Buhari was in UK to embarrass Nigeria, says PDP
President-elect Muhammadu Buhari embarrassed Nigeria on Saturday by embarking on a visit to David Cameron, prime minister of the United Kingdom, without adequate preparations, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) said on Sunday.
The party also expressed disappointment with the president-elect for “snubbing” the handover programme lined up by the federal government to transmit power to him on May 29. It described such behaviour as proof of Buhari’s “lack of democratic discipline”.
In a statement issued on behalf of the PDP, Olisa Metuh, the party’s spokesman, said the president-elect owed Nigerians explanations on why he snubbed the prayer sessions scheduled for Friday and Sunday for Muslims and Christians respectively to usher in four years of his in-coming administration, and forathe embarrassing protocol gaffe and low-down treatment that characterised his visit to British Prime Minister David Cameron.
It said it was disgraceful that due to poor coordination and crass ineptitude in the handling of issues, the president-elect was left almost stranded while waiting for about 30 minutes before he was received by the British leader. It also wondered if such was a foretaste of the muddling to be experienced under the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration.
“Nigerians, as citizens of a sovereign nation, were thoroughly embarrassed when they saw their President-elect cheapened and kept waiting at the door of 10 Downing Street to see the British Prime Minister due to shoddy arrangements by his handlers,” the statement read.
“Indeed, they are becoming increasingly worried about the frightening unpreparedness of the APC for governance and the huge embarrassments they have been attracting to our nation. We know that the APC has been lying over issues.
“We also know that the APC and the President-elect have been flip-flopping and reneging on their campaign promises; but to embarrass the nation by embarking on such a sensitive visit without adequate preparations is shameful and completely unacceptable.
“We share the fear of well-meaning Nigerians on how a party which cannot adequately handle a simple task of organizing a diplomatic outing will effectively administer a country as complex as Nigeria.
“The APC has continued to give signals that it lacks capacity to face the challenges of governance. Such has been evidenced in the uneasiness of the President-elect who in apparent loss of confidence in himself has started reneging on his promises of quick fixes while confessing in a meeting with APC governors-elect on May 5, 2015 that he has ‘started nervously to explain to people that Rome was not built in a day’.
“Instead of settling down for governance and working out how to fulfill its promises of making the naira the same in value with the dollar, paying N5, 000, 000 monthly to 25 million poor Nigerians, providing electricity on 24/7 basis, providing free meals for school children and allowances for discharged but unemployed youth corps members among others, the APC is busy inventing excuses for failure and blaming everyone else but themselves. We hope they will not blame the PDP for their Saturday’s embarrassing outing at 10 Downing Street.
“Furthermore, we find it curious and more than a co-incidence that the nation is experiencing an acute shortage of fuel and electricity supply at this point in time, when such has not been the case under the current PDP-led administration. We ask, are there some forces sabotaging the system to create an impression that the APC is inheriting poor infrastructure and complete system breakdown?
“Is this also part of the larger plot to embarrass and defame the PDP-led administration in an attempt to justify APC’s excuses for failure?”
PDP insisted that despite the challenges of insecurity and global economic recession that negatively affected many other nations, its administration had in the last 16 years worked very hard in re-positioning critical sectors of the polity and laying strong infrastructure backbone that that any prepared and result oriented in-coming administration can comfortably leverage on.
It therefore asked APC to get ready to apply its much-mouthed manifesto or be bold to apologize to Nigerians for presenting false messianic posture and making false promises to them.
Buhari for all intent and purpose is still a private citizen and travelled as such. If snubbing the grandiose reception by the Nigerian commission as he put it he had already made private arrangement. PDP should be more concerned with what is happening within our shores now, now electric power and no fuel. How can try to remove a speck in someone’s eye whilst forgetting the log in your own eye. If this suffering doesn’t mean anything to PDP and OLISAH METUH nothing else will ever touch their conscience.
Isn’t it premature to proclaim failure for a leader or party that is yet to ascend the mantle? Nigerians are indeed well informed of the journey thus far.. Therefore, are will to support the incoming APC government in its effort to revive the nation.
Your comment..It is very early for PDP to start its critisism now, they should wait at least for the power to be handed over
This goes to show you that the ilk of Olisa Metuh and his PDP cohorts have bled this country to a point of death. Their so-called service to the country was never about the people but about how to line their pockets. Nigerians are presently suffering with the untold hardship the PDP government has plunged us into. No Fuel, No Power and the Country has grounded to a halt and all what the likes of Olisa Metuh can project from their megaphone is the fabricated embarrassment they claim Buhari received in the UK. This Man has indicated time without number through his Aides that this is a private visit! They gave us a President who hasn’t deemed fit to address us as a Nation on the untold suffering we are going through now even if he has less than a week left in the office, but who has been active collecting Awards from Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), hiring and firing Appointees and creating multitudes of unenviable Universities! You all can see why his 4years plus on the saddle was a waste to the multitude of Nigerians! They just never cared! Good riddance to bad rubbish!!!!
Its so sad reading the press release from the out going government of the federal Republic of our great nation Nigeria laying accusations on the newly elected government that is yet to assume office for the Oil scarcity this shows the acceptance of a total failure on there party and as for the newly elected President’s visit to the UK ,this could be taking as a private visit ,’cause his yet to assume office a President ,PDP stop taking Nigerians for fools your in Goverment till the handing over!!
These are some of the things that summersaulted PDP in 2015 election, lies, deceit, and deadly corruption that grounded the county economy witnessed by all sundry. it was not 30 minutes but few seconds
Mentuh should rather face his business, instead of unnesessry procunoze he suddenly embarked upon.pdp his party led us astry
Metuh should rather face his business instead of the unnecessary focus on APC. His party led us astray and totally threw the entire country into the deep water. With the little time left for them to hand over, they are making life difficult.
Yes buhari has the right to visit places. But is’nt it too early for a president-elect to start globe-trotting even before assuming office?… and what does he want with the british pm except the usual eye-service and portrayal of blackman’s inferiority complex. If the apc had been a good and proper opposition party it would have had a shadow government and would have had little difficulty in taking over from where predessesor had stopped… but in naija party opposition is pull-him-down syndrone rather than continuity as practised by progressive nations
Seeing GMB at 10 Downing Street was a sorry sight. There should be more honor even for a president-elect, if only for his country.
Comedian Metuh at work again.
What has Buhari’s visit to the UK have to do with the current state of the country. I wonder why these PDP people come to the social media to say all sorts when the country is in serious disarray. For all i care, GMB “the president elect” can stand for 1hr on the road. Nigeria is already an embarassment no thanks to our corrupt leaders that don’t have people’s wellbeing at heart other than enriching themselves. Where was the same Olisah Metuh some few years back? But now that he has ammassed wealth from our corrupt govt he has the audacity to be the mouthpiece of Nigerians. Bushmeat go soon catch the hunter
nothing pdp go talk wey i go believe…………when i say nothing i mean nothing