For the first time, former President Goodluck Jonathan said in Abuja on Saturday that his administration did not plug all loopholes in its bid to end
For the first time, former President Goodluck Jonathan said in Abuja on Saturday that his administration did not plug all loopholes in its bid to end corruption in the country. But he said it was wrong to assume or say that the economy would have been in a worse shape if his administration had not been voted out of power in 2015. The former president spoke at the Peoples Democratic Party non-elective national convention, which was held at the Eagle Square, Abuja.
Jonathan, who was accompanied to the podium by his former deputy, Mr. Namadi Sambo, some serving and former governors, including chieftains of the party, also delved into the achievements which he said were recorded during his administration. Though he was armed with a prepared speech, the former president appeared to be angry, especially when he made some statements outside his prepared text.
Apparently not satisfied with the bashing his government has been receiving from Nigerians, especially over the looting of the treasury by some of the officials who served in his government, the former president promised to talk soon. Jonathan said, “Though we didn’t completely plug the loopholes in the fight against corruption, but we did well. I learnt that some people said that if the PDP had remained in power beyond 2015, the economy would have been worse. This couldn’t have been the case, because we had a sound economic team in place.
“Despite the devastating effects of the great floods of 2012 which was a major calamity, there were no food shortages or arbitrary increase in prices, because of what we were able to accomplish with our agriculture transformation agenda, which considerably boosted food production. If we say that we rekindled hope in our people and regained international goodwill, it is because we pursued a number of policies and programmes that were not only richly rewarding for our people, but were also being copied by many countries across the globe, a few of which I will mention here.”
On the economic front, he said his government provided focused leadership through institutional and sectoral reforms which he said impacted positively on the fundamentals for growth, especially in the last four years of his time in power. He said the effect was that his government was able to reduce inflation to a single digit, maintain price stability, grow the economy to become the largest in Africa with a GDP of over half a trillion US dollars, and the number one foreign direct investment destination on the continent.
He expressed hope that the party would regain power in 2019, but begged its members to close ranks and remain committed. He also asked them not to be jittery or allow anyone to intimidate them, saying that God loves the former ruling party. Also the PDP extended the tenure of the party’s national caretaker committee, which is headed by Senator Ahmed Makarfi.
The committee, whose tenure expired on Saturday, was given another four months within which to organise a national convention where new national officers would be elected. This was one of the resolutions passed and adopted by members of the party on Saturday. Apart from organising a fresh election, the caretaker committee is also expected to settle all grievances by members of the party before leaving office. With this extension, the tenure of the committee is expected to end on December 12, 2017.
Punch
