Director
General of Voice of Nigeria and chieftain of the ruling All Progressives
Congress (APC), Osita Okechukwu, has responded to a statement credited
to the Deputy Senate President, Ike Ekweremadu, where he decried
Nigeria’s rising debt profile.
Ekweremadu had, at the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) national convention, which
held last Saturday, scored the All Progressives Congress-led
administration low on security, economy, job-creation, and national
unity.
He described the 16 years leadership of
the PDP as ‘glorious’ years for the country, and noted that ‘good men
and women’ who left PDP for the APC are eager to return to join and
build a better Nigeria.
But, Okechukwu said he was particularly
surprised that Ekweremadu had the effrontery to query President
Muhammadu Buhari for borrowing interest free Sukuk N100 billion loan, to
fix the Enugu-Onitsha Highway and similar projects across the
Federation,
“Our debt profile is rising because of
the profligacy of my brother, Senator Ike Ekweremadu and his PDP
co-travellers, who squandered our patrimony raked during the oil boom
era.
“What I am saying is that Buhari is
borrowing to construct standard gauge railways and other critical social
and physical infrastructure, while the PDP government borrowed $8.3
billion for old gauge of about 1,400 kilometres Kano-Lagos.
“At the same time, when the PDP borrowed,
between 2002-2005, the Chinese did Golmud-Lhasa standard gauge of
higher altitude of 1,142 kilometres at $4.2 billion. This is PDP in
action.”
“Please, kindly tell Ekweremadu that had
they constructed the $23 billion, three Greenfield refineries which they
awarded to the Chinese on May 13, 2010, Buhari won’t be borrowing to
import refined petroleum products today.
“They should refund us siphoned public finance (funds).”
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