Ebun Francis|
The presidential candidate of the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), on Sunday, asked President Muhammadu Buhari to stop playing ‘father Christmas’ with the country’s resources but rather manage it prudently for the overall improvement of the life of Nigerians.
The former vice president was reacting to the report that the federal government had approved a donation of $500,000 to the Republic of Guinea Bissau for her scheduled legislative election this November.
The minister of foreign affairs, Geoffrey Onyema who disclosed the donation when he received, Jose Filho, special representative of the United Nations secretary-general to Guinea Bissau in Abuja last week said gesture was to help Guinea Bissau get out of what has been a very difficult situation for a number of years.
But in a statement on Sunday by his campaign organisation, Abubakar said Nigeria’s resources should be used for Nigerians alone.
The statement read, “Recently, we had cause to counsel the Buhari administration to be more prudent with national resources after the government declared its intention to sell national assets built by previous administrations to fund their business as usual 2019 budget.”
“Apparently, rather than give heed to our pro bono patriotic advise, the Buhari administration is persisting in the financial profligacy that has seen them destroy a once thriving economy.
“In the latest instance, the Buhari government has announced that it is making a $500,000 donation to Guinea Bissau, along with other material donations.
“Our response is to ask why a nation that has been officially named as the world headquarters for extreme poverty, will donate her resources to others instead of using them to solve pressing domestic problems? This is the same government that is so cash strapped that it has so far borrowed ₦13 trillion in three years putting our economy in even greater peril.
“How prudent is it to go about taking loans from whomsoever cares to lend you money and then turn around to give out those same monies even when your own people are suffering the worst forms of poverty they have ever endured?