A chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Alhaji Mumakai Unagha, said on Saturday President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration was more corrupt than ex-President Shehu Shagari’s.
The late Shagari’s administration was toppled in a military coup led by the president on December 31, 1983.
Buhari, who was Nigeria’s head of state from January 1, 1984, to August 27, 1985, accused the Shagari administration of corruption and prosecuted several members of the government.
However, in a chat with journalists in Delta, Unagha said President Buhari’s popularity had waned because of his rudderless administration.
He added that Nigeria was heading to a total collapse and gradually sliding into a failed state without direction.
He said: “Nobody will convince me that the government is fighting corruption, it is all lip service and window dressing exercise. How on earth a government that pride itself very high in the war against corruption, yet, corruption is still the order of the day.”
“Corruption in this administration to me seems to have been more than what prevailed in the Alhaji Shehu Shagari administration that led to his being sacked. This, I stand to be corrected, Mr. President said those he trusted, betrayed the trust. I am wondering why he still retains them in the government or still allowing them to remain in office.
“The integrity of Mr. President is not in doubt, the issue centers on his age and the dynamism of his ability to take charge of his government. He trusted his men for too long. One cannot access his ministers, yet we are in one party. Nigeria is heading to a total collapse, gradually sliding down as a failed state without direction unless urgent steps are taken to address the ailing economy.
“I have been privileged to have an audience with Mr. President on two occasions, I wonder if this is the president I used to know. Losing popularity is an understatement because he is surrounded by people he trusted, destroying and giving his administration a bad title that he does not deserve.
“Do you know that there are some traditional rulers and faceless agents duping suspected political appointment seekers in disguise that they are close to Mr. President? They stay in five -star hotel in Abuja making people to believe that they are close to the Villa. Even top political appointees have their agents in strategic places where they collect money in the name of appointments.
“They have digitized their modules and apparatus of defrauding politicians, including APC members that worked tirelessly for Mr. President seeking for political appointments. The president I know is a man of honour, integrity, transparency, therefore, he should not allow some hawks to destroy all that he has laboured to build, over these years.
“I must not limit myself to the federal level alone, but what is happening at the various states are even worse, with the exception of some states like Rivers and few others. If you see how these state governors rush to Abuja to collect allocation, yet there is nothing in their states to show for it, it is very disappointing. I must give kudos to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, who I may describe here as the real lion of Niger Delta.
“If you ask me about the performance of APC, I will say to me, it is not Uhuru yet, we are still far from the promises our party gave to Nigerians during the electioneering campaign. I never thought we can go this way and that was the reason some of us, who saw it coming after the first tenure of Mr. President, resolved to contest the presidential election but not allowed, especially with the prohibitive hike of the nomination form by the disgraced former national chairman, Comrade Adams Oshiomhole.
“The situation in this country has reached a point where we will no longer keep quiet in respect of the fact that the party is supreme. Nigeria’s interest is superior, supersede every other interest. I have said it in several fora that Nigeria needs a surgical operation, not this epileptics, and oxygen treatment.
“Some of us have wanted Mr. President to retire quietly to his Daura home to earn him more respect, but turned out to be that those of us are the enemies of the party and government.
“We knew that Nigeria will be stalemated in the second tenure, In fact, we are more confused than as we were before now. Take a look at the exchange rate of dollar to naira, the frequent increment of the pump price of petroleum products with hunger everywhere. Every goods and service in Nigeria has increased to unbearable acceptance, driving our youths to negative disposition.
“In 2015, Nigerians with high spirit and enthusiasm voted for change APC. However, what we have seen so far is the reverse, taking us back to Egypt by five thousand feet.”
