Buhari administration is destroying the Nigerian economy and our collective future by the implementation of his archaic and incoherent economic policies which failed in 1984-85 and are failing spectacularly now. Our dismay is worsened by the fact that every sphere of the Nigerian socio-political space (ranging from the conduct of elections, human rights, respect for the rule of law, security, technology, health, etc) is negatively affected by the Buhari administration. We join all well meaning Nigerians to call on Buhari to resign if he is unable to reverse the disastrous economic decline he has brought on Nigerians,’’ the PDP had said. However, APC countered that the 16 years misrule of the PDP plunged Nigeria into the current economic chaos. PDP’s several years in power produced ex-presidents Olusegun Obasanjo, Umar Musa Yar’Adua and Goodluck Jonathan. The party in a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Mai Mala Buni, said the PDP’s statement “is the latest in the party’s fs insensitive plot to deflect attention from the voodoo economics and reckless fiscal policies the country was subjected to during its 16-year rule. The warning signs were glaring to the immediate-past administration but it chose the path of economic sabotage by looking the other way and squandering the country’sfs commonwealth – a reckless decision that has brought the country to its knees.” APC assured Nigerians that the President Buhari-led administration remained solidly committed to resuscitating the economy in the quickest possible time and in the best interest of the people. “For the umpteenth time, the PDP lacks the moral basis and credibility to comment or condemn the government on the economy after the mess it left behind. Instead, the PDP must apologize to Nigerians. “Nigerians will recall that even the immediate-past finance minister and coordinating minister of the economy (Dr. Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala), confessed that the zero political will to save under the immediate-past administration was responsible for the challenges facing the country,” Buni said. APC listed several achievements of the Buhari administration, saying the nation was well on the path to quick economic recovery.]]>